Good Bye Beyin, 3 Tro Tro/One Fan Ice Kinda Day, Big Blue Yutong Short Bus, Big Boobs and Yutong Preacher (Beyin, Ghana)

AND ANOTHER NEXT DAY

good bye Beyin

There are two choices for leaving Beyin.  There is a direct tro tro to Takaradi at 4am.  What, 4am, hell no.  I would rather take 5 tro tros and accidentally end up in Cote d’Ivoire than leave at 4am. 

As you might have guessed I choose the long way.  I had to take a tro tro to the ‘cross roads’ so I headed out with my pack in that direction just waiting to flag down the next tro heading my way.  Some guys at a chop bar told me to grab a tro going the other direction into the next town where I would get on another to Takaradi.  Apparently it takes longer to get to the town as you are backtracking but there is more chance of catching a ride.  Decided to kinda hang out and to just jump on the next tro no matter which direction it was heading.  The longer way won. 

The first tro took maybe 45 minute to get to somewhere.  There I jumped off and jumped on one going to Takaradi.  As usual the locals on my first tro made sure I was set up on the next one before they left.  It’s an entire country of nice people.    The next ride was a couple hours and I asked then to drop me before the station if they saw rides heading to Cape Coast along the way. 

I got dumped off on a street corner where there was a Big Blue Yutong Short Bus almost full.  Yippee for me and all on board…between myself and one other  and the beast was full.   This mini Yutong is actually going to Accra but will pass through Cape Coast.  Hope they remember I wanted to get off. 

A heavyset woman with a baby was sitting next to me.  Her boobs were gigantic.  Granted I am a wee thing and a C cup seems big to me.  Her baby was fussing because he was hungry and she was having trouble in the crowded bus with breast feeding so I helped her out a bit.  Just gave her my elbow to rest her tatas on to make things easier.  I felt so needed at that moment.  The Yutong had some ac and was only a One Fan Ice Ride. 

Oh, just remembered on big thing.  The Yutong Preacher singled me out to yell Amen.  Everyone was quite amused but I do what I am told.  It very well may have saved our lives that I did that plus I sill had my Good Luck Preacher Stone from that Big Yutong back in Kumasi.  Get me there safe and I will give you all the Amens I can muster.

Got back safe and sound, grabbed a cab to the Prospect were there is still no water and grabbed a bit to eat with Obehi.  He is like family now, the Nigerian brother I never had.

Happy Homeless Beach Dogs, Eco-Tourism and Canoe to Stilt Village

After an amazing, leisurely breakfast I headed to the beach for a few hours.  The resort has about 10 short tables with thatched umbrellas and lounge chairs.  Unlike many resorts this places if well off the beaten track near the border of Côte d'Ivoire so only a few locals passed during my chill time. 

Saw a group of four dogs running on the beach. 

lounging at the beach

First thing I noticed is that their tails where up and wagging, which is not something I see often in the third world/developing world.  I assumed they must belong to someone but the owner never appeared.  As they got closer I realized they were a pack of homeless beach dogs and they were well fed and happy as hell.  This is a first for me; happy, homeless beach dogs.  Watched and took pictures as they frolicked and dug for crabs then chased the crabs.  I felt honored to have witnessed this. 

Happy, homeless beach dogs playing with crabs

Around 10 I headed over to the Nzuezo Tour guide area and the guy from the bus ride in was there.  He would be my guide to the village.  Ghana has embraced eco-tourism and works hard to find a balance between preservation and tourism.  The silt village can only be accessed by canoe and you are required to take a guide.   Again I am the only tourist in town so it’s just the two of us.

It is the dry season at the moment so we have to walk about a half an hour to where we get the canoe.  During a large portion of the year you walk a mere five minutes to the canoes.  The first bit of the walk is a huge grass field.  There were men working to repair fences but these fences were haphazardly placed.  My guide said these were fishing fences.  During the rainy season the area were are walking is a shallow lake and those fences capture fish.  In about a month the rains will start and this meadow will become a lake.

