Weekend Outings

In an attempt to keep life interesting here in Accra (if you haven't sensed it already, we're getting a little bored!), we've spent the last two weekends venturing out of our normal routine. Two weekends ago, I forced Alan to come to the University of Ghana Botanical Gardens with me. I've wanted to go for some time but Alan is a little more than disenchanted with Ghana these days so getting him to venture out of our comfort zