'On a Freaking Tro Tro', beach dogs, another power outage!

Oh, how I will miss these dogs.  The little one sat right under my feet for a tummy rub while I had my coffee this morning.  In the end I paid 312 Cedi for five nights, all dinners, several breakfasts and beers ($150 US).  I can handle that.  I think I may come back for the last few days in Ghana. 

Sunday is a great day and terrible day to travel.  There is very little traffic but there are also very few buses running. The only options in little, out of the way places like this is to pay quite a lot more to taxi out.  I knew this when I decided to stay an extra night so no big deal at all.

Got a taxi right from the Hideout all the way to Takaradi (45 Cedi) then jumped on a Tro Tro back to Cape Coast.  I thought I would wait a very long time for the Tro Tro to fill.  As I got in there were only four people and they all shrugged their shoulders like ‘yep, we are here for a while’.  Just as I sat down a family straight out of church and dressed in their Sunday Best filled the remaining seats and off we went.

Tro Tro:  Old, broken down mini vans that hold 14 people and depending on the driver can be a lot like riding Space Mountain at Disneyland.  They don’t leave until they are full.  The benefit to a Tro Tro over a bus is that they are always going so you don’t have to wait for a specific bus time to leave.  The guidebook says not to take them between towns but I keep finding myself bumping down the roads of Ghana of my beloved Tro Tros.  Actually I quite enjoy a good Tro Tro ride.

In a freaking' Tro Tro

Text from Obehi the day he left Hideout Lodge:  “On a Tro Tro, a Freaking Tro Tro!!”

Tro Tro dropped me right in middle of market close to the hotel.  The market is amazing and pumping on Sundays to be sure. 

Another blackout upon my arrival lasting until 11pm.  Room 115 was taken so had to move in next door to 116 and it sucks.  Shower doesn’t work, toilet doesn’t work, fan doesn’t work and I got bit to shit by bed bugs.  Ended up wearing long sleeve shirt and pants to bed to avoid bits. 

Obehi and I watch South Park on his computer until the power on it ran out as the rooms were wicked hot with not fans or ac due to the power outage.  If you walk the streets late night here you see many people sleeping on the street even if they have somewhere indoors to rest, as it is so much cooler.

Note on power outages:  I came to find out that at the end of the Month (April) the power in Ghana, Togo, and Benin should be better as the Nigerian government has slowed the oil coming here over the past year or so and that is about to change.  I have learned that whatever happens in Nigeria has a HUGE impact on these countries.  (Posting this on the last days of April and power has been steady for two days now…. the Nigerian pipeline is flowing again I guess).

Fishing on Poo Rock, Sunburn, No Fish, Village Kids! (Butre, Ghana)

fishing / Butre, Ghana

Nice, long breakfast and coffee with my beach before I head out to walk to Poo Rock.  There are few if any toilets in Ghana so each village has an outdoor spot for 'Taking Care of Business' and here it is a large rock outcropping on the beach.  We have kindly named it Poo Rock and it is now a geographical meeting point.  Read for a bit before Obehi met me to do some ‘Poo fishing’.  I am trying to keep myself covered today and to find any bit of shade I can after yesterday...ouch.  Talked to mom on the beach too which is still a crazy, bizarre act .  So use to not having contact when I travel; at least not without effort.

We found a nice large poo free area on the big rock outcropping that separates the 2-kilometer of Butre beach from a tiny fishing village on the other side.  I hung out in the shade taking pictures of sand crabs and various shells while Obehi fished.  A group of six kids from the fishing village joined us in various degrees of dress.  Some of the kids naked for swimming and others in swim trunks.  I did take note that the kids with cloths tend to speak more English and thus have been to school.  I assume to a degree it is socioeconomic.   The kids were between the ages of 8-10 I would say. 

