I got up and went and had a shower before making breakfast. After which I packed everything up and went and paid the bill before leaving the Anomabu Beach Resort. I headed west for Cape Coast and passed through many small villages along the way. Once there I headed down toward the sea and the main castle, but stopped short and parked up. I then wandered around the street stalls and back street markets and bought fresh vegetables and along the way found a small shop where I stocked up on tinned goods and bits and peaces. After returning to the Landy and putting the shopping away, I continued onto the main castle and had a brief look round the outside, before heading back into town to find the internet café. I found quite a good place behind the Barclays bank and ended up spending nearly two hours there as updated the site and answered all my e-mail. I wandered back to the castle and a restaurant I had seen just to the west side of it. I went and sat down and asked to see the menu. I was expecting because of its local that it was going to be expensive, but was pleasantly surprised when I saw that the prices where quite reasonable. So I decided to stay and have lunch. After finishing lunch I returned to the Landy and drove out of town along the coast road westward. This time heading for Takoradi and Funko Beach. I didn’t expect Takoradi to be such a big settlement, and on my way through I missed the turning on the round for the direction I wanted. So at the next junction I done a U-turn. Unfortunately a stroppy policeman was watching and stopped me. He started raving on about traffic offences and that he was going to arrest me and take me to the police station. Seeing that I didn’t bat an eyelid and calmly showed me all my documents. He thought better of it and changed his mind and said he would give me a fine and a date to attend court. I said OK you produce the offence ticket and I will turn up. In the end he had tried every which way he could think of to get a bribe out of me. Seeing that I was prepared to waste the rest of the day playing his silly games so I didn’t have to pay, he finally gave up. I continued on my way out of Takoradi and it was only a short way before I spotted a sign saying Funko junction. I turned down it and soon found the road was still under construction. A local man told I could go back to the main road and take the next turning and get to Funko Beach via the other village. I didn’t this and along the way stopping to ask directions every so often. I eventually came across some resort looking building where the road ended and after asking the guy hanging around the place work out that it was Funko Beach. The place looked promising but was not yet finished. There was also another compound just a bit further along which the guy said was owned by a French surfer but he was not around. So I guess that was the surf school. By this time it was getting late and I was worried that I might to make somewhere to stay further along the coast in time. So I asked the guy if I could camp in the grounds. He was happy for me to do so, so I parked the Landy on the grass just above the beach. There I set up the tent and cracked on with cooking dinner. This time I made Yam chips which came out nice, and an experimental bolognas sauce using tin corned beef and the meat. It also turned out well, and I took note of it as an alternative to the often eaten pasta, sauce and tuna. I spent the a little time writing my diary and then retired to the roof to read my book before going to sleep.
I woke with the light, got up and hand some breakfast. As I was only planning to move a short way down the coast I decided I would go for a walk along the coast and see what I could find. So I packed everything up and set off down the beach heading west. I must have been about a mile to the first village. An unfortunate side of approaching a village from the beach is that Ghanaians use the beach as a toilet and it’s the stench of shit that reminds you to watch where you are walking. Once past the smelly outskirts I wandered past the fishing boats saying the occasional good morning to the people who were sat around. I walked round the village and over the headland and carried on my way following a vehicle track. As I approached the next village a swarm of kids gathered asking questions and wanting presents. They followed me half way to the next village and stopped. It was like some unofficial rule of jurisdiction. As on the return journey the kids from the last village I reached followed me half way back and then the kids from the village I had previously walked through took over following me. Also on the way back I arrived at one village just after they had emptied one of the fishing boats of its catch. There was a lot of Tuna, about 40-50cm in length and two 2m sharks. I have not seen many sharks court before and was impressed by their size. When surfing the previous few days I had often wondered if there were sharks around, and this confirmed my suspicions. I wandered back to the Landy, had some lunch while chatting to some local school kids and prepaired to leave. I the drove back through the village and out onto the main road heading west. It was easy enough to find the turn off for Dixcove and Busua, and I first drove to Dixcove. After driving around the small seaside main street I found a spot to park the Landy, and took a walk around the place. I headed for the fort and wandered round the outside where I then sat surveyed the view of the village for a while. Across the bay I could see the remains of another colonial looking building, may be an old store house, which had started to be reclaimed by the sea. It’s dilapidated remains setting the tone for the rest of the place, which seamed to be in a functional but bad state. I returned to the Landy and drove back and round to Busua, the neighbouring village. After a short look around I found a nice place to camp right next to the beach. As it was still early afternoon, I made some lunch and then found myself a comfortable spot under one of the open huts, where I sat reading for a couple of hours. I was distracted from my reading by a familiar voice saying hello, and when I looked up I saw Matt. He had been staying here a couple of nights in one of the local guest houses. We started to chat and then also got chatting to two American girls, Shannon and Lizzy. It turned out that they were working for the Peace Corps in Niger and where on their holidays travelling around Ghana. We spent the rest of the afternoon drinking and chatting until late that night during which we where invited to share the fish the American girls had bought for dinner. It tasted really nice, as the campsite staff had grilled it on the BBQ to perfection.
