Friday
So as i mentioned before, while I'm here, I'm doing a research project about wetland destruction in Ada Foah, a village about 2 hours east of Accra. What better way to conduct research than a site visit with friends, right? RIGHT. So on Friday me and four good friends of the Cali Crew decided to spend a weekend out in Ada. We started out from campus about 1:30, a little later than we were hoping for but still doing good on time nonetheless. So here we are, all happy and jolly waiting at the Okponglo tro tro station, we even managed to secure a tro tro to Central Accra in about 15 minutes (an IMPOSSIBLE task on a Friday afternoon) to actually fit all five of us. About 6 stops from Tudu station (where were supposed to pick up the tro to Ada) our tro tro suddenly breaks down in the middle of the road. I've heard of such things happening but it never really occurred to me it could happen to me. So we all piled out and waited for another tro tro to come; it took a little longer to find one with enough space to fit us all, but we finally did and we were on the way again! However, the driver of this tro wasn't nearly as friendly as the other one. We told him multiple times we needed Tudu station, and when we passed it he just kept right on going, saying he was going to Tema station instead. The other passengers on the tro tro stood up for us though and made a commotion and he let us out 2 stops later. We walked back (stopping to ask directions many times, and surely looking ridiculous and full on obruni, walking through the streets of downtown Accra with all our backpacks and things) and were met with another problem. The tro tro to Ada wasn't currently there and there were already 15 odd people waiting for it. The guy standing in front of the open slot told us about a half hour, but that could literally mean anything in Ghana time. About an hour and a half passed, it was now about 4, when suddenly a tro tro appeared to be pulling into the empty slot in front of us. That's when literally all hell broke loose. I'd like to compare this with perhaps what it would be like to shove ones way onto a lifeboat of a sinking ship; no rules, full on pushing and shoving and a women and children first mentality. The five of us managed to fight (and i mean FIGHT) our way on, all sitting in equally uncomfortable positions with goods and people shoved in all around us, but not too concerned as this was only supposed to take about an hour and half. After finally pulling out of the station (hooray!) we started out on the road, only to be met with deadlocked, bumper to bumper traffic. It took us about an hour and half to make it to the Accra Mall roundabbout (a usual 5 minute trip) and once we made it there, naturally, it started to pour (by pour, I mean monsoon style rainstrom, wind and all.) The back of the tro tro was open so water just streamed in for the next half hour or so. It took us about 3 hours to make it to the city of Tema (usually about a half hour away) in traffic and the roads finally opened up and the rain stopped. After that we careened (quite dangerously, it was an experience comparable to that of the Indiana Jones Adventure rise at Disneyland) down the dirt roads to Ada. We finally made it there around 9 and were met by two awesome people from the place we were staying at, Maranatha Beach Camp, we walked us down to the river's edge to the boat that would take us to Maranatha. Walking through the trees and getting the first view of the Volta River open up in front of us with the moon glistening over it was enough to pull all of us out of our tiredness. The boat ride was absolutely gorgeous, about 20 minutes of pure bliss. We had clearly left the light of Accra behind and could actually see the stars We pulled up to Maranatha and Robert and Desmond kindly offered to whip us up something quick even though the kitchen had closed already. After eating we headed over to our beach hut, which was one of the coolest rooms I've ever had. It was a thatched roof, thatched wall, hut standing on the sand. Mosquito nets hung around the three double beds and the floor was simply the sand of the beach.
Most of us were pretty pooped after dinner, but me and one of the other girls decided to go for a walk on the ocean side of the property. (Maranatha is near the Ada Foah Estuary and the Songor Wetlands, so one side is on the Volta River and the other on the Gulf of Guinea.) We spent an hour or so sitting on beach talking to Lanny, one of the workers, who gave us a lot of info on the wetlands and how many of the local still regard these areas as sacred, even though people have come in and built these multi million dollar resorts. He also gave us some interesting info on the turtle population here, as it is prime breeding grounds for leatherbacks and Olive Ridley's. After our chat, we finally went off to rest up for the next day.
