Day 71-77
9th - 15th Febuary 2007, Ghana	previous entry next entry

Day Seventy One 9/2. Presbytarian Guest House, Kumasi, Ghana

6°41.28'N 1°37.26'W. Miles today 0, Total Miles 7636

Having spent last night chilling out at the backpacker haunt of Vic Baboos Café and really enjoying Kumasi, we decided to spend another day at the Presbyterian Mission and make full use of this power supply thing. Ventured out in search of the infamous Irish Bar (now called Vienna City Pub) at Rose's Guest House. Very weird, as it's an exceptionally modern bar, complete with full-blown air-con. That together with a small casino, the nicest tuna club sandwiches ever and the vast quantities of ice cold Savannah's (SA cider), make it very hard to leave. We eventually did and after an unsuccessful attempt at trying to upload this website, we wandered around the town for a bit. It's amazing how devoted they are to religion here. Every shop is adorned with words such as "The blood of Jesus fast food" or my favourite, "In god we trust chemical supplier." (aka pharmacy). The bookshops are bursting with volumes of American self-help spiritual healing books. For dinner, we ended up at the Queensgate Restaurant, which is on the third floor with a cool balcony overlooking the chaos of the streets below. They cook up a mean and huge serving of Jollof Rice with Beef (spicy rice, I guess a bit like paella)

Day Seventy Two 10/2. Green Turtle Lodge, Nr Dixcove, Ghana

4°45.53'N 2°01.22'W. Miles today 186, Total Miles 7822

After some more heavy rain and the emergence of the biggest snails in the garden I have ever seen, we tried once again to update this site but with no luck. However, did see my first pygmy today. Just wandering along the road, we both thought she was just a small child until we saw the wrinkles. We explored the bustling Kejetia market, which was enormous (apparently one of the largest in West Africa) and quite hard going, as you walk along an unused railway to negotiate around it. There was everything from Kente cloth, Batik, Ashanti sandals and the most second hand clothing ever to dried chameleons, chillies and beads. We stopped for one of these deep fried doughnut type things, which Rob has developed a particular taste for. Hopefully, it will help in putting some meat on his bones, as he is skinny as ever right now. Me, well, am just the same as always. Sigh, just so unfair! Decided it was time to head for the coast and drove out to Dixcove via simple "drive south" navigation, as road signs were not particularly abundant. Also ran over our first sheep today! Quite a traumatic experience for me but more so for the sheep, I guess. Luckily, Rob wasn't going very fast, so the poor thing jumped back up and scurried off seemingly unscathed. We had been recommended to camp at the Green Turtle Lodge, about 10km west of Dixcove and wow, what an awesome place right on the beach. It's an eco-tourism project run by a young English couple, Tom and Jo, to protect the turtles and help benefit the local economy. We squeezed Dino in amongst the palm trees for less than €2 each per night and had a wander around. Everything is solar powered, they recycle shower water and the toilets are self-composting. Everything is so beautifully done, using natural products from the environment. It's a common thing for overlanders on the way to SA to stop here and to never actually get any further. They all buy land here and set up a lodge or build a house or something. Land on the coast used to be dirt-cheap here, as the locals deem it as useless and un-arable. However, they are fast cottoning on to the fact that the Westerners see it as paradise so prices are rising fast. Couldn't believe my luck, as Tom the owner, shares my passion for sausages. They (the spicy Ghanaian beef ones) feature regularly on the menu and apparently at their wedding, they only served Bangers and Mash. Tom and I are gonna get just fine.

Day Seventy Three 11/2. Green Turtle Lodge, Nr Dixcove, Ghana

4°45.53'N 2°01.22'W. Miles today 0, Total Miles 7822

This place is gonna be hard to leave. They make delicious Pina Coladas made from freshly squeezed pineapple juice and coconuts from the surrounding palm trees, the showers are open to the sun and stars, the food is superb and the surf is excellent. The day was packed full with long walks on the beach at sunrise, chilling, eating, drinking, and lots of swimming and boogie boarding. Stuffed and sunburnt, we retired to our tent with the best view ever.