I woke to fine it raining, which it did all day on and off, more on than off. So I made breakfast and sheltered under a nearby hut roof. After which I moved to the shelter of another open hut, where I sat chatting to Matt, Shannon and Lizzy the whole morning and most of the rest of the day. Because of the damp weather and the sea breeze, there was a chill in the air, and for the first time in ages I had to resort to wearing trousers and shoes. For lunch we wandered down to one of the local restaurants and along the way ordered dinner with another little beach side restaurant. The place was run by two raster guys, who it appeared had been smoking a bit to much weed. As it took them five attempts for them to take our order down correctly and we had to insist that they wrote it down. So later that evening when we returned to the beach side restaurant we where relieved to receive what we ordered. We spent a great evening tucking into our fresh lobster, which proved a little tough at times to break into, and chatting the night away.
I woke early had a relaxed breakfast and chatted to the American girls. They asked and I agreed to give them a lift to Cape Coast after visiting a small town along the coast called Princes town. I wanted to check out the place, as a few people had told me there was a lovely spot to camp in at the restored fort over looking the village. The road there was straightforward enough but it was not long after turning off onto the piste they we were having to drive through flood stretches, 50-80m long with the water up to the top of the tyres. With the occasional use of the low gears we crossed all of these with no problem and soon found ourselves in Princes Town. As the fort dominates the hills over looking the town, it was no problem to find our way there. Once parked into the courtyard we were greeted by one of the locals who showed us around the place. To say that the forts was fully restored would be a lie, but a lot of work had been done and the main building even had room in which you could rent. We then moved down to the village and went for a wander down to the beach area and back. As we climbed back into the Landy the guy who was showing us around asked for money. I wasn’t prepared to pay him anything as he was only doing his job and I would pay when I returned to stay at the fort. But the two American girls paid him something and we left. After the fun of again wading all the flooded sections of piste in the Landy, the rest of the drive back to Cape Coast was straightforward, and we arrived early afternoon. I knew of a nice place next to the castle to get lunch so we went there. After a nice lunch we wandered down the road and to the local internet café, where we spent a couple of hours writing e-mail and check sites. By the time we emerged it was starting to get dark. So I dropped the girls off at the hotel they where planning to stay at and continued on my way to Anomabu Beach Resort. I was truly dark by the time I arrived and after checking in, I set up the roof tent and sorted dinner. After which I crawled into the roof tent and read for a while before drifting of to sleep, listening to the waves on the shore.
I woke, had breakfast and packed my gear. I then drove back toward Accra along the coast road. As I drew near I asked some locals where the turned off for Kokrobite was. One of the guys I was talking to needed a lift that way, so he jumped in and guided me to the turn off. After dropping him at his house I continued along the road toward the coast and a campsite called Big Milly’s. After a little drive around to find the place I managed to find the place. Big Milly’s is a well established place to stay at with huts for rent, restaurant, bar and beach side location. I parked up and after checking it was OK to camp the night wandered out onto the beach. Directly out side Big Milly’s the beach is quite busy with fisherman, boats and other local shops and bars. I got lunch at the restaurant and then took a walk along the beach eastward toward a couple of villages further along before returning to Big Milly’s. How my lunch had gone down, I could not resist a jump in the sea and a mess around in the surf. After which I settled on the beach with one of my books and read until late afternoon. After a quick bucket shower I made dinner and then carried on reading, with a beer by my side. Throughout the evening I got chatting to a couple of different groups of people, and listened to what they were doing in Ghana and what places they had seen. During which I ran into Marianna (who I first met at Aylos Bay) again, as she was also staying at Big Milly’s. It was late by the time I climbed into the roof tent and fell fast asleep.
Woke, packed away the tent and decided to eat breakfast from the restaurant. I spoilt myself and went for the cereal, as I hadn’t had any in so long, even though it was pricey. With a fully tummy I set off back toward Accra. As I was leaving the village I spotted Marianna waiting for a Trotro. So I stopped to find out which way she wanted to go. She wanted to go to Accra, so she jumped as I said I would give her a lift. The company made 2 hour crawl through traffic into Accra bearable. After dropping off Marianna I made my way to the main branch of Barclays bank, which is the only place in town I could withdraw cash with my MasterCard. After the usual 20 minute wait for the staff to go through their rigmarole I was called to the desk to collect my cash. The bank likes to issue you money in 5000 cedi notes, which means if you withdraw any significant amount you end up with bricks of money. I then left the bank and drove round to Connect Internet Café in Cantonment Road, Osu. Where I spent 2 hours writing e-mail and trying to get my internet banking to work. Unfortunately all the way along the internet banking has proved next to useless, and it didn’t fall to disappoint this time either. I then went across the road to a fast food place called Papaya for lunch. After wandering round the place looking for a spare table I ended up sharing one with a local girl and her English friend. Over lunch we had a good conversation about differences between the Ghanaian and British ways of life. As it was interesting to get a locals point of view on a lot of the differences. It was mid afternoon by the time we said our goodbyes and I moved the Landy round to Kuku Cottage and checked it was OK to stay. Not long after I parked up I ran into Emiel and Mirjam coming out the front door. They had put their Landy into a container and where now renting one of the rooms at the cottage. We arranged to meet back at the cottage to go for dinner and I went and wandered around the high street getting a few jobs done and window shopping. I took Emiel and Mirjam around to a nice little back street restaurant that Bas and me discovered. We were the only people in there, and the menu was a little limited but what food they did do was really nice. After dinner we walked down to Ryan’s Pub and spent the rest of the evening drinking beer and chatting about what we had been up to since the last time we had seen each other.
After grabbing a quick snake for breakfast I got on with changing the rear tyres on the Landy for the spares. As the rear tyres had worn down a far bit and had been on since I left home. As is usual when changing tyres I engaged the diff lock, or at least I thought I did. Shortly after me removing the first rear tyre the Landy rolled forward and fell off the jack. As the diff lock had not properly engaged. I then had to get the high lift jack out and attached it to the jackable side sill. I then lifted the Landy and placed the smaller jack back under the axle and jacked it back into place. Drama over and with diff lock definitely engaged and the front tyres chocked, I changed the second rear tyre. By the end of this and because of the physical work I was soaked through with sweat. I went and had a refreshing bucket shower and done a few more odd jobs before leaving Kuku Cottage and driving round to the internet café. I spent an hour there answering e-mail and checking to see if anyone had answered my messages posted on the notice boards of Lonely Planet and the HUBB. Besides a few other general enquirer’s there was no responses from other overlanders. I then left and drove out to the Airport to pick Verena up. I left with plenty of time to get there as I had heard the traffic could really jam up at times. But it was a pretty straight run there, and after first going to the cargo depot, I found my way to the passenger terminal. After parking the Landy I had a wander round the place to kill some time as it was still around an hour before Verena’s flight was supposed to turn up. I then positioned myself in view of the arrivals doors and read my book. I was not long before they released the message that her flight had arrived early and not long after she came out of the siding doors with a tired and searching look on her face. She soon spotted me and I was promptly handed some luggage to carry to the Landy. After her stuff was loaded into the Landy we properly greeted one another before setting off through the Accra traffic and onto Kokrobite. Once in the area we searched around for the Sea Blue Guest House. We found a place that clamed to be it, but it didn’t look like anything we had seen on the internet. I also found it suspicious that they had a sign for the Sea Blue Guest House, which had been damaged and ripped out of the ground, laying their compound. We left and drove the short way back to Big Milly’s where I had stayed before. There we checked into a hut and made our selves comfortable, before going for a walk along the beach. The evening was spent chatting and catching up on all the things we had been up to since we had seen each other last in Spain. This was made even more enjoyable because of the red wine Verena had brought with her.
