Further west... and east

The road was good, in general. One had to look out for the occasional potholes, try to avoid getting stopped for speeding or any other reason and see the tollgates – it was 1Cedis for 4 x 4’s. They drove through palm plantations and following directions they had to go through far ranging rubber plantations to get to Kedra’s lodge.

This was down a sand road, through the rubber plantation, through a small village, in its own little bay. A well-appointed lodge with a dive centre. Unfortunately, the weather was too unpredictable, the sea was still murky and diving was not possible. So, they went on to the next bay and stayed at Ankobra lodge for a night.

Where Stumble Inn was airy and gave an impression of space, Ankobra, in this gloomy weather, seemed dark. It is set up in the midst of a lot of palm trees. It was well kept, they try to grow as much of their own food as possible and they have budget rooms available in the staff’s village. That evening she had fish soup and Coen had grilled chicken with fried rice. The chicken was grilled just right.

They decided to get as close to Accra as possible so they could get to the city easily. And they set off to Kokrobite the next day. It was a long road. Not exactly in the distance but because of all the towns and villages on the way, the speed bumps, the traffic and the roadblocks.

Beach chez Milly's

Well water for shower

They asked their way a few times and finally saw the signs to the town. That was also through a corrugated dirt road. It had a few speed bumps too. They were aiming for Big Milly’s backyard. This place has a backpackers’ camp atmosphere to it. They found a place for the tent and pitched it there.  The toilet had to be ‘backet flash’ (as it was written on the walls) and it was also a bucket shower after you pulled the fresh (cold) water from the well. 

They went to the kitchen and ordered dinner and settled to enjoy that on a small, elevated terrace overlooking the sea. The food was nice: barracuda fish fingers with chips and chicken curry with rice. Had a cold bucket shower and went to bed. In the morning they were awakened by the one caretaker brooming the area where they pitched the tent.

Eventually they woke up and had the usual coffee and biscuits. They asked for directions and information about getting into town to search for parts and started off just before 10. The traffic flowed and stopped and flowed and they got to the famous Abossey Okai market and found a ‘garage’ where someone was keen to help look.

After long discussions, Coen realized the guys did not quite get what he was looking for and another discussion ensued. Coen and the one guy went searching while she was offered a comfortable chair in front of this ‘garage’. After a while he came back saying that this was not available here.

Then we tried to head to the ‘mall’ where Coen thought he could get a fast enough wi-fi access to do his mailing but the traffic was nuts and they turned back and headed for the Art Center. The road they took was disconcertingly free at first and then the chaos showed up. When they indicated to turn and turned a policeman stopped them saying that they were obstructing traffic and liable to cause an accident. He wanted the driver’s licence and then wanted to come with us to the police station.

He must have realized that there was no space for him. She asked him pointedly where the police station was and after the second time, he said they could go. It was the right road to take and soon they were at the Art Center and even parked inside. Coen opted to sit at a small café and have a cool drink while she scouted the shops.

Kokrobite pizza

She tried to do some quick thinking and shopping because they did not want to take the road at peak hour. Unfortunately peak hour caught up with us on the road and it was very slow to get back to Kokrobite. Once there, they had a quick bucket shower from well water and walked up to Kokrobite Garden which advertised pizza. They had some bruschetta and pizza that were very tasty.

This place is run by a Spanish/Italian couple. He cooks and she manages. They also offer accommodation but not much by way of camping. The lady of the place said that she met her husband when she visited the place years ago and stayed because of his cooking.

There was loud music from somewhere on the beach for quite a while after they got back to camp but when it stopped, they spent a good night. Their next day was spent in maintenance and cleaning of the car. That done, Coen got cleaned up a bit and they had a bite before doing some footing into the village in search of an internet ‘café’. There are no indications and after asking a few times, they were pointed to the upper floor of the ‘tall’ building (one storey high).

Sabina at Milly's

After a walk on the beach they shared sundowners with the German lady (Sabina) and then they went for dinner at Milly’s kitchen. It is pleasant up there overlooking the sea. That evening her twisted ankle was hurting and they bandaged it after an arnica treatment.

The previous afternoon a couple drove in in a Land Cruiser that most obviously does long distance runs and when they struck a conversation with the guy, it turned out that he knew who could fix the car the way Coen wants. After a few phone calls, the person in question pitched earlier than the agreed time next morning and Coen left with him and the car to see what can be done in order to be safer after the very approximate work done by Mackno of Centurion.

Updating at bar!

They did what they could with the car while she sat at the camp and tried to update the blog. There she met with the various inhabitants and visitors of the place, they all stopped by to chat and exchange views. She had a quick snack of bruschettas for lunch and after that spent most of the afternoon sitting and discussing Africa with Godfrey and an American lady visiting Ghana. The dongle was working but not strong enough for uploading pictures.

The car, Coen and Kudjo the mechanic got back to camp earlier than we expected. Tired but the work was done: they added springs on the car. We could leave the next day. That evening they went back to Kokrobite Garden to sample some more of their food.

There was a short power cut at the camp when they got back, it was nice, silent and dark for a bit. Then there was some frantic action when the power came back but one part of the camp did not light up. They had a good night and woke up when the leaf sweeper started his work at 6h00.

filling car before taking the road east

While packing a few people came out to say goodbye and to help out too. They first stopped at the Shoprite of the area and did some shopping for the road, then struggled a bit in the traffic and got to a spare part place Coen visited the day before to get addition ‘bumpy rubbers’ for the car and we went on to join what is referred to as the outer ring road. To get there we were stuck in quite typical Accra traffic and when they did get onto the road in was under repairs, the one side was completely dug up and the other side has become single lane in both directions. The people of the road construction were directing the traffic a bit more efficiently than the local police!