Mostly Hazy with a Chance of Dust

Each winter Ghana experiences the Harmattan (hah-muh-tawn), which is essentially dust blowing from the Sahara desert into the Gulf of Guinea. The skies over Accra are hazy through much of December and January. According to local legend (or Michael, the driver), the Harmattan officially begins after two big rainstorms, which was true this year at least.

Technically, the Harmattan is a dry and dusty West Africa trade wind. As the wind passes over the Sahara Desert, it picks up fine dust particles and carries them south towards the ocean. I’ve been told that in some parts of the country, the haze is similar to fog seen in the winter months in America, and can severely limit visibility. Here in Accra we probably don’t see the worst of it, as we have the luxury of the warm ocean breezes. However, the sun is definitely much dimmer and less intense.

Dave and I have only seen the Sahara Desert from the airplane, but from the air, it looks enormous. In fact, it is the third largest desert in the world, after Antarctica and the Artic (who know the latter two were even deserts…I didn’t). It covers the entire northern part of Africa and is almost as large as the U.S. Looking in the sky, it sometimes feels the entire Sahara desert is hovering above us!