The couple kids whom spoke English and I talked about school and if my friend was actually going to catch any fish.  The kids seemed to think anyone can catch fish at Poo Rock but in the end Obehi went home with nothing….LOSER! (Obehi says it was actually because he loves animals and didn’t want to kill a fish…he is lying)

Sent some of the kids to buy us water and snacks that we shared with them of course.  Even after all my travels the vast differences in how people live and interact still amazes me.  I guess that is why I am still addicted to travel.

Next Day

Hideout Lodge / Butre, Ghana

Even though I tried my best to stay out of the sun yesterday it didn’t work.  The walk to and from Poo Rock alone takes more than an hour.  Not leaving my sleepy shaded beach today.  Leisurely breakfast and catching up on my journal and reading I think.

Well, I ended up totally distracted by a huge church school group playing and picnicking on the beach today.  Loved watching everyone interact.  Playing soccer, gossiping and swimming.  A couple girls sat to talk to me and I made the mistake of assuming that since they were in high school I could be honest about my religious beliefs.  I told them I was spiritual but did not believe in one specific god or religion.  Not what you say in a predominantly Catholic country.  They were very sweet but went on and on about how I need to embraces the bible and read it.  I have read quite a bit of the bible actually.  Lesson learned.  Like my fake husband and fake children I must remember to have a fake religion here. 

Obehi leaving today to head back to Cape Coast but I just can’t seem to pull myself away yet.  I will take off tomorrow if my soul can manage leaving here.  One more quite night with my beach and dogs. 

Walk to Busua, Dixcove.....Shark Fins, African Heat, Beaches and Banku! (Ghana, Africa)

Path to Busua, Ghana

Must have walked close to 8 miles today.   The walk from Butre to Busca was a long, hot one but well worth it.  Once you reach the top of the hill you can see the sleepy town of Busca with its beautiful beach. Busca is a larger village/town about 4km over the hill from Butre.  Busua’s beach is just as nice as Butre but there are actually people on it.  If the Hideout Lodge weren’t so amazing I would for sure have stayed in Busua. 

Once we finally hit the town we decided to take a break (we had been waking for an hour in the scorching African heat) for a Fanta and to play a game of pool at the African Rainbow Resort.  Met a couple older Canadian men traveling around Ghana.  I have meet very few travelers.  All the Westerners I meet are volunteers.  For a few seconds I was so excited as I thought one of them was Willie Nelson.  To my disappointment it was not Willie Nelson….I will have to keep waiting for that dream to come true.

Next stop on our journey was to eat Banku with fish at a tiny street stale.  I am not a fan of Banku…I think it is because it has the texture of a banana, which is my most hated food; but it’s cheap and does the trick. 

Dixcove / Western Ghana

Next stop, Dixcove.  Dixcove is another 20 minutes walk from Busua through another tiny village.  Dixcove is full of run-down alleys and a bustling fishing area.  We wandered around the maze of boats, nets, and huge metal bowls of fish.  I wish I could have taken a bunch of photos but it is just so obvious to do so.

 Walking the streets I saw fish of all kinds and the one thing I didn’t expect to see…. shark fins and lots of them.  I have always thought of this practice as an Asian thing not African.  Looking at all those fins (there must have been 30 at one location) I wondered where the meat had gone, as I have never seen it on a menu. 

We eventually ended up at Fort Metal Cross, which had great views of the town on one side and children swimming in a cove on the other.  Must admit I am getting over done in the mid day heat at this point but we still need to walk back to Busua.

Caught a taxi to Agona about 15-20 minutes away so we could catch a tro tro back to Butre.  Before we jumped on a tro tro back we wandered the colorful market of Agona for a bit. 

Beach at Busua / Western Ghana

The tro tro back took maybe 30 minutes (1.3 Cedi) and stopped at a few small villages along the way.  I did grab a couple bags of water and papaya out the window.  After a long day in the African sun I ended up drinking two bags of water like I was taking a breath of air. 

Ended the day with a well-deserved beer and chilling in the shade back at the beach.