A mini holiday

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Finally made it to Takoradi, at 9pm- seriously dark! Maybe it wasn't such a good idea that Bobbi and I hadn't booked a room, as we were dragging our big bags around the city, looking for a hotel with decent prices. Armenla Hotel was a bargain for good sized bedrooms, but the toilets didn't lock.. hmm. The following day we literally went in circles around Takoradi, looking for a bank to change my traveller's cheques. Was very annoying to find out they were outside the city! So we decided to make our way to our next destination: Green Turtle Lodge (again). Bobbi hadn't been there and we thought it would be a good place to unwind before coming back home.
It was funny meeting one of the German volunteers, who had been teaching at Royal Seed. She was just leaving as we arrived. Bobbi was stunned by the beauty of the exotic haven. I had forgotten how amazing Green Turtle Lodge was. We decided to stay in tents, as it is cheaper than a hut. The days we spent there were very chilled, reading and lying in the sun, getting as brown as possible :P We also made friends with a young dutch couple, which was nice. The girl had been doing volunteer work near Tamale and her boyfriend had come to visit her for his holiday 😊 Thursday Bobbi and I walked along the beach to Akwidaa, for the mangrove trip by canoe. A couple Ghanian men and a boy took us and a Swiss couple through the exciting mangroves. It was high tide, so most of the roots were under the water and the crabs were crawling along the branches. Our guide told us the locals catch the crabs for food. He also tried to point out a monkey in the trees, but sadly I didn't catch any glimpse of it. The birds and butterflies made the place feel very exotic though!
We had heard of an island which had a ruined fort on it, next to Akwidaa, so we tried to walk there. However, we found ourselves among a rubbish heap and woman crazily smiling at us, crouching on a rock (this was not just a rubbish heap, but a public toilet!). I had denied the offers of the local children, who asked for money to guide us to the fort. But for probably the first time, I was glad one boy had followed us and showed us the way out of the rubbish and onto the right path. I decided to give him a biscuit if he got us all the way to the ruins. Plantains and bananas were growing on the island. The further we went into the 'jungle', the more it reminded me of exotic islands in films. The ruins made it all the more impressive! The fort had been built by the dutch ( most of the Ghanian coast had been taken over by the dutch), then destroyed by the British (who came later and colonised the country). So Bobbi wanted to mark this by me (half British) 'overthrowing' her (Dutch) with a photo among the ruins lol.

I worked out I didn't have enough money for my last days in Ghana, so we had to leave paradise on the Friday, as the banks are closed on weekends. So I changed my traveller cheques near Takoradi and then the 2 of us took the bus to Accra. It was worse looking for a cheap hotel there! We searched for hours and found all the hotels were more expensive than the Bradt Guide had promised (which was not the first time!).

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Photos

girl walking to school
to Akwidaa

man going to work
and sheep going to the fields...

the fort ruins
on the island near Akwidaa

chillin' on the beach
in front of Green Turtle Lodge

Comments

[Fleur Elfrink]

hi Ilana! Ik ben vorige jaar 3 maanden naar Royal Seed geweest, echt heel leuk om jou verhalen te lezen... ik zie aan de foto's dat ze een "speeltuin" hebben gekregen! Ik heb de jongens-slaapkamer gebouwd en geverfd. Ik mis de kinderen echt enorm, vooral matthieu en matthias.... de tweeling. Ook ik heb de frustatie van het lesgeven meegemaakt, verschrikkelijk! Ik heb daar echt de bijzonderste tijd van mijn leven gehad.... al had ik soms een beetje moeite met Naomi.... toen ik er was, was ze behoorlijk op geld uit.... maarja, ik kan het haar ook niet kwalijk nemen, ze heeft een hart van goud! Ben je nog in Ghana of al weer terug? zou het heel leuk vinden om wat foto's van Royal seed en de kinderen te zien... als je wilt kan je me mailen ([e-mail]) liefs, Fleur