May 14-15 Western Region
Trip Start
Apr 04, 2006
1
30
80
Trip End
Oct 23, 2006
Western Region, Ghana
Tuesday, May 16, 2006
I have arranged to meet Mrs Rose Aka - an aunt to my collegue, Kingsley. She had someone - Joe - pick me up from Novotel (in a new Benz, no less) and drive me to the Western Region. The drive was 8.5 hours (instead of 6.5 - traffic) and essentially, I ended up at a beautiful beach house, in a small fishing village, about 5 kms from the border to Cote d'Ivoire (Ivory Coast). It is just breathtaking here - even better than Cape Coast & Elmina.
My hosts are very gracious & dinner consisted of baby lobsters (I think they are called langostinos) & a beautiful salad of sliced avocadoes, tomatoes, leaf lettuce, red onions, & green peppers. Yummy!!! My kingsize bed with ensuite bathroom, cool seabreeze, & the sound of the ocean outside, perfectly completed my day.
May 15: Monday morning wakes me with the sunrise. Auntie Rose & I took a 2 hour walk on the beach. The tide was out, the weather was comfortable & the shoreline was covered with coconut palms. The fishing village is about as simple as they come. All buildings (huts) were made from wood and fronds from the coconut palms. Fishing (by dragging the nets in from shore) is the only means of livelihood here. French is spoken predominantly here due to the proximity of the border. Mr. Aka was born & raise in this village & has returned for his retirement.
My meals today were pretty incredible as well.
Breakfast consisted of fresh fruit - pineapples, mangoes, papaya, & oranges - otatmeal with maple syrup & evaporated milk (syrup from Auntie's many trips to Canada), and cocoa - which is produced locally.
Lunch was fabulous with foo foo served with tilapia soup & crab in groundnut soup. I did eat with my hands & was complimented for being adaptable. What can I say??? the food was Sweet!
Dinner was the piece de resistance! A whole fish (which looked like grouper) roasted & topped with chopped tomatoes, onions, & spices. The outside was crisp & the meat was perfectly flaky. The accompanying dishes were just as good. First was risotto & the second was the famous (to me) Ghananian sauce. This sauce is made with tomatoes, pimento peppers, and spices. It is ground on a pestle & sauteed in oil until thick. The flavour is unbelievable!!!
Aside from eating, I spent most of my afternoon with a splash in the ocean & cross stitching on the wrap-around porch.