We woke late and took advantage of the good food and had a big breakfast. As we knew we would return to Accra, we packed our stuff up in the hut and moved it back to the Landy. We then went for a walk along the beach to burn off the breakfast. Along the way we saw fishermen pulling in their nets and boats landing with the days catch. We found our selves a nice spot and sat chatting and watching the sea for an hour or so before returning along the beach. The rest of the morning was spent along the same theme, chilling and chatting. Lunch time came round and we made something at the back of the Landy and spent the rest of the afternoon sat out on the beach. It was around 16:00 by the time we paid the bill and made a move back to Accra. The drive in was slow as usual and it ended up taking an hour to reach Kuku Cottage. We checked it was OK to stay, set the tent up and headed into town for a drink. We had only just walked around the corner when I spotted Matt waving from a Taxi pulled up at the side of the road. He was looking for Kuku Cottage, so we sent the taxi away and showed him round the corner. After stowing his gear in a safe place he joined us and we continued on our way to Duncan’s Bar for a beer. We had a couple of beers there as we chatted about what each of us had been up to over the past few days. Then we moved on to Ryan’s Pub as that’s where we figured we would have the best chance of running into Emiel and Mirjam. We and so dinner and another beer and it was not long before the couple appeared. We then decided to return to Duncan’s bar and along the way stop to pick up some food. There we spent the rest of the evening chatting and drinking until it was late. Me and Verena were the first to make our excuses and return to the Cottage as Verena was still feeling very tied from the flight.
We woke, had a wash and went with Matt to find some where for breakfast. After a wander around checking out the options we settled on Frankies. We all had some American style pancakes, which settled in the stomach like lead. By the time we returned to Kuku Cottage Emiel and Mirjam were up and about. We all said our goodbyes and Verena and me left to drive westward along the coast to Anomabo. After the usual slow crawl through the traffic to exit Accra, we made good time to Anomabo. Along the way we stopped to enjoy the boiled fresh corn on the cob, from the side of the road, for lunch. We arrived at the beach resort mid afternoon. After checking in we set camp, and were soon in the sea swimming and surfing. We then spent the rest of the day relaxing, before making dinner at the back of the Landy. We then spent the evening chatting over a beer in the resturant, after which we retired to the roof tent and were soon asleep with the sound of the waves in the background.
We woke, had some breakfast and cracked on with our washing. As normal it took longer than I hope to get through it all and hang it out. We then sorted a backpack out with a few essentials and headed off down the beach to Anomabo Castle. The walk down was really nice as the sun came out and we walked along the waters edge. But as we got closer to the village the children started to give us a lot of hassle, asking for money and being general pests. Verena was getting really uncomfortable with the attention we were getting. But I explained that most of it was quite normal. After about 10-15 min the kids had lost interest anyway. After they had not got anything and had asked just about every question they could think of. We then took a quick walk around the fort. It was in tack and many of the cannon were still along the battlements. But the whole place looked generally run down and uncared for, with pealing pant and broken woodwork. I took a few photos and as you could not go inside, we then we walked back toward the beach resort, through the village and via the road. Along the way we stopped at the roadside market to pick up some fresh vegetables for dinner. By the time we had got back to the beach resort it was lunchtime, and we decided to indulge our selves by eating at the restaurant. After the nice lunch, I sat reading my book for the rest of the afternoon and Verena took a nap. Around early evening I got out the laptop and carried on working on website stuff. I stopped to make/have dinner and then we moved to the restaurant to have a beer. Where I continued with my website stuff while Verena read her book.