Ghana Packing List

As is my nature, I did a lot of research and planning before coming to Ghana, especially about what to bring. Reviewing my packing decisions nearly a year later, I’ve found a number of mistakes, a few omissions, and many successes. I thought my insights at this stage might be valuable for any future PCVs so I wanted to share what I discovered.

Itemized below is the full list of what I brought. Keep in mind I was limited to two checked bags not to exceed 50 pounds each and two carry-on bags. I broke it down into a few categories and discuss each separately. I also color coded each item as either green (favorite items) or red (unnecessary).

I also want to add that while this post is focused on more practical things, the best items I have are ones that indirectly remind me of home in one way or another; a t-shirt from college, a water bottle from a client, a gift from a friend, etc. Bring as many of those as possible!

Luggage

2 Large rolling suitcases

1 Carry-on size rolling suitcase

1 Eagle Creek Afar Backpack

1 Duffel bag

1 Light weight string backpack

1 Small Laundry Bag

I may have been the only volunteer who brought two rolling suitcases, others opting for large duffle bags and/or hiking backpacks. And while the rollers were more difficult to transport around Ghana than the other options, you only need to do that a handful of times so I was happy with my decision. A big hiking backpack is nice but not really necessary on a day to day basis. People use it for longer trips around the country but I have had no problems with an old duffel bag or carry-on size rolling bag.

In the Peace Corps you need a day pack strong enough for everyday use and large enough to fit clothes and toiletries for a 3-4 day trip. Quality backpacks are hard to find in Ghana and the selection is limited so I recommend you spend money on a nice one before you leave. I LOVED my Eagle Creek Afar Backpack – plus they offer greats discounts for PCVs. Even though my laptop and kindle were inside it when the bag was stolen, some days I miss the backpack more than either of them.

Clothing

5 T-shirts

2 Long-sleeve t-shirts

4 Collared short-sleeve shirts

3 Button up long-sleeve shirts

1 Rain jacket

1 Sweat shirt

5 Pair of pants (2 khaki, 1 jeans, 1 rain, 1 sweat)

3 Shorts (1 khaki, 1 cargo, 1 gym)

1 Bathing suit

10 Boxers

7 Pairs of socks (1 hand knit wool socks)

6 Pairs of shoes (2 sneakers, 1 hiking boots, 1 teva sandals, 1 brown dress shoes, 1 flip flop sandals)

2 Hats

1 Sunglasses

1 Knee brace

1 Bath towel

1 Set of quick dry towels

1 Queen-sized top sheet

2 Pillow sheets

Other blogs talk a lot about how easy and cheap it is to get clothing in Ghana. And while they’re not wrong, that doesn’t help you the first few weeks or even months when you’re trying to figure everything else out. Plus, the more clothes you have, the less often you have to do the laundry (slash you won’t have to re-wear dirty clothes because it’s not laundry day yet).

My favorite item in this section is definitely my teva sandals. They’re durable, breathe well and the best part is I can fold down the back flap and wear them as slip-ons when appropriate (although I don’t think that’s an intended feature). Also, I wear them with socks fairly often. That might sound crazy given how hot it is here, but I hate having dirty feet because the dirt so easily tracks into my room and my bed.

Before I left, the Peace Corps did warn us that we should bring a lot of pants for cultural reasons and expect to wear them all the time. Fortunately in my area this isn’t an issue and shorts are okay for most occasions. However, I wish I brought old khakis that I could wear to farm and not worry about how dirty they get instead of the nice ones I have. Which brings me to an important point: Don’t bring any clothing or accessories that you’d be upset if they got ruined. Bringing my Maui Jim sunglasses and custom-made American Cricket hat were mistakes because I’m too protective of them to use them in this environment.

A quick note about the bath towel. Travel towels work just fine and are light weight, plus my bath towel is very hard to hand wash... but it’s so nice having a real towel to crawl into after a cold morning bucket bath. So glad I brought it. Same with the sweat pants and wool socks. On the rare occasion they can be used, it makes my day. My advice is to bring the comforts from home that you might miss the most – whatever those are – and bring them if possible.

Electronics

1 Laptop (with cable & case)

1 iPhone 6 (with cable)

1 Two terabyte external hard drive

1 Kindle Paperwhite (with cable)

1 iPad 2 (with cable)

1 Canon DSLR camera (with case, cables, lenses and extras)

1 Mini fan wireless USB rechargeable

1 Anker power charger solar

2 Headphones (1 over ear, 1 in ear)

1 Universal Extension Board with Surge Protection (for UK Outlet)

3 Outlet Converters

There are maybe two or three PCVs in Ghana (of about 150) without a computer and I don’t know how they do it. I highly recommend it. Given the environment, I suggest you bring something used or cheap – just enough to watch movies and use the Microsoft Office Suite. Don’t bring a Chrome Book because you’ll have problems watching and exchanging media with other PCVs. Speaking of which, definitely bring an external hard drive (at least one terabyte) as well. If you want to make fast friends, stock up on media before you leave (and if you want to be fast friends with me ask me what I need downloaded before you come).

