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.

Mole here we come, Metro Mass Scam, Celine Dion and Kenny G Wanna Kill Me, and Dreams of dancing Wart Hogs

Time to get my safari on!  Leaving Tamale this afternoon for the 3 ½ - 4 ½ hours bus ride to Mole National Park via Mass Metro.  Mass Metro is the cheaper bus that has no ac but are quite efficient (but not this time to be sure). 

We mistakenly got out of the taxi at the STC bus station.   I asked the STC lady who was mean as a snake (bizarre in Ghana) where to get the Metro Mass buses and she pointed us to a teenager running towards us.  “He can help you,” she said with a glare.  I knew instantly this was some sort of a scam but decided to see it play out a bit.  This kid said the bus leaves at 2:30 but was already sold out but of course he knows the driver and can get us on.  Yeah, right.  I knew the bus leaves at 1:30 but looking at the clock realized we would end up missing it anyway.  In my head I figured we get our wonderful hotel room back, eat delicious food and take the 5 am bus the next morning to Mole.

So the scam watch begins.  We went to eat Banku at a bus station chop bar and wait for this kid to return to take us to Metro Mass to get these ‘Golden Tickets’ to Mole.  After a bit I get bored and decided to take off and go to Metro Mass to get a ticket for the morning bus out.  The kid of course sees us leaving and wants to help up with a bus.  We blow him off and go to Mass Metro on our own. 

As it turns out the bus was to leave at 1:30 but it is running very late and we still get tickets and wait with the rest of the hordes in the extra hot Tamale sun.  In the end waiting to see how this scam worked saved us two hours sitting at the hot, cramped Metro Mass station.  My theory is that the kid (who by the way is the brother of the STC attendant who said he would help us) would get us to the station after the bus left and try to get us to pay a big sum to take a ‘friends’ taxi out to Mole.  Just a guess but…if anyone knows the Tamale-Mole Bus Scam please let me know as would love to know what the outcome would have been.

Anywho, we go to a covered area with tons of people waiting under a shaded concrete area for the bus to Mole and areas on the way.  I little girl of about four named Ester befriends us as she cares for her baby brother.  She is a little spitfire and we have a grand time waiting for our very late bus.  To my horror I see a vendor selling Kenny G and Celine Dion Cd's.  Please make them stop!  Seriously. 

After playing with Ester and helping her care for her little brother for close to two hours our bus finally arrives around 4:30 pm.  This will for sure put us in after dark and the road to Mole is known for armed bandits.  For part of our journey, I assume the dodgy part; an armed policeman rides with us.  

 

Our spot on the bus were at the very back of the bus on those crappy elevated back-breaking, ass-beating seats.  The road to Mole is wicked crap and we were bounced around with whiplash force for most of the ride.  Good Fun and yes I do mean it. 

The Road to Mole took about 5-6 hours a year or so ago but major road works have slashed a good hour or two from that.  Like most of Ghana the road construction is at the hands of the Chinese. 

At one point there was a buzz on the bus about the armed bandits that strike buses coming down the road.  Nothing ever came of these whispers and we arrived at the gate to Mole National Park well after 8 pm.  The next step was to get off the bus and pay your park entrance fees (20 Cedi) then re-board the bus and drive another 10 minutes to the Mole Motel in the heart of the park.

The last 30 minutes of the journey the bus is filled with only travelers heading for the park and we met several people that we would spend the next couple days with.  Didn’t make a reservation so we were amongst the last to get a room.  Went all out on our room and got the double with ac that overlooks the watering hole to the park.  The moon was in hiding and we would not see the spectacular view over the Savannah till morning.

Before bed we did have a simple dinner of fried rice and a beer.  What a great room.  Two double beds, a big bathroom and ac that we had to turn down.  Running water at Mole Motel is from 6-8am and 6-8pm but the leave a bucket for each person, which is more than enough. 

Dreams of wart hogs dancing in my head at Mole National Park, Ghana

Tonight will be a restless sleep as I wonder what animals are wandering outside my door.  Looking forward to my safari walk and jeep trip tomorrow.  Sweet dream little warthogs.

