Ada Foah

Africa » Ghana » Greater Accra
February 12th 2009

Published: February 19th 2009

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jhopcian

Sunset on the Gulf of Guinea

Beach Excursion

Ada Foah. The second weekend in Ghana. A befriended Ghanaian med student (Pablo), several other international students (Brazil and Germany) from the hospital and I traveled by tro-tro (2.5 hrs) outside of Accra to Ada Foah for a quick beach getaway.

The village. The village of Ada Foah is a small fishing community. We got off our bus and walked about 1 mile through the villge to reach the beach. All mud huts with straw roofs. The women were cooking in communal open-fire stove kitchens while the men were out fishing. The children run around mostly naked and scream and laugh hysterically when they see the group of Obruni (white people) passing through. We felt like complete intruders and tried not to gawk at the extreme poverty and poor sanitation. I avoided photographing most of the villagers... it felt too weird and impolite.

The beach. Ada Foad is at the end of a narrow penninsula where the Volta River meets the Atlantic Ocean at the Gulf of Guinea. We visited a small resort called Maranatha Culture Beach Camp. They have small huts to rent and have food and drinks available for sale. We intended

Jenny on the walk through Ada Foah village.

on staying the night, but some of the people decided they needed to get back to Accra that evening, so we changed our plans.

I asked Pablo if the water was safe for swimming, to which he answered "of course." I jumped in thinking I would be swimming in the ocean. But nope. I'd inadvertently entered the freshwater Volta River. Swimming in freshwater is strongly discouraged by most guidebook and travel clinics due to risk of Schistosomiasis. But by the time I realized I was in freshwater... it was too late. I just enjoyed the swim. The next few days, I read up on Schistosomiasis (risks, symptoms, diagnosis, treatment) to help ease my mind... and I'm no longer worried.

The beach by the resort was very nice... but everywhere else it was littered with garbage. Ghana definitely does not view waterfront with the same aesthetic value as other parts of the world. The Volta River water was so clean and beautiful.

At the end of the day, some villagers offered to take us by canoe back to the main road to catch a bus. All the canoes in town are made by hand from local palm trees