Cdn dollar = toilet paper

I knew I should've changed my Cdn dollars to American dollars and then to cedis even though I would lose twice on the exchange. I went to Techiman to change money today and discovered that none of the banks would accept Cdn cash! I am absolutely positive the Standard Chartered Bank would change Cdn dollars but the person who normally does that wasn't there and the other people at the bank said "Sorry, we can't do that". Argggg... tried 2 more banks and still no one would take it. Now I was starting to freak out because I was running out of cedis due to the DHL fiasco and I still needed to pay rent at the end of August.

I ended up having to deal with the black market exchange for the first time in my life! Luckily, I managed to keep my cool and changed all 300 Cdn dollars to cedis. I even bargained with the money changers! They wanted to give me 6000 cedis to the dollar but I knew the going rate was 7000; so I wouldn't accept less than that. They gave me my 2.1 million cedis and I sat and counted every bill right on the main road of Techiman. Fortunately the tro-tro park was right behind the money changers so I jumped into the car to Nkoranza guarding my bag zealously.

This is the second time I've bargained for a better exchange rate. Last time, a Forex bureau in Kumasi wanted to give me 6200 cedis to the dollar but I refused to take anything less than 7000. Gotta love Africa! EVERYTHING is negotiable, even the exchange rate! Of course, I don't feel bad bargaining with money changers and Forex bureaus. They make a lot of money already. I would feel bad bargaining with market vendors, etc. It's terribly embarrassing to realize that you were arguing over less than 50 cents. I always feel embarrassed for those tourists that are so cheap. If you're THAT poor that you can't afford to pay 10 more cents for groceries, what are you doing travelling?