Off to Busua Beach
So, southern Ghana has two rainy seasons; neither of which
are now. This is good news. It does
however mean, that the Harmattan is on the way in- dry air, and lots of dust
blowing in from the desert, it also means that this three day weekend has been
all about unbroken sunshine, cascades of dust on the road and perfect weather
to get out, along the coast and onto the beach at the west of Ghana; all the
way to Cote d’Ivoire in fact.
I am going to keep this week very short. I have had a totally perfect weekend, and as
a picture is worth a thousand words I shall simply add a few more of those than
usual and leave it at that.
The weather has been amazing, the hotel was phenomenal… I
loved sitting outside under the canopy area, the breeze coming off the sea-
just enough to keep cool, the sun glinting off the water, the fishing boats in
the harbor, the palm treed island on the horizon, the dust kicked up was enough
to cause the sky and the sunset to glow a brilliant red and orange, but not
enough to leave you feeling choked… it was picture perfect movie Africa. 
The roads have been great; the usual slow and heavy traffic
in and out of town, but otherwise curvy, windy and well enough surfaced to
enjoy being on the bike, the vegetation got denser and more jungle like the
further away from the city you were, but always a lush green and slightly
Jurassic park looking, it really did make you wonder what might be hiding among
the trees. The rubber plantations with
trees in neat rows left you with the distinct feeling that something was not
quite right but needed a second look before you could discern quite what was
troubling you about them in relation to the rest of the haphazard greenery. 
The trip back into Accra had its own special and bemusing
moments. A new freeway is being built
from Tema all the way to Elmina (I think- possibly slightly further) and
progress has been at lightning speed.
Last week they opened a new junction that means that the freeway is now
an option for getting back into the city and home. Until today however, and my first trip along
it, I didn’t realize it cut straight thru the market. What makes this noteworthy is that all the
traffic is on one side of the road- going in both directions- the off ramp
currently serves as the on and the off ramp with cars going in both directions
at once and cutting across each other to get to their correct area… and the
market is still in progress, on the road!
They haven’t relocated the market yet so the freeway just goes straight
through and drivers weave their way around the stalls. What is even more amazing is, it seems to be
working. There were no accidents and
everyone appeared to get where they were headed. Including the people who just jumped out a
taxi mid traffic flow and wandered off.
As ever, the odd questions arose:
How much should one interact with locals before you can say
you have had a new experience?
Should I have enjoyed looking at the picturesque movie
Africa picture that was created when I have seen what that means to the people
that live it?
Why is there always at least one completely naked person
walking down the middle of a main road on any trip out of the city?
Why have I only just discovered FanDango in citrus flavor,
and how can I create an Um Bongo like song for it?
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