Tour Kumasi, Largest Market in Western Africa, Lost on Pimped Out Tro Tro, Best and Worst Tour Guide Ever!

Breakfast at Treasureland Hotel in Kumasi, Ghana

The included breakfast at the Treasure Land Hotel is fantastic.  They give you three Nescafe sackets, Milo, tea, toast with butter and jam, a Spanish omelet and fruit.  What up with that…. love it.

Met Laura (she is from the States and living with her Ghanaian husband in Kumasi…met her in Accra) at the hotel and we took off to tour Kumasi.   I assume that Laura knows the ins and out of this city…. oh, how wrong I was…. and the adventure begins…. Laura is the Best and Worst Tour Guide Ever…got us totally lost several times but that is what travel is all about right…the adventure of it all.  Getting there is half the fun my friends.

Kumasi is the second largest city in Ghana with a population around 1.5 million.  It feels much bigger than Accra to me.  It is a busy, active city to be sure.  Kumasi is the only modern capital of the Ashanti Region and was the capital of the Ashanti State for three centuries.  The center of town in called Adum and has a crazy, busy market place than you could and should spend hours lost in. 

One thing I loved about Kejetia Market (the central market) is the old, abandoned railroad track that is now the walking path through parts of the market.  Kumasi is the first place I have felt at all hassled by anyone but still nothing like many parts of Asia.  Kajetia Market is the largest market in all of Western Africa.  There is also a major tro tro station at the market and it is out of control.  Dodging tro tros and Yutongs is quite the feat but good fun in the maze of Kejetia Market. 

The area was so busy that I didn’t want to take my camera out to get a shot of the old, abandoned building painted three stories high with the OMO logo.  It was very cool indeed. 

We decided to go to the National Cultural Center for a break.  Took a tour of the Prempreh II Jubillee Museum (5 Cedi with a guide).  It is a tiny museum but with the guide telling of the Ashanti history it was well worth it.  The grounds of the National Cultural Center are a bit of an oasis in this noisy, bustling city.  My friend Laura spent some time shopping, as there are a number of art markets on the grounds of the Cultural Center. 

We headed up Roman Hill to a beautiful old church and happened to find a tiny tro tro station behind it and as it turns out one of them was heading our direction.  So the deal with tro tro is that you yell or hit the minivan wall or ceiling to let the driver know you want off.  For a traveler like me I don’t recognize where I want to get off so I either find tro tro that finish at my destination or I ask the driver or someone to tell me when to get off.  It usually works. 

I assumed Laura knew where we were to get off as she has done it on a regular basis for several months.  As we passed an area that looked familiar even to me she turns to me and says, “hey that’s Tech” (our stop) as if she is just showing me the sights.  A bit of time goes by and the city has turned into suburbs and lots of green rolling hills.  She has missed our stop by a good 15 minutes and we are well on our way out of town.   We ask a girl next to us and after some time figure out we are on a tro tro to another city. 

After passing through several villages I stop laughing and we tell people on the tro tro that we should have gotten on 30 minutes ago.  After many good laughs by all the pull off the road in the middle of nowhere and put us on a tro tro back to the city but it is broken down and night has set in. 

Not much time passes and another tro tro goes by and we are off again.  It was a wicked fancy tro with what looks like a stripper pole up front (my first Pimp Tro).  Our driver wearing sunglasses at night and driving like a mad man (this is my favorite kind of tro tro driver by the way) we get back in no time. 

Well after dark I get back to the Treasure Land Hotel to have a beer and tell all the tales of my day with the Best and Worst Tour Guide Ever.  Thanks you dear Laura…it was a blast.

Wandering Cape Coast, Ghana

View of Cape Coast Castle

I am staying in the older part of town and decide as I usually do the first day in a new place to simple wander.   It is smallish town with a bustling market and active vendors.  There is a statue of a Crab about a ½ mile down from the hotel on the way to the beach.  This Crab statue will before a location device and meeting place on my stays in Cape Coast. It seems to be the central area and a bit of a round about to boot. 

If you turn left you go over London Bridge that leads you to a road that lines the fishing area.  This area is much more interesting to watch as lots of kids are about playing in the streets as the smell of fresh caught and drying fish permeates the air.  Love that smell.  After less than a mile you end up at the Cape Coast Castle. 

