I arrived back to Takoradi almost a week ago now, after a fortnight of memorable travels, in which I enjoyed Ghana’s stunning beaches, the delights of the capital, and the beautiful Volta Region. I’ve had a great time, visited some truly beautiful and ‘off the beaten track’ places, met some lovely people (including a charming family of monkeys), and has demonstrated to me what a geographically and culturally diverse country Ghana is in which to travel (not to mention cheap!). I’ll try and give a brief run-down of each place, and I’ve uploaded 25 pictures to the photo album. Enjoy!

GREEN TURTLE LODGE (3 nights)

I’ve become a bit of a regular here now, as it’s only an hour from Takoradi and is an incredibly serene and laid back beach lodge, with excellent food and friendly staff! I’ve already described my New Year’s Eve here in an earlier blog, but needless to say it was wonderful, with a fish BBQ, bonfire on the beach and traditional drummers from the local village. At 11pm the electricity ran out (not enough sunlight during the day for the solar panels!) which made it even more fun, with just oil burners and the fire for light. My first day of 2007 was spend doing some of my favourite things – walking on the beach, just eating, chatting, drinking and playing Scrabble! After 3 days I decided that I really should leave and see some more of Ghana, though it was tempting just to stay!

ACCRA (2 nights)

On my arrival from UK in October I had been a bit over-awed by Accra, but then I guess that’s natural as it was my first ever taste of Africa. On my return I stayed in Osu – downtown Accra – where the nice bars and restaurants are, and I have completely changed my perspective on the city. I spent my first evening in Ryan’s Irish pub, quite a surreal experience. Here, I bumped into three lovely Irish Catholic priests based in Nigeria, who were on holiday, and I’d met them previously at Green Turtle. We sat and put the world to rights, whilst watching Chelsea v Villa live from England. The next day I visited the National Museum, which is tiny, but full of interesting artifacts from Ghana’s history (including a very cool collection of traditional instruments!). In the evening I met up with George – a friend of the Djabatey family I know in Liverpool - a lovely guy who took me out for a meal at a very nice restaurant, and then went to the swanky Chester’s bar where we met his wife and watched a live Highlife band till 1am. Not a bad night out for a Wednesday evening in January!

HO (1 night)

Thursday, however, was a frustrating day. Most of it was spent waiting around in central Accra for a bus that never turned up. I’d bought a ticket for a coach to Hohoe in the Volta Region, a 4 hour journey. It was meant to turn up at 1pm, but still hadn’t arrived by 4pm, and so I cut my losses and boarded the only coach that actually did arrive that day, to Ho, which is in the same direction as Hohoe. I eventually arrived there at 8pm, and checked into the YMCA. Sadly, there was no sign of any camp disco music, let alone a construction worker, but the man at reception did have an incredibly high, ghostly voice, but I was too tired to worry about that and fell straight to sleep.

MOUNTAIN PARADISE, BIAKPA (4 nights)

It’s amazing how fortunes can change. By 11am the next morning I was sat on the terrace at Mountain Paradise reading my book, having a coffee (rich and organic, grown in the locality), overlooking valleys and mountains and it really was paradise. Well, at least I could make out the outline mountains through the thick mist, as at the moment is the Harmattan season, which is when dust blows from the Sahara, making the sky sheet white and making visibility low. So perhaps I could have picked a better time to visit reputably the most lush, beautiful and mountainous region in Ghana. Ah well!

On my arrival, I met a lovely group of friends from London who were traveling Ghana for a fortnight. In the evening we eat together (the food is delicious!) and by the time we’d finished the staff had prepared us a camp fire, a big bottle of palm wine (distilled locally), calablashes to drink out of, and 3 drummers to entertain us (who later told traditional folk tales of Coco Nancy), giving us all a truly memorable evening, undoubedly one of my best in Ghana.

Mountain Paradise is the kind of enchanting place that if I hadn’t left when I did I think I’d still be there now. It was very much like a retreat, with the only sound the birds and the crickets (which for Ghana, is completely unheard of!!) and the only view of the surrounding mountains (or mist, depending on how optimistically you look at it). It was also an excellent base to explore, do a spot of hiking, and see the surrounding villages. On Saturday I did a 3 hour trail along the river, taking in a rich variety of birds and butterflies, and three pretty waterfalls, one of which I swam in – very refreshing (and pretty chilly!). Then on Saturday, feeling a bit more adventurous set off on foot at sunrise to visit a monkey sanctuary 8 miles away. I arrived at Tafi Atome at around 9am, and was taken through the woods, and soon saw dozens cute little Mona monkeys swinging and jumping through the trees. The guide then gave me a banana to feed to the monkeys, who dropped to the ground and eat out of my hand, very cute indeed (check out the photos)! My walk back took me through many small tradional villages. At one I stopped and watched a young lad weaving the beautiful traditional kente cloth, and bought some as a souevenir, and I was then given an impromptu lesson in the traditional talking drum by a village elder - whose rhythms signify different messages and calls to the locals (God knows what my frantic improvisations were saying). As a way of thanks, I took my 'teacher' to the bar, where he bought half a pint of local gin!! But was a small price to pay for some authentic African drumming (again check out the photos!). Nearer the lodge, a local farmer stopped me and insisted on cutting me some fresh paw-paw, and gave me as many as I could carry! As all fruit is Ghana, it was completely delicious, so flavoursome and juicy! So by the time I arrived back I was pretty worn out (a 16 mile roundtrip with some nasty hills) but had a been a great, fulfilling day. Monday - my final day - was simply spent on a couch on the balcony, with a big pile of books, a big flask of coffee, with 2 homemade meals brought to me at lunch and dinner. Now thats my definition of a holiday!

