Ada Foah

This weekend, for Meghans birthday, a bunch of us girls decided to head to the beach for a night. After a slow start in the morning, we left around 11:00 am and headed to the trotro station. Surprisingly it didn’t take us long to get a trotro that fit all 4 of us. It took us into Accra to one of the main trotro stations so we could get a trotro heading east to Tema. Once on our way, we were circling one of the many round abouts and I had my first trotro accident experience! Two trotros in front of us crashed into each other, then we hit them and a taxi hit us from behind. Overall it was very fast and it didn’t feel like much of anything (don’t worry mom I didn’t get whiplash or anything). Obviously the driver thought it was no big deal either, because after a quick look at his fender, he hopped back in the car and we were off! Two trotro rides and two hours later, we were in Ada! Our driver didn’t speak much English, so he dropped us in the middle of nowhere. We asked around and walked along the road trying to find the water. We knew it must be close because the ocean is on one side with the Volta River on the other, so there’s just not that much land we could have been on! A couple of guys on motorcycles told us they would take us somewhere close to where we were heading for 1 GHC. After a few minutes of trying to figure out what was going on, we decided to go with it and each hopped on to the back of a motorcycle. They took us through a couple of fishing villages and dropped us off by the river. From there we got a water taxi (a wooden motor boat) to the resort we were staying in.

            We lounged by the ocean, collected shells, swam and ate for most of the day. At night there was a bonfire, with live traditional music and dancers. Definitely what most would imagine a typical African moment would be like :)

            While we were enjoying the show, the largest comet I have ever seen flew across the sky! I thought it was a firework at first, because it was so big and bright and colorful, but the angle it fell at, and where it disappeared made it clear it was a comet of sorts. By far one of the coolest experiences I have had.

            Afterwards, a bunch of use walked back to the ocean and played in the water in the moonlight. It was all very surreal. I woke up early the next day to see the sunrise with Kendra. We sat by the water in the pink shade of morning and watched the crabs come tentatively out of their holes and head for the waves. We then walked along the beach collecting more shells and talking about faith as the sun peaked over the clouds of fog. I took a nap and woke up to instant coffee and toast by the river. We had another lazy day before we began to head out. Three other girls and I paid one of the crew members to take us to rum island nearby, when we had a tour of the rum making process. Basically it was two antique machines, a sugar cane field and an old man.

            We sat around a table as the old man poured each of us a shot of both light and dark rum. I was not aware we were going to be tasting it and was not prepared. I asked for the tiniest sip possible (which was still bigger than I wanted) and let it burn down my throat as I tried to not make too much of a scene. This would have been an experience best suited for someone like my brother, not for me.

We headed back for the main island and caught a trotro that took us all the way back to Accra. The ride home was much faster and I slept through most of it, which was helpful. I got back around 8:00pm and felt exhausted, yet somehow very rejuvenated. This is only the beginning of many weekend trips to come, so I hope my energy lasts!

Trotro Time

Inside Our Hut

Outside Our Hut

Sunset

Dancing

Volta River

Machine #1

Sugar Cane Field with Old Man

Machine #2