Mid-Tour: First week in Accra Region

My notes

We had bought in advance our tickets for the 9am STC bus from Kumasi to Accra. Surprisingly our bus was almost on time (only 30 minutes late) and the journey was very pleasant: air conditioning, T.V with some crappy Ghanaian cheesy movies and a rest stop with proper toilets and take-away shops. Also it was not that long (5 hours) and a perfect timing as we arrive at the same time than Holly and Pete who were coming from Cape Coast. Our week with European standards had just started.We met Marion at one of the two westernised supermarkets in Accra (Koala) where you can buy many imported, albeit extremely expensive goods. But first let’s introduce our Good Samaritan, Marion: she is a very good friend of Cecile Varin, one of my best friends from Centrale. They lived together in Valencia in Spain where I had met Marion twice very quickly and where Marion met her Spanish boyfriend, Salva, whom she followed to Ghana. Marion and Salva, who have both been working and living in Accra for a while, suggested accommodating the four of us while we were in Accra. I found it so generous from them as I hardly knew them. I admit that I felt quite embarrassed but she made us feel immediately at our ease. I must confess I was more than happy to accept their invitation as they live in a beautiful and very comfortable house with air conditioning, 2 hot showers, 2 toilets, internet…I think we just felt as if we had came back home. Around 8pm, we walked to a very posh French restaurant, Le Tandem, where we had an amazing French meal. I had a beef carpaccio as starter then a sole meniere with puree and ratatouille, last but not least we all had an excellent moelleux au chocolat that Marion had especially ordered beforehand from the French chef. We also had some nice wine (the first one since I left), an aperitif (Martini) and even a digestif (Limoncello). Of course, I really enjoyed the food despite the European prices but I also really appreciated having a very long meal and chatting in French with Marion’s friends, maybe the only thing I was really missing.

Experiencing Marion’s flat and life, I asked her what she was missing from France. Her answer was very spontaneous: shopping malls and cinemas! Also, she finds it a bit excessive to buy cereals which cost 6 euros a pack. Concerning that, a brand new huge supermarket has just opened in Accra; the prices are supposed to be reasonable and consequently it is going to revolutionise the expatriates’ lives.

On Sunday, after having done some food shopping at Koala (I am ashamed I bought one Lindt dark chocolate tablet for the equivalent of 4 pounds!) and trying many banks to finally be able to withdraw some money, she drove us in her company car (a pick-up truck) to Kokrobite where thanks to Holly’s parents and their architect friends, we were all invited to stay in a paradisiacal house with a swimming pool and a deserted beach.

Front entrance of the house

Backview of the house

Under these conditions we could only have the most relaxing days we ever had in our lives. Therefore I would like to send many many thanks to Holly’s parents and their friends. I wish I could find such deserted gorgeous places in the future to make a break from the city life. I completely recharged my tired batteries within these few days.

I spend most of the time reading, admiring the beautiful view from the terrace of my room and jumping into the swimming pool once a while for a refreshing bath.

View from my room One morning, I went to buy some fresh fish on the beach just opposite the house. I waited one hour under the beating sun in order to be there when the nets came out. I even helped the 20 Ghanaians to pull the net out as a Ghanaian woman encouraged me to do so. It was worth it; I bought a few very big ‘kassava fish’ (a fine white fish) and I even got a small lobster for free (because I had helped them!). We ate half of it in the evening grilled and we saved the other half to cook it for Marion and Salva on our last night in Accra. We went out for dinner twice in very nice local restaurants with reasonable prices (3 pounds the main course). For lunch, nothing was really planned. As the only French in the house I felt obliged to prepare one proper set lunch for the four of us. Whereas I was quite missing the set lunch with everybody, I think the other are not that used to these long meals where you chat for hours... For instance, Pete was enjoying his early brunch at 11am with eggs, toasts and beans. One day, Pete and Holly tried to eat the local cheap food (Kenkey) but did not eat much of it.
In the early mornings and late afternoons, I was taking pictures with sunset and sunrise lights. By the way, we had a really good shooting session with Kathryn. The photos speak for themselves.
In the evenings we watched some movies on a centered screen which was a change from our Jachie television.
In the nights we just all enjoyed the air conditioning in each of the four rooms and the calm early mornings without the roosters’ calls. For once, I was waking up after 6am!!!