HOHOE (1 night)

I then travelled to the nearest town Hohoe, as a springboard to a much recommended eco-tourism site (Laite Vote) in a nearby mountain village. I patiently waited for the rather dilapadated tros-tros to fill up, which took 2 hours, and we eventually set off at around 3pm. About 5km down a dusty track, there was an almighty crash, and the whole veichle bolted then stopped abruptly, throwing people around inside the car. No-one seemed to be hurt, but the tros-tros (parts of it held together by stickytape) was in obvious need of repair (or, more realistically, scrapping!). So, for the second time this trip, I abonded my plans, walked back into Hohoe and booked myself into a nice hotel (having spend the last few nights in a tent). It's actually quite a liberating feeling to be just change your plans like that. I was soon feeling great, having had a nice shower, and looking forward to an evening of air conditioned comfort, and watching the Liverpool v Arsenal game on TV. However, these plans were dashed when, at 6pm the electric went off - light off - until 6am. No fan, no lights and no football - no problem!! A hearty meal and a couple of large beers sorted me out, and I slept soundly.

WLI (1 night)

The small village of Wli holds the claim to have 'the highest waterfalls in West Africa' (which I don't doubt!), which maybe in another country would therefore make it extremely a commercialised and expensive place to visit. Not so in Ghana! Upon arrival it looked like pretty much any other rural village, with lots of goats, chickens, and churches! A hand painted sign put me in the right direction. Entrance to the falls was the equivalent of two pounds, which for a 2 hour walk (and 2 hour sit at the falls) with a local guide is pretty stunning value. The approach to the falls was gorgeous, following the river through the woods in the shadow of nearby mountains. Then the falls themselves were beautiful, very graceful (if thats the right word) with a thin stream of fresh water coming down over the rocks making a small pool at the bottom, complete with rainbow in the mist (check out the photos). Not breath-takingly amazing I grant you, but very beautiful and serene all the same, making it one of those moments when you feel very content to be where you are, just happy to sit, think, and just be. Just when I thought it couldn't get any better, the guide appeared from behind a bush with a bottle of Star (local beer) which we cooled in the stream and drank slowly, taking in the beauty around us.

That night was spend camping near the falls, at a lodge run by a wonderful crazy German woman. There I met Mark, an Austrailian with Cornish roots (like me!) who had travelled down through Europe from England, making my spell in Ghana seem tame by comparison! He was a really nice guy, and I enjoyed sharing my last night in Volta Region with him, talking into the night with a fellow starry eyed traveller.

ACCRA (1 night)

A night in Accra drew my travels to a close, and this time I went to see a live band at the legendary Bywells in Osu, who were fantastic, playing a mixture of Highlife, Latin, Stevie Wonder and.... English folk songs! The following morning I enjoyed a couple of last luxuries - a secondhand bookshop and a great little street cafe - and then set back to Takoradi in a nice new air conditioned Ford tros - with seatbelts!! (due the incident at Hohoe I becoming increasingly wary and skeptical of tros tros!).

GREEN TURTLE (1 night)

Well, it was almost the end of my travels! On my journey home, I got a text from Tom at Green Turtle inviting me to a surprise party for his wife's Jo 30th birthday, at the beach on Sunday. It was a diverse and interesting crowd of locals, volunteers, ex-pats, and lodge-owners from around the coast, all of whom brought homemade food, making a veritable feast! Yet another evening spent eating good food, drinking and chatting into the night in the light of oil burners - surely that what life's all about! So, waking up my tent on Monday morning, really did signify the end my travels and starting back at Mansek.

It was lovely to get 'home' and to see my Ghanaian family again, and things are going well at the school, with lots going on which I'll report at a later date. Nevertheless, my New Year travels have undoubtedly given me the wanderlust, and at the beginning of February I will travel to the northern region for a week to explore this amazing country even further.

Until next time.....

James x