Ahh Akwidaa

We had nothing to do but relax for 5 days without internet or mobile phone connection. The stretch of beach in the western region of Ghana is pristine, with nothing but small fishing villages dotting it’s shores. The 8km dusty and pothole filled road from Dix Cove to Akwidaa was absolutely worth it!

The one drawback (but not entirely) was the sad story of our beautiful hotel, Safari Beach Lodge. The quick version: an American couple, one a chef, opened up this well designed “eco-luxury resort”. It apparently was a hit until it was sold over a year ago to a Dutch guy living in Nigeria. The guy is hardly ever there, leaving the staff to run the place the best they know how. But with no real manager, it looks like the place is just a shadow of its former self.

Case in point – we arrive after 7 hours of transport, with a reservation, only to wait one hour to be shown our room, given the wrong room, Marc helped the guy move Alex’s extra twin bed , and asked to pay for our full stay in advance –all from a man with an affect that barely registered a heartbeat. Not the start we wanted for the wind down portion of this trip.

Marc and I even pondered the thought of staying for a few months and offering to help out. It’s really that beautiful and thoughtfully designed. Thankfully, the kitchen staff retained the skills of the chef, so the food was a definite winner.

By contrast, it’s more casual next door neighbor, The Green Turtle Lodge had no vacancy. It’s run by a super friendly and smiley English guy, Tom with his family. Alex was so happy to see kids her age.

Despite the bad the start, we had a National Geographic moment one night when the receptionist who appeared to loathe us woke us up for a rare experience.

We were witness to a leatherback turtle laying her eggs along the beach, burying them and returning to sea.

Who says there's no school on vacation? We played some bones.

Akwidaa kids

Hot and spicy

I knew what I was in for when I spotted the scotch bell peppers floating around in the slimy okra stew. Ghana is exactly that dish. Accra was steamy from the start. And our little Effia, as little girls born on Fridays are called (Kofi – yes, just like the former UN leader – if you are a boy) was a good sport about putting up with the heat from both the dish and the streets. Well, not really, but a nice tall neon orange Fanta made her forget about being hungry and being hot.

We also thought it might be a good idea to head up to the National Museum to cool off and wishfully thought that Alex would sleep. Wrong again. She decided to put on a big show for our taxi driver who probably wished that the traffic on Barnes Road had moved just a little bit faster. And the cool museum? Not exactly the temperature inside, but they did have some great information on the various meanings of Kente cloth and the slave routes including a vigorously scratched out photo of a former slave owner’s grave.

Day two in Accra had us running to and from the Burkina Faso embassy for US dollars and Alex’s US passport. Apparently there is some agreement between the US and Burkina Faso to allow US citizens to have multiple entries into the country good for 5 years. We walked straight to the Paloma Hotel for lunch and took a scenic cab tour near the streets of the bustling Makola market on our way back to our hotel.

Tomorrow, we are off to Akwidaa for palm trees, white sand and some relaxation!