Really wish I could come back and check it out in the rainy season.  One of my favorite things is to see a place, especially a place with extremes, in different seasons.  The best one yet was Russia.  I was there for a month in July camping and then did the Trans-Siberian and a month between Moscow and St. Petersburg in the winter.  What a difference.  Really must write about that one someday.

The canoe ride down the small river was very cool.  The entire trip was covered in a canopy of foliage and dragonflies and other water lovin’ bugs were abundant.  The river opened up into Lake Amansuri and I could see Nzeuzo in the distance.  Nzeuzo was created over 500 years ago and around 450 people live on the stilt village.  The village consists of two churches and a school complete with football pitch in the dry season.  

football pitch and school

Would love to take pictures once on the village but they no longer allow photography, which is great actually.  Can you imagine having daily tourists arriving at your home and in your hood snapping pictures? 

We only spent a half hour or so on Nzeuzo but that was all one really needs.  I did see there is a guesthouse there are well...that would be a pretty cool experience.  Since it is the dry season there are chickens running around in the mud that is the ground on the parts of the village that are closer to land.  Turns out that during the rainy season the chickens are put in floating chicken houses.  I bet they enjoy these months of dry.  The trip out was 20 Cedi and I gave a donation as well then tipped my guide 7 Cedi.  Typically he would have to walk the extra 10-15 minutes back to the tourist center but since it was just me I told him to go one home as I am more than capable of getting myself back.

Nzeuzo Stilt Village

Ate a super tasty pizza served on a ceramic cooking dish…. covered in tomatoes, onions, capsicums and more)…and as is the Ghana way the electricity went out in the middle of the night.  Another night with the door open…. will wait and tell my mother that one later.

NEXT DAY

I did stay another day here but there is absolutely nothing to tell.  Ate good food, read a good book and sat on the beach.  Hells Yeah!

Out of the open lake

 

Pizza at Beyin Beach Resort

Beyin Beach Resort, Stellar Mac N Cheez, Alone at a Resort, Happy Soul

Beyin Beach Resort

Yeeeha! Back in a Tro Tro to Takaradi (6 Cedi).  Once I got to Takaradi I had to grab a taxi to another Tro Tro station to get to Beyin in the far west near the border of Cote d’Ivoire.  Ended up paying 4 Cedi, which is too much but I really didn’t care.   

 The station for destinations West was pretty crazy…loved it.  Once again I was the only white chick around and as usual everyone was incredible helpful.  Everyone assumed I would likely be heading to Beyin so they led me to the correct ticket booth.  In no time I had sorted a ticket and found my Tro Tro for Beyin (6.5 Cedi). 

One of the young guys waiting or the Tro Tro spoke pretty good English and is a guide to Nzuezo, the stilt village that makes this area famous.   It is a much smaller destination and it can take a long time to fill a Tro but I got lucky and it was full in about a half hour.  Grabbed a couple chocolate Fan Ice for the road cuz it was scorching hot and it was a two Fan Ice kinda ride. 

The ride to Beyin was super hot but lovely.  About an hour or less out we hit a dirt road for the rest of the journey.  I felt like I was getting well away from it all.  At one point a huge clear-cut area appeared with construction going on.  It didn’t take long to figure out it was a Chinese outfit.  It was insane the amount of building going on so far off the beaten track.   I later found out it is yet another oil drilling project.  

 As it turns out Beyin is a sleepy little coastal town.  Only way in is a dirt road for a good half hour.  As we rolled into town I knew there would be limited trips back out.  I was the last one on the Tro Tro and the driver was kind enough to drive me to the edge of town where the Beyin Beach Resort is found. 

After jumping out of the truck and following the direction of the driver gave me which where something like ‘go that way and have fun’.  I headed towards the beach on yet another dirt footpath and asked a couple people where to go and Voilà! I was there. 

my hut

The resort is absolutely gorgeous.  An elevated, wooden footpath leads to an open-air bar/reception area surrounded by thatched roof seating areas with tables for dinning.   I am the only guest as it is the off-season and the middle of the week...a resort to myself.  Apparently this joint was packed out just the day before with weekend vacation seekers. 