A Kindle is also a great device to have if you like to read. Again, stock up on books that you can share with other volunteers but even an empty one will be filled quickly once you get here – some volunteers have a selection of more than 30,000 books that you can pick from.

The mini USB rechargeable fan was really clutch during PST when my room didn’t have a fan and I was not used to the heat yet. I would plug it into my computer and have it running in my bed all night. Without it I would have struggled to sleep and PST would have been miserable. Given you can buy one for <$20, I highly recommend it. On the other hand, don’t bring any surge protection and/or extension board devices. They probably won’t match the proper voltage regulations in country and you can buy them easily and cheaply enough when you get here.

Tools & Equipment

2 Frying Pans

1 Pot with steamer addition

1 Set of cooking knives

1 Knife sharpener

1 Leatherman pocketknife

1 Storage Box with combination lock

1 Pair of working gloves

3 Water bottles

1 French Press

1 Cooler bag

1 Headlamp

8 Press lights

1 Water purification pen

1 Roll of duct tape

1 Sunscreen

1 Benadryl bug bite cream

1 Insect repellant cream

For some reason I had been under the impression that good cookware is hard to come by in Ghana but that simply isn’t true. It’s nice that I didn’t have to spend money on it when I got here, but virtually every market town will have a decent selection of pots, pans and utensils. Also, any water purification tools generally aren’t necessary – you can buy “pure water” sachets everywhere and the Peace Corps gives you a filter and bleach to use in your room at site.

As an agriculture volunteer, I spend a decent amount of time at farm using tools like machetes and hoes. While the image of the foreigner needing gloves to do this isn’t one I love, it beats having blisters all over my hands. Even if you aren’t an agriculture volunteer, chances are you spend some time gardening or doing other things that may require gloves so I recommend it for everyone.

Something unique I brought was a small storage box with two combination locks. Security can be a problem at some sites with kids that come and terrorize you daily so it’s not a bad idea to add another layer of security for your most important things. This hasn’t been an issue for me at all though so I’m not sure how practical it would be for other volunteers.

Other standard must-have items include a pocket knife, head lamp, duct tape, and water bottle(s). The Benadryl bug cream has also worked wonders for me. Lastly, a few years ago my sister bought me a cooler bag that I decided to bring to Ghana and it has been amazing. While I can buy good meat in Accra, it’s a 3-4 hour journey minimum back to my site. Having the bag allows meat and cheeses that I can’t get elsewhere to make the journey without spoiling.

Recreational

2 Baseball mits and baseballs

1 Frisbee

1 Set of exercise bands

1 Foam roller

2 Books

1 Bubbles pack

4 Decks of playing cards

1 Elon Flag

1 Pouch of printed pictures of friends and family

3 Notebooks/journals

Definitely bring some things that will keep you entertained during your down time and when hanging out with volunteers. My group played a lot of cards so those came in handy. I also have been able to break out the gloves and baseballs often enough to make it worth it. I’ve wanted to use it more at site but it’s hard playing with the kids without getting stampeded by all of them at once. They do love bubbles though and that’s another easy thing to include in a suitcase. The exercise bands are a popular item with a lot of volunteers as well.

Miscellaneous

Toiletry bag

Extra toiletries

Ziploc Bags

Laundry Bag

Bags of candy

Gum

Travel pillow

Yarn

Rope

Matches

Lock

Metal chain

Extra cords, pens, and batteries

Exercise Tape

Ibuprofen

Multi vitamin & Fish oil

I brought a lot of extras toiletries and it's helped the transition to have the toothpaste and soap I'm used to for an extended period of time. A travel pillow is a nice thing to have early on too when you're getting used to long bus rides on bumpy roads.

I also brought bags of candy that I intended to give to kids when they visited or helped me do my chores. But most of it went in my mouth when I was having a bad day or couldn't stomach the meal my homestay mom made me.

Preparing for Ghana, I read a lot about potential security risks so I figured there might be a use for a metal chain and lock, but I haven't found any yet. Plus, they're heavy and there are plenty of locks sold in markets here in country.

Missing

Guitar - You can find them here but they are difficult to locate and expensive. If you really want to play bring a cheap one from home.

External Charger - You will routinely be on trips that take 4 or 5 hours and depending on where you live, 10+ hour trips may be a regularity as well. It helps to not have to be worried about the strength of your phone battery.

Water Flavor Packets - You need to drink a lot of water here so having something to mix up the flavor of it helps. It doesn't help that sometimes the pure water they sell in town has a funny taste.