Saturday
Started the morning off with a lovely breakfast of pineapple pancakes and fruit! During breakfast we ended up making friends with two older women from Iowa, a super sweet Australian couple about our ages and a friendly young Dutch guy. We ended up chatting a lot over breakfast and then decided to all split the cost of a 3 hour boat tour around the surrounding islands. We started out by taking the boat to the estuary where the Volta River and the ocean meet and then continuing on to Rum Island. The Chief of Rum Island is a jolly old man who grows sugarcane and distills the rum in hand cranked machines. After getting a tour of the process, naturally,we had to sample some of the good stuff for ourselves. The white rum made on the island is the basic form, but he also makes red rum, flavored with the bark of mahogany! Super interesting (and strong!) , I bought some to bring home (thought good 'ol Dad would appreciate it) so look forward to that. We next proceeded to Crocodile Island. On the way there, however, we passed an oyster fishing boat. We were talking about how interesting it was when Lanny simply waved them over and some of the group bought oysters from them. They dumped in about 4 or 5 pounds into the bottom of the boat and we were on our way again. We bought coconuts on Crocodile Island and saw a few crocs (sadly, not in the wild, they were in a pond on the island, not in the water, as we were expecting.) We headed back to Maranatha after that and spent the afternoon resting and swimming in the ocean and river. Come dinner time, we all gathered again and had a relaxing dinner (accompanied with some red rum of course ;)) After dinner, Maranatha hosts a bonfire, which was a chill event. We talked to some of the other guests around and just took it easy and headed off to bed fairly early, exhausted from the day. Group pic on Rum Island
Sunday
We awoke Sunday and spent the morning eating breakfast and jut hanging aroound. We also spent a large portion of the morning in typical Ghana fashion; waiting for our bill for the weekend. It took about an hour and a half and it was about 11 by the time we were ready to head out. We bid our new friends goodbye, with hopes to see them in a few weeks in Accra. The boat ride back was rainy (obviously) but miraculously, there was already a tro tro waiting for us in Ada Foah when we got off the boat (apparently, Robert had called them, we knew this was no coincidence!) we hopped on to the tro tro and were on our way home after a lovely weekend. Of course a weekend as killer as this, couldn't be without some sort of chaos to begin and end with. About 20 minutes outside of Accra, our tro tro broke down again. At first we decided to try and stick it out as we were literally on the middle of the highway, but as the mate and driver were fiddling with parts, the engine started smoking and we decided to high tail it out of there. We didn't have to wait too long, and finally managed to squeeze on to another one, which ended up being more convenient because it was going in the direction of campus instead of Tudu station so it saved us an exchange; guess that worked out in the end! We finally made it home and all quickly ran to the showers (forgot to mention no showers there, and we were covered in a solid layer off sand and dirt, trailing sand behind us on all the tro tros, much to the chagrin of all the passengers and drivers we encountered.) and ordered delivery from my favorite restaurant here in Accra for dinner. It was an excellent weekend and I hope to head back to Ada Foah before I leave Ghana (in 10 short weeks, ahhhh!)
So as i mentioned before, while I'm here, I'm doing a research project about wetland destruction in Ada Foah, a village about 2 hours east of Accra. What better way to conduct research than a site visit with friends, right? RIGHT. So on Friday me and four good friends of the Cali Crew decided to spend a weekend out in Ada. We started out from campus about 1:30, a little later than we were hoping for but still doing good on time nonetheless. So here we are, all happy and jolly waiting at the Okponglo tro tro station, we even managed to secure a tro tro to Central Accra in about 15 minutes (an IMPOSSIBLE task on a Friday afternoon) to actually fit all five of us. About 6 stops from Tudu station (where were supposed to pick up the tro to Ada) our tro tro suddenly breaks down in the middle of the road. I've heard of such things happening but it never really occurred to me it could happen to me. So we all piled out and waited for another tro tro to come; it took a little longer to find one with enough space to fit us all, but we finally did and we were on the way again! However, the driver of this tro wasn't nearly as friendly as the other one. We told him multiple times we needed Tudu station, and when we passed it he just kept right on going, saying he was going to Tema station instead. The other passengers on the tro tro stood up for us though and made a commotion and he let us out 2 stops later. We walked back (stopping to ask directions many times, and surely looking ridiculous and full on obruni, walking through the streets of downtown Accra with all our backpacks and things) and were met with another problem. The tro tro to Ada wasn't currently there and there were already 15 odd people waiting for it. The guy standing in front of the open slot told us about a half hour, but that could literally mean anything in Ghana time. About an hour and a half passed, it was now about 4, when suddenly a tro tro appeared to be pulling into the empty slot in front of us. That's when literally all hell broke loose. I'd like to compare this with perhaps what it would be like to shove