We’ve been on a trip this weekend to a place called Ada, in the Dangme East District which is in the eastern part of the Greater Accra Region. It’s only about 80 miles from Kokrobite but because of the state of the roads the journey takes about 3 hours. I shall never again moan about the potholes in our roads at home!
6 of us travelled in 2 cars and stayed for 2 nights in a house owned by somebody who knows somebody who knows somebody …… there’s a lot of that here, out of necessity mostly, people are really inventive about finding ways to make money. And, like many of the buildings, although it was comfortable and had all the basic necessities, it was only half finished. But it did have (almost) hot water in the showers, which was an added bonus! Along the coast there are a lot of small islands and big houses owned by foreign businessmen and top Ghanaian footballers, in stark contrast to the villages we passed through on the way here.
The location was beautiful, with our own small beach (see top picture) from which we took boat trips, and it was great for swimming – the first time for ages I’ve swum in the sea, which was really warm and just wonderful.
The view from the beach just outside the house. The boats took us around the area directly from our beach.
On the first evening the boat took us to Maranatha Island, where we watched the sunset and had dinner. I had Tilapia and Banku. Tilapa is widely caught and eaten in this area, cooked on a bbq or open fire and eaten with your fingers. Banku are a bit like dough balls and are made from corn and cassava. They come with a pot of spicy sauce and you break pieces of dough off and dip them in the sauce.
Saturday morning started with a speedboat tour of villages an islands along the coast. our first stop was a meeting with this lovely man called Jubilee, who has a small distillery and makes liqueurs from local fruits and produce – pineapple, banana and sugar cane, and a local plant called Prekese, which is also used to make soups and stews. He was very proud to tell us that all his recipes have been handed down to him from his father and grandfather and insisted that we tried a shot of them all (it was only about 10am!). he was also very proud of the fact that he could say ‘cheers’ in several different languages!
Here are a few more highlights from the morning’s speedboat tour – including my first encounter with a baby crocodile!
Saturday ended with a bbq and bonfire on the beach
We got back to base Sunday afternoon, around 2.30, planned the lessons and workshops for tomorrow, then finished the day with a very long walk up Kokrobite mountain to watch the sunset over the village and the sea. Tough going – but I did it and feeling very proud of myself, there’s life in the old dog yet!
It’s taken me about 3 hours to complete this post, with frequent internet outages, but at least the power has stayed on. Off to bed now, back to work tomorrow. another update to follow in a couple of days.
Da yie (Goodnight)
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2 Comments
Sally Jarrett
07/10/2024 at 10:28It looks like you’re having the best time – loving these updates 🙂
Marilyn
09/10/2024 at 07:46💖