I woke up with a start after another night of drinking and little sleep. It was light outside, the storm had hit, which is probably what woke me. Lying in the bed I could hear the wind whirling through the palm trees and rain pelting down on the roof and creating puddles all around the huts and tents where we were staying. I looked at my phone and it was 8 in the morning. It didn’t take me long to decide that getting up, even on so little sleep was better than staying in the bed restless. Sarah was still asleep, and not ready to get up. So I had a shower, there is no hot water, anywhere I have been to so far, but even so early in the morning, during a tropical storm, the cool water was very refreshing. I dressed and borrowed her camera to take for a walk. It was still raining when I left our hut, and I was walking through mud, with no shoes on.
I decided I wasn’t hung over, I was fine, and walking through the rain was cleansing way to start the day. There were a few (very attractive, shirtless) African men running along the beach passed me, so I was more than happy to enjoy the peaceful work. When I returned to the hut, people were starting to pack away their tents and move along to their next destination.
Sarah and I went over to the boys’ hut, to see if they were awake and wanted breakfast. We ate in the outdoor restaurant, which is right on the beach. The guys decided to head back to Accra after we check out, to go to Movenpick to use the free and fast wifi. Sarah and I wanted to lay on the beach for a bit longer and head back later in the afternoon.
We had run up a bit of a hefty tab at the bar the night before; tequila, beer, gin, vodka, rum. Neither of us had brought enough money for the weekend, so we jumped in a share taxi and headed about 5km or 30mins up the dirt road to the main road to find an ATM. The room, dinner, breakfast and our beverages cost 70 cedis each. (About $35 Australian Dollars). We checked out, didn’t even make it back to the hut when we decided to stay an extra night, and head back to Pokuase on Monday morning.
The lady in the office was more than happy to accommodate us for an extra night, especially seeing as though about 90% of the guests had checked out. We changed rooms and wondered down to the beach. Saturday we had met a few people, and saw some sitting by the water. The sand was warm and damp, and soft to lay down on. Sarah went for a swim, and I stayed on the beach and chatted to one of the guys. Unfortunately there is a history of bag snatches at the beach, and neither of us wanted our iPods or money stolen. The weather had cleared up quite a bit, and for once it was pleasant to be seated in the sunshine.
I saw Jody walking up the sand, while we chatted and went over to talk to her. She is volunteer with another agency working in Pokuase. She lives with a girl from Melbourne, who I met later in the day. I wasn’t expecting to hear an Australian accent, or be quite so struck by it, it was nice. It must be about 4 months, since I have had a conversation with an Australian face to face, other than mum and James.
Jody and her friend want to make the same trip that James and I were going to do, but backwards, up through west Africa. It will be interesting to see how they do it, where they go and the experiences they have. I can’t wait to hear about it when they return to Accra.
A few of the guys left, and Jody went for a swim a little while later. I stayed on the sand and played with some children while Sarah went on a horse ride along the beach. The children made sand castles and buried my feet. Watching them play with a broken plastic cup they had found from the party the night before made me realise how big something like a bucket and spade I took to the beach as a child would be for these kids. They filled the cup up with sand, and a little water to make the sand hard, then tipped it over to make a turret on their castle. It’s exactly the same as using a bucket that was designed for sandcastles.
The kids also had a line of fishing wire that was wrapped around an old piece of rusting metal; the fishing wire was used for the kite they made out of dried grass shoots. The idea of them cutting themselves left my mind pretty quickly, those young kids would hold such a strong importance and appreciation of that toy because they made it themselves.
I don’t see children crying here, or throwing tantrums, they don’t beg their parents for sweets or toys. They are very friendly and happy children. Even when they hurt themselves, they pick themselves up and continue on. It’s such a big difference to what I’m used to with kids in Australia.
Sarah came back from her horse ride, and we went to get some lunch, well it was about 3pm by this point. The guys working at the local restaurant had offered to make us breakfast the night before, but we ate with our friends. So we went around for lunch. They made noodles and egg and chicken. It was amazing. My spicy-o-meter is building up a fairly strong tolerance, it wasn’t too hot. Sitting in the little shop on a small stool, or jerry can we met more people.
One guy I saw walk past was wearing great pants. Like patchwork or all the beautiful material here. I got up to go to the bathroom at the hut, and on my way out he introduced himself. I told him I like his pants and he went to take them off, I’m not sure if he intended to give them to me, but I insisted he keep them.
I came back from the bathroom and more people had arrived, the restaurant is about 2m by 3m, just a kitchen and an extra table. I didn’t see a fridge, but there was an esky. All the food used he went to the market to purchase, and some he brought down from Kumasi where he is from. Sitting in the little room I met people from Canada, America, Nigeria, Ghana… and potentially other places that weren’t mentioned.
It was great because one guy started talking about what he was doing in Ghana, and I picked up a pretty decent contact that I can work with for my job here. I hate to use the word networking, because we weren’t, we were just sitting by the beach having some lunch and a chat, and the conversation changed, and we made some friends.
By this stage the lack of sleep over the past week had caught up. We had been out every night since the reggae beach party on Wednesday. The hangover was catching up too. I just wanted some fresh air and a walk. I went to the bathroom (again- it’s so humid that I’ve been drinking about 2 litres of water everyday) and got changed. As I was walking back from the hut, I heard “hey Caro” and saw one the guys walking past. It was such a nice place to stay, especially because we stayed the extra night, the staff remembered us and were so friendly and helpful. If you ever make it to Kokrobite beach, just outside Accra, definitely stay and Big Milly’s.
The lunch we had at Joe’s restaurant was enough for dinner too, instead we just headed to the bar, and met more people. The guy I met earlier was there, he showed me his webpage, Cedarartworld.com which is a social networking site that hosts African artists who wish to sell their artwork, and introduces them to international buyers. The site promotes human rights and helps raise awareness about local and global issues such as AIDS through art. The artists have the opportunity to film themselves working, the process and their environment and influences. These fims are showcased on the social networking site. If you would like more information, let me know.
At the bar, I met one of the artists who advertises on the site. He is a drummer and makes drums at the Art Centre and in Osu. He showed me his site, and we chatted about what I was doing in Ghana. He offered to teach me how to drum. Joe, from the restaurant, came over to the bar and suggested we make a bonfire. So we headed down to the beach and he grabbed his guitar and Emannual fetched his drum. Emmanual taught me 3 types of hand movements to create beat and rhythm, it’s probably the first time I have ever made a tune that flows. It was really fun, and quite satisfying, after a few drinks, I’m not sure how good I was, but it’s nice to think that maybe a sober attempt might be even more successful.
He told me about how the drum is made, and what the symbols he chose on the side mean. It’s a very attractive instrument, and makes a beautiful sound. He told me if I come round to the Arts Centre he would show me how to make one. I am really looking forward to it. There are some really cool Ashanti symbols that I would love to use on the side of the drum. Sunsum means soul, I would like to use that symbol I think, and there is one of a bird that mean remember your roots, where you are from. I’m still looking for 2 symbols that will work well together.
Unfortunately he had to leave to meet some friends, and the other guys from the social networking site came to the beach to join us. It was a really pleasant cool evening, because of the rain in the morning. A guy from California came by, he owns a property out past Busua, where I went last weekend. His property is about 7 hours by trotro out of Accra. It’s 40 acres along the beach, and is full of jungle with palm trees and coconut trees. They showed me a photo of it, it’s beautiful.
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