Day Seventy Four 12/2. Green Turtle Lodge, Nr Dixcove, Ghana

4°45.53'N 2°01.22'W. Miles today 0, Total Miles 7822

Ok, just one more day. We were treated to the best breakfast ever. Yup, sausages, baked beans and fried eggs all on yummy toasted Ghanaian bread with huge pots of tea. More swimming, chilling, boogie boarding, eating, drinking and lotsa backgammon. Dinner again was fabulous, BBQ chicken with salsa and chunky chips and Red-Red (spicy beans and fried plantains)

Day Seventy Five 13/2. Anomabu Beach Resort. Anomabu, Ghana

5°10.28'N 1°07.78'W. Miles today 84, Total Miles 7906

No, we have gotta go now or we'll never leave. Drove into Takaradi to try this internet thing once more, change some money and to pick up some provisions. None of the banks would change money but we found a forex bureau down some little alleyway, which gave us a good rate for Euro Cash. Still no luck with the internet thing, we stopped at Max Mart to choose very carefully amongst the very overpriced supplies. A couple of local spiced sausages naturally found their way into the basket. A young English chap approached us to say hi. Turns out, he is one the overlanders who never made it any further south. They are Jamie and Claire, who were in an ambulance called Bronwyn and are now building a house to stay. Quick, let's get outta here before it's too late. Drove on to the beach resort of Anomabu, which was also lovely but a lot pricier than Green Turtle. More boogie boarding, swimming and chilling interspersed with sundowners and backgammon.

Day Seventy Six 14/2. Oasis Beach Resort, Cap Coast, Ghana

5°06.21'N 1°14.61'W. Miles today 13, Total Miles 7921

Valentines Day and what a view. Nice long walks on the beach and watched the fisherman haul in their morning's catch. It took them about 2 hours of pretty hard gruelling work and for such a small catch. Once, it was on the shore, they divided it up amongst those eagerly gathering. There was the sweetest little girl, trying to steal the small ones through a little hole in the net and was casually hiding them in the front of her dress. That's gonna smell charming later. We drove on to Cape Coast and stopped at the Oasis Restaurant, where we enjoyed the coldest coke so far right on the beach. They do have bungalows here and said we could camp in the courtyard. This of course meant squeezing Dino through a line of washing or two but we had a lovely cool breezy spot under a palm tree. It is pretty close to the impressive Cape Coast Castle, which is well known for the imprisoning of slaves in appalling conditions. Although it is very pricey to get in, it is well worth it just for the free tour. The guide is so dramatic, especially as he leads you through the Door of no Return! However, we did return and wandered into town in search of a successful internet thing. Guess what, no luck. I stopped at the Global Mamas shop on Commercial street, as had heard that they can offer Ghanaian Cookery Courses. Result, I have a 3-hour session booked for tomorrow morning and cannot wait.

Day Seventy Seven 15/2. Oasis Beach Resort, Cap Coast, Ghana

5°06.21'N 1°14.61'W. Miles today 0, Total Miles 7921

Tummy feels a bit weird today but I am hoping it's just excitement for my course. Had to get used to the Africa time thing by waiting for 2 hours but wow, I had a blast. Essie, my teacher, took me back to her chop bar and taught me to make Red Red, Fufu, Lite and Ghanaian Soup (their words for sauce), Palava, Fried Plantain and Yams. I thoroughly enjoyed making the Fufu, which involves a lot of heavy pounding of boiled plantain and cassava with a giant pestle and mortar type thing. It tastes a bit like mashed potato, only a lot more gloopy. Imagine gelatine been added to Smash and you have Fu-fu! There was so much food, which was all a bit much for me to face in the heat of the day, so we fed most of the village locals and took a massive doggy bag for Rob. Investigated the Black Star bookshop on the way "home" which has an excellent stock of English books for around €3-4 each. Thought we'd better get a few before we get back to French Africa. Found Rob talking to an Irish guy called Colin, who is cycling from Ireland to Ethiopia. He's been on the road for a year and a half so far. Pretty impressive stuff really. With both of us feeling pretty grim, we gave the live band a miss and headed off to bed.

Day 71-77

9th - 15th Febuary 2007, Ghana