ones way onto a lifeboat of a sinking ship; no rules, full on pushing and shoving and a women and children first mentality. The five of us managed to fight (and i mean FIGHT) our way on, all sitting in equally uncomfortable positions with goods and people shoved in all around us, but not too concerned as this was only supposed to take about an hour and half. After finally pulling out of the station (hooray!) we started out on the road, only to be met with deadlocked, bumper to bumper traffic. It took us about an hour and half to make it to the Accra Mall roundabbout (a usual 5 minute trip) and once we made it there, naturally, it started to pour (by pour, I mean monsoon style rainstrom, wind and all.) The back of the tro tro was open so water just streamed in for the next half hour or so. It took us about 3 hours to make it to the city of Tema (usually about a half hour away) in traffic and the roads finally opened up and the rain stopped. After that we careened (quite dangerously, it was an experience comparable to that of the Indiana Jones Adventure rise at Disneyland) down the dirt roads to Ada. We finally made it there around 9 and were met by two awesome people from the place we were staying at, Maranatha Beach Camp, we walked us down to the river's edge to the boat that would take us to Maranatha. Walking through the trees and getting the first view of the Volta River open up in front of us with the moon glistening over it was enough to pull all of us out of our tiredness. The boat ride was absolutely gorgeous, about 20 minutes of pure bliss. We had clearly left the light of Accra behind and could actually see the stars We pulled up to Maranatha and Robert and Desmond kindly offered to whip us up something quick even though the kitchen had closed already. After eating we headed over to our beach hut, which was one of the coolest rooms I've ever had. It was a thatched roof, thatched wall, hut standing on the sand. Mosquito nets hung around the three double beds and the floor was simply the sand of the beach.
Saturday
Started the morning off with a lovely breakfast of pineapple pancakes and fruit! During breakfast we ended up making friends with two older women from Iowa, a super sweet Australian couple about our ages and a friendly young Dutch guy. We ended up chatting a lot over breakfast and then decided to all split the cost of a 3 hour boat tour around the surrounding islands. We started out by taking the boat to the estuary where the Volta River and the ocean meet and then continuing on to Rum Island. The Chief of Rum Island is a jolly old man who grows sugarcane and distills the rum in hand cranked machines. After getting a tour of the process, naturally,we had to sample some of the good stuff for ourselves. The white rum made on the island is the basic form, but he also makes red rum, flavored with the bark of mahogany! Super interesting (and strong!) , I bought some to bring home (thought good 'ol Dad would appreciate it) so look forward to that. We next proceeded to Crocodile Island. On the way there, however, we passed an oyster fishing boat. We were talking about how interesting it was when Lanny simply waved them over and some of the group bought oysters from them. They dumped in about 4 or 5 pounds into the bottom of the boat and we were on our way again. We bought coconuts on Crocodile Island and saw a few crocs (sadly, not in the wild, they were in a pond on the island, not in the water, as we were expecting.) We headed back to Maranatha after that and spent the afternoon resting and swimming in the ocean and river. Come dinner time, we all gathered again and had a relaxing dinner (accompanied with some red rum of course ;)) After dinner, Maranatha hosts a bonfire, which was a chill event. We talked to some of the other guests around and just took it easy and headed off to bed fairly early, exhausted from the day. Group pic on Rum Island
Sunday
We awoke Sunday and spent the morning eating breakfast and jut hanging aroound. We also spent a large portion of the morning in typical Ghana fashion; waiting for our bill for the weekend. It took about an hour and a half and it was about 11 by the time we were ready to head out. We bid our new friends goodbye, with hopes to see them in a few weeks in Accra. The boat ride back was rainy (obviously) but miraculously, there was already a tro tro waiting for us in Ada Foah when we got off the boat (apparently, Robert had called them, we knew this was no coincidence!) we hopped on to the tro tro and were on our way home after a lovely weekend. Of course a weekend as killer as this, couldn't be without some sort of chaos to begin and end with. About 20 minutes outside of Accra, our tro tro broke down again. At first we decided to try and stick it out as we were literally on the middle of the highway, but as the mate and driver were fiddling with parts, the engine started smoking and we decided to high tail it out of there. We didn't have to wait too long, and finally managed to squeeze on to another one, which ended up being more convenient because it was going in the direction of campus instead of Tudu station so it saved us an exchange; guess that worked out in the end! We finally made it home and all quickly ran to the showers (forgot to mention no showers there, and we were covered in a solid layer off sand and dirt, trailing sand behind us on all the tro tros, much to the chagrin of all the passengers and drivers we encountered.) and ordered delivery from my favorite restaurant here in Accra for dinner. It was an excellent weekend and I hope to head back to Ada Foah before I leave Ghana (in 10 short weeks, ahhhh!)
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