When we went back to Accra, we stayed again at Marion and Salva’s place and we cooked a lovely dinner for them on Friday night with fresh fish served with some English mashed potatoes and a French ratatouille. I also did a moelleux au chocolat loved by everybody (thanks to Marie’s secret recipe, so thanks Marie!). We also used this night as an excuse to celebrate Holly’s birthday, as we won’t be with her on November 20th.

To sum-up, this week definitely surpassed my expectations in terms of food, comfort, landscapes (and prices).

For once, Kath finished writing her prose before me so that I feel I do not have to be exhaustive as she is telling many other details and thoughts about our first week of holiday near Accra.

Kate's notes

We have had beautiful few days in a stunning location near Kokrobite, as well as an interesting if brief stay in Accra itself. Many, many thanks are due to Holly’s family and Virginie’s acquaintance Marion. I was glad that we were able to thank Marion with the present of a web-cam, as well as cooking a full dinner (including chocolate cake and wine) for her and her boyfriend on the final night.

I have to say that I found the first two days extremely difficult. My reaction to the luxury supermarket we went to on the first day was more one of shock than of delight. I wandered round the aisles looking at prices, unable to stop myself from reverting to Jachie – ‘that 8-cedi pack of Special K could feed the family we live with for weeks’; ‘that 4-cedi yoghurt could purchase 7 pairs of shoes and Susannah’s have holes in’ etc.
In the end I bought a few packs of biscuits, thinking they were priced at 1700 cedis each (0.16 Ghana cedis, about 8 pence and equivalent to a Kumasi street price).. When I got to the till I realised they were 16000 (1.6 Ghana cedis). It’s ok if I force myself to think in terms of sterling (that’s 80 pence) and compare it to Europe, but still… Thankfully, Virginie was purchasing the communal food, to split the price later; otherwise I would have been unable to do anything.

On the first night we went to an excellent French restaurant. Had this occurred a couple of days later I have no doubt that I could have enjoyed it whole-heartedly, but the slight unease persisted as I ordered my (delicious) rabbit and chocolate pudding for 25 Ghana Cedis, which would have been 35 if I had had alcohol. That is only 13 pounds to 18 pounds, very cheap by European standards (as I kept reminding myself) but almost obscene by those of Jachie.

During the next couple of days near the tourist resort of Kokrobite I started to get used to the higher cost of living and relax in the tropical sun (slathered in factor 50 and regularly forced back into the shade.) The house was on the beach and there was a lovely pool in the courtyard. Unfortunately on the second day I got 6 mosquito bites, my first bites since the first week in Ghana, having trusted what everyone says about no mosquitos coming out before late afternoon. I got mine 2-3pm. I guess the pool is responsible. I hope my prophylactic drugs work well; I know doyxycline is not supposed to be even close to 100% effective.

The exchange rate is getting better and better for us. When we arrived it was perhaps 1.83 cedis to the pound; now it is virtually 2 to 1. I’m pretty sure I read somewhere that the cedi is pegged to the dollar, so I guess that provides some indication of how far the dollar has slipped in the 2 months since we left? At least it will be good for Ghana’s exports, though the products in Koala Supermarket will probably get more and more expensive, unfortunately for the expats! I miss news.

I rather enjoyed our day shopping in Accra, despite the bustle of the market. It is surprising to see the difference in the reaction we get here: in Kumasi we cannot move without being touched, grabbed and shouted at - ‘Bruni! Bruni! Come!!’ Here they seem to take our presence in their stride. The market itself was not dissimilar to the Kumasi market in terms of what you can buy. We then went to an expensive tourist souvenir shop called the ‘African Market’. I bought a fertility doll. The most wonderful section of the store was the small room devoted to some wooden carvings from Zimbabwe, particularly the ghoulish wooden masks with distorted features, real hair and an ‘authentic’ smell of decay. I wish I could have afforded one, but I have been told that these wooden masks crack once you take them into the British climate so maybe it is lucky that the price was prohibitive.

The trip home was slightly less luxurious than the trip there. Coaches to Kumasi had been cancelled, and when one did come (2 hours after our scheduled time) many people were fighting for the limited places. It is incredibly fortunate that we got ourselves near the front of the queue; we got the last two seats. These were uncomfortable and at the back but we felt lucky to be going back that morning.