Why would anyone want to see coffins?!

....when the coffins are shaped like chickens, sneakers, and beer bottles. Ghana is known worldwide for their "unique" coffins. The place to see them is in a town called Teshi, a suburb on the outskirts of Accra. Here, you will run into many different shops that sell handmade and, of course, totally orignal..... coffins!

It has an interesting story behind it. It is said that a chief a long time ago wanted to be buried and remembered in something completely different from all the other chiefs. So when he died the villagers created a coffins that was shaped into a stool and laid him to rest. When the other chiefs from surrounding villages learned of this, they too wanted to be buried in a coffin that was different from the others.

These coffins are made into various objects, depending on what that person is known for. For example, if a man worked in a Coca Cola factory then he might want to be buried in a Coca Cola bottle. Or if a man was a farmer and was known for growing corn, then he may choose a corn-shaped coffin! These coffins do not run cheaply and therefore the family would have to pay a lot of money for these. The TV show, Ripley's Believe it or not did an episode on the Teshi Coffins, showing how they make them from scratch. I was fortunate to watch them for a few minutes while they worked. The craftsmanship is amazing. The army tanks and beer bottles look just like the real thing!

And don't worry, if you have a recently deceased son or daughter then you can purchase a child-size coffins for them as well. As morbid as this may sound, the children's coffins are actually very cute!

If it is your dream come true to have your very own sneaker, lion, or computer-shaped coffin, you can arrange to purchase it and ship it back to the US through any of the coffin shops. It's worth considering. A coffin here will set you back a couple of thousands and a lovely Teshi coffin will be half that.

If you are ever in or around the Accra area, this is a quick little day trip. Easily accessible, you can walk around teshi and visit as many shops as you like. However, if you want to take pictures, the store manager may ask you to "dash" him. (...money)