Chief's Palace

My friend Dolbert also brought me to the Chief's Palace upon my request. He said we might not be able to see the chief right away but we can ask the elders, I asked if it's ok to be doing this and he said it wasn’t a problem. I later read in a travel book on Ghana that I have here that the Chief's Palace is a tourist attraction, and although there is a sign indicating the place, it sure doesn't seem like one. But from what I've heard chiefs like to meet foreigners, at least in some places in Ghana. Anyways, when I think of chiefs and chief palaces I think of traditional attire, maybe some kind of different customs or ways of greeting, maybe mud huts with thatched roofs (that are common in villages here), drumming and dancing also come to mind. Basically some of the "exotic" things found in movies, television, cartoons, books, pictures, and so on. I won't get into an anthropological discussion around the problems with what this implies but just close your for a couple seconds and imagine what a chief in Northern Ghana looks like. What comes to mind?

So I talked with one of the chief's elders (I presume) and I told him why I was in Paga, who I'm working for, and this and that. I didn't know at the time but the chief was standing right beside him. He translated that I should come back with the District Director (basically my boss) because the chief was just on his way to a meeting. The chief was wearing a cap that is common around here with no rim, I see a lot of Muslims wearing them, and he was wearing a sort of poncho-like garment that's also not uncommon called a smock. He also had on some regular pants and shoes. Now what caught my attention were the huge gold watch and the nice cane he had, along with the nice looking Mercedes that pulled up with a leather interior. When I think of it, it's really not that unusual. Important people like political leaders tend to have money, nice watches, and are driven around in expensive cars all over the world, and the Chief of Paga is of no exception.