I decided to wait until tomorrow to check out the Castle.  While watching the waves crash against the rocks around the castle a street artist approached to chat.  Often I will try to get out of talking to sellers but decided to see where the conversation went.  In the end my new friend Evans and I talked and walked the beach and town for hours.  He had been hanging in front of the Cape Coast Beach Restaurant waiting for a tour group to finish so he could try to sell his wears.  

Along the beach in Cape Coast pigs rule the manor.  They root around for food and dig down to wet sand to nap in.  I guess the saying here would be ‘Happy as a pig in sand’, not mud.

Walking around fishing areas has always been a highlight for me wherever I am and Ghana is no different.  Actually, the smells here are much fresher than in most of Asia. 

The fishing boats here are long, large and canoe like.  Many are brightly colored with blues, reds and yellows.  All are in varying degrees of disrepair.  When you look across the expanse of 10-20 of these boats it really is quite majestic. 

Red Red

I ate my first Red Red at the Cape Coast Castle Beach Restaurant. Red Red with Chicken is my  new favorite dish ever!!!!! it consists of black eyed peas with a red, palm oil based Ghanaian curry like sauce with fried plantains. For sure my new favorite food ever.    The restaurant’s menu will satisfy anyone.  It ranges from Western  breakfast foods to local dishes and everything in between.  Several pages long in fact.  There is also an excellent selection of spirits.  The spacious, open sitting is amazing especially with that ocean breeze coming in.  One could hang here for quite some time. 

I managed to get myself back to The Prospect to meet Obehi for a tiny dinner.  Nothing on the menu made me happy as my head was filled with visions of Red Red and chicken.  (I am writing this a week or two after I ate that Red Red for the first time and I have had it several times since…and yes, it still makes me as happy as when Bev sends me my 2 minute Thai Noodles from New Zealand). 

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. 

Aquired two Fake Children!

Another long breakfast for me.  This time I met a fella named Jesse.  He is a professor of Anthropology in Philadelphia and has spent a huge amount of time in Ghana both for pleasure and research.  I came to find out later while hanging out with him that he speaks Twi (hope I got that right) and quite well from what I could hear.  He is in Accra for two weeks during his Sabbatical to promote his new book about the Hip Life (I will try to find the actual title of the book).  It is about the rise of a type of music called Hip Life.  He has been coming to Ghana for 15 plus years and lived in Accra for a couple years.  I think this is his third book but first to be published.

The people you meet traveling are quite fascinating there is no doubt about that!

After breakfast I headed out to wander the city.  I had no plan but felt quite safe to wander aimlessly.  I did get to an ATM quite quickly, which is good, as I had no money. 

I ended up wandering into one of the two main markets; Makola, which like most third world cities includes a bus station.  I was never harassed to buy and rarely to chat either.  I seem to go about somewhat unnoticed.  A couple women selling crabs did want me to eat crab and marry their brother as they thought my husband at home wouldn’t mind if there was another (no I am not married but I do wear a wedding ring and have a fake husband and two fake kids at home).

A few hours later I found myself walking up one of the main drags; Barns Road up towards Asylum Downs (a major area of the city).  I was half looking for cheaper accommodation and half just checking things out.  I did find one but it had no space and the smaller streets are not marked so difficult to find addresses.  Granted everyone is extremely nice and would gladly show you the way. 

On my walk up Barnes I talked to a student/street vendor who of course was trying to marry me.  The fact that I have a (fake) husband did nothing to slow him down; even when I told him my husband would be joining me in a couple weeks.  I had heard that Western Africa is very tough on a single woman traveling simply for the constant proposals of marriage and chat about give me a try as you will prefer me over your husband.  After leaving this latest proposal (he ended up walking with me a couple miles) I decided to acquire two (fake) children.  They are 9 and 10 and strangely enough hold a striking resemblance to my little sisters.  It has made all the difference in the world to have a fake husband two fake kids.  (I have always worn a fake wedding ring on my journeys).  I can even show pictures on my phone of my fake kids.  Works like a charm. 

Came back to Afia for a quite dinner, beer and to enjoy the view.