Following the wooden footpath leads to shared toilets and showers and eventually to the sleeping huts.  I booked into a two person shared hut but I remained the only guest so didn’t have to share the digs.  Thankfully each room has a fan but like a lot of Ghana the power was out about half the time.

The deal with places like this is you put in your dinner order before five so it’s ready to go by six or seven.  The Beyin Beach Resort has a stellar menu so I decide to do something I haven’t in a long time…each Western food.  The first night I order up some Mac N Cheez.  Time will tell if this is a good decision or not. 

Two hours later…. OMG the Mac N Cheez is off the hook.  Such a happy tummy.  

Spend a bit of time enjoying the ocean night sky before heading to bed.  The power was off again and even though I was alone at this remote resort at night I felt comfortable leaving the door open for that cool ocean breeze to act as my fan.

See Ya Mole, Water Shortage, and Heading West

The only bus out of Mole National Park leaves at 4am.  Not thrilled about it but it is what it is.  Five of us walked in the dark to the pick up spot with sleep still in our eyes.  So the story is that the bus leaves at 4am if the driver wakes up at 4am.  We did get lucky and he woke up by 4:15 and we were off. 

It was dark out, raining and cool.  Actually managed to get a wee bit of sleep.  The ride back to town was uneventful and we were lucky to be the first stop.  The bus to Tamale was full and standing room only by the second stop. 

Chill day in Tamale.  We were back in town about 10am; I bought my ticket back to Kumasi for the next day and headed back to our hotel.  It was a catch up on writing and photos kind of day for me.  Sorry no baboon attacks or crazy Swedes to mention.

Did dinner at a chop bar a block from the hotel and our ‘hotel cat’ was there waiting for us.  Met a Ghanaian woman who had been living in DC suburbs for past 11 years.  She was there to introduce her children to the rest of the family.  It was apparent that her 7 and 10 year old were American (well at least Westerners).  They were freaked by the fact they had to jump over a drain ditch to get to the chop bar and they were sick of chicken and rice.  The woman on the other hand was desperate to move back to Ghana after her two-week visit.  She shad that for the past nine years she has been on high blood pressure medicine and within 10 days in Ghana she was off it.  Us Westerners tend to think those in the third world and developing world want to move our way…. not true.

Chicken and Rice at that joint were only 3Cedi and wicked good.

NEXT DAY

Got up early to get my 7 am bus to Kumasi.  STC buses are always nice; ac, big seats and safe.  We did have a blow out but the bus made it to a rest area so everyone could eat and pee while it was getting fixed. 

Got to Kumasi only an hour late and checked back in to Treasureland for one more night before heading back to The Coast. 

The ride back was on a STC again so very comfortable and uneventful.  I check back into The Prospect to find out that the whole of Cape Coast was out of water and had been for days.  No rain so the river was empty and there is no back up plane for things like that in Ghana.  Turns out that the edges of Cape Coast had been out of water for weeks and it had finally hit the city center.

Daily water supply

Thankfully The Prospect brings a bucket and a huge container of water each day, which is enough to bath and flush the toilet once maybe twice a day.  Someone on the staff has to gather all these huge containers and go somewhere for hours each day to get us water.  I have no clue how far or how much they pay to get the water but they are gone a good half day.

I was back in room 116 with the bed bugs again and yes, I was eaten alive again.   This time I spoke up and they sprayed my room and Obehi’s room as they were next door to each other.  I spent the next couple days in comfort without a single bed bug bite…. Nice.

So, Obehi and I took bets on when the last time people had showered.  We based this not only on odor but on the level of scratching people were doing.  Oh, what becomes entertainment when the water drys up in Ghana. 

I am heading further west tomorrow…Far West.