Off to Cape Coast

Before I left I ran into Jesse and Ben yet again.  Lucky for me Ben was heading to MTN to fix one of Jesse’s phones.  I still had to register my phone so I tagged along.  Back an hour later with my Ghanaian Burner phone ready to go.

Talking off for Cape Coast today.  It should be about a 3-4 hour journey but I have no clue what time the buses leave so will be heading to STA Station about noon (I think it is one of the nice bus lines). 

As I was checking out I ran into Jesse for a final goodbye.  He definitely showed me a side of Accra I would never have discovered as a tourist. 

Taxi to STA station (15 cedi) took maybe 20 minutes as it is on the outer ring of town.  Had no clue what I was doing of course but as is Ghanaian style a guy working for STA showed me where to go and what to do.  Easy as pie.  A ticket from Accra to Cape Coast was 8 Cedi.  STA buses are comfortable and have AC.  I did have to suffer through a Nigerian movie but hey that’s how you roll here right.

As it got closer to the time on my ticket to depart I noticed action around the corner from where I had been waiting for an hour.  I figured it was time to do something so I followed the crowd to luggage tagging area.  It was 1 cedi for my bag.  As usually I hung within view of my bag until it was loaded. 

I have to say that the whole public bus thing works very well here.  I am use to Asia where buses leave minutes to hours late and you just never know until its happening.

We arrived at Cape Coast at about 6:30 pm as the sun was going down.  Straight off the bus I got a taxi to Prospect Lodge (10 cedi but hotel said it should be 8 cedi).  I have noticed the price changes a bit if you take a taxi at rush hour times which is fair enough.

I arrived in the middle of a blackout (one of many to come on my travels around Ghana) in Cape Coast but the hotel had a generator, which gave one light and the fan for each room.  I had a simple dinner in the dark along with a beer.  There was a beautiful church across the lot from me and some kids had a bonfire going (I assume because of the power outage).  It gave an amazing glow to the steeple. 

Prospect Lodge is situation on a hill, which gives great views of the city and ocean.  There was a beautiful mosque across for the hotel too.  The call to prayer was reminiscent to staying in the Medinas of Morocco.  It is centrally located to the market, beach and attractions.  Before I went to bed the electricity was back on and I actually got a bit chilled with the AC on.