The other day I drove from Obuasi to Accra to return a vehicle I had been renting for the past couple of weeks. The drive itself is about 4-5 hours long and used to be an awful drive, the stretch from Cape Coast to Accra used to be treacherous because the road was in such a poor condition. I'm happy to say that the road has been completely renovated and is now in a first class condition. Additionally there are dozens more police on the road and highway patrol vehicles making sure people drive sensibly, this was something that needed to be done.
The route from Obuasi to Accra.
The best thing about the drive is the opportunity to stop off at a beach resort and stop for a bit of lunch and a break from the driving, it certainly beats the little chef on the A303! I usually stop off at a place called Biriwa Beach, but this time I thought I would try somewhere different and opted for the Anomabu Beach Resort which was very nice indeed.
The "Little Chef" Ghana style.
The view from my table.
Looking the other way.
A boy throws a ball for his dog.
A view of the beach.
A fisherman looks out.
Fishermen prepare to pull the net in.
It's fun to stay at the...
The net being pulled in, I was going to hang around to see what they caught but I was told that they would be pulling it in for 3 hours!
There is a newspaper in Ghana called "People & Places", it is the Ghanaian tabloid and comes out every Thursday, It is full of strange stories of people turning into lizards and wizards flying in the night. I will get a copy next week and scan it for the blog!
Last Sunday I took a drive out to lake Bosomtwe, an ancient meteorite impact crater that is over a million years old. There is a fair amount of information on the lake on Wikipedia.
I met a man there called Fred, he was a retired soldier and a true gentleman, he was very interesting to talk to and had lots of stories to tell. I spent a couple of hours with Fred talking about the history of the lake and the people that live around the lake. At the moment apart from a hotel and a few bamboo huts there is not much at all to attract visitors, there are plans to introduce speed boats and jetskis to the lake but it would spoil the peace and tranquility of the area.
Having said that, the amenities are very basic and there is room for a controlled level of development to attract visitors to the area. The lake itself is huge, Fred said that the lake is 20 kilometers wide at the widest point - I have since checked on Google Earth and the widest point is 8.5 kilometers which ties in the the sizes stated on Wikipedia. Oops, I'm beginning to sound like some kind of geek!
According to legend, lake Bosomtwe was discovered by a hunter called Bompe, he was chasing a small antelope through the rainforest when the antelope fell into a small pond, it was if the water was trying to save the antelope. Bompe gave up and caught some fish instead. The name Bosomtwe actually means "Fetish antelope" and the lake is scared to the Ashanti people, this is the reason why I think that speedboats and jetskis should not be allowed. Even the fishermen use simple planks to get around.
Fishermen on lake Bosomtwe.
A Heron flies gracefully across the surface of the lake.
The shores of lake Bosomtwe.
Fishing nets hung up to dry.
The lake Bosomtwe pleasure boats.
You can stay in these bamboo huts for $15 a night.
The first of the 2 photos above shows my location on my GPS according to Google Earth and the second photo is the locations itself, clever stuff! You may be wondering why the visibility seems to be poor in the photographs, this is because it is currently harmattan season in Ghana. The harmataan is a dry dusty trade wind that blows down from the Sahara and brings fine dust particles with it, it makes the photos appear misty or foggy, but believe me it is very hot in Ghana at the moment!
The man Fred himself!
Finally, I asked Fred to give a brief history on the lake and I recorded him.
Video of Fred giving a brief history of Lake Bosomtwe.
Finding a decent internet connection to update my blog is proving to be difficult!
About 40 kilometers east of Accra there is a refugee camp that houses about 40,000 refugees from Liberia that were displaced by the civil war 17 years ago. In the past few years Liberia has returned to relative normality and the refugees want to go home.
The problem is that there is currently a stalemate between the Ghanaian government and the UNHCR over the cost of repatriation. The government of Ghana has done a tremendous job homing the refugees for the past 17 years and looking after them, now the UNHCR expects Ghana to bear the brunt of the repatriation costs. As you can imagine, the cost of sending 40,000 people back home does not come cheap, apart from transportation costs the refugees will also need funds to restart their lives in Liberia. The UNHCR should step in here and pay for the repatriation
Anyway, I was driving past the refugee camp a few days ago and the women were holding a protest so I stopped to take some photos.
The women holding up their banners, the whole line is probably 3 times longer than this.
Some refugees holding the Liberian flag,
Click on the photos for larger versions.
A Ghanaian passer by stops to read the protesters banners.
I have recently started a job in Ghana (West Africa) as a Sales Manager for a company involved in supplying consumables to the mining industry.I promised myself that I would join the world of blogging so my friends and family could see what I was up to. So here is where it all starts.
To be honest there has not been much to write about so far. I could tell you all about Ghana itself, but you can just search Google for that information. This blog will be about my experiences and what I come across from day to day.
I first came to Ghana in 1996 and the one thing I have noticed is a difference in the roads, there is now a highway going from Accra to Winneba! In the 90's this road was treacherous! This road forms part of the Trans West African Coastal Highway or TWACH, the leaders of 15 West African states have signed an agreement to build a 4.560 Kilometer highway from Nouakchott, Mauritania, to Lagos, Nigeria to boost trade between the nations of West Africa.
Now bear in mind that parts of the proposed highway still look like this:
Thank you Robert Grossman!
Above is part of the newly constructed road from Accra to Winneba, which forms part of the Trans West African Coastal Highway,
The rehabilitation of the Trans West African Coastal Highway in progress.
This is the proposed route (in blue).
So, thats the end of my first blog input, OK it wasn't very exciting but it was a start! I will update my blog as often as possible, hopefully twice a week!
The route from Obuasi to Accra.
The "Little Chef" Ghana style.
The view from my table.
Looking the other way.
A boy throws a ball for his dog.
A view of the beach.
A fisherman looks out.
Fishermen prepare to pull the net in.
It's fun to stay at the...
The net being pulled in, I was going to hang around to see what they caught but I was told that they would be pulling it in for 3 hours!
