Afternoon at the polo grounds

Two profs, one yogi, and me with hat perfect for polo-watching

Last Sunday was our friend Carl's birthday. With a little arm-twisting, he decided he'd like a party at the Accra Polo Grounds. Yes, Ghana has a polo ground. It's a former British colony, after all. We had heard about the polo matches that supposedly occur every weekend at this time of year, and Bill and I have been trying to get there to see what it's all about, so this was a good excuse. Depending on what reference you use, the matches start at either 3 or 3:30, so we got there promptly at 3 so we wouldn't miss anything. The match actually started at 4:30, "after the heat of the day."

 

Oh, well, we didn't mind sitting in the shade of the bar, with a nice breeze on us. We learned after the rather scruffy match started that it was just a practice session - the real match is this coming weekend. But it was fun anyway; many of the riders were Ghanaian, though there were definitely more obrunis riding.

Action on the field

Young Ghanaian kids warmed up the ponies and we wondered where they learned to ride. There were lots of ponies, and the riders rotated through them all to keep them in playing shape.

 Pretty horses, friendly patrons who filled us in on what was happening, lively chukkas, good friends, g&t's ... a pretty sophisticated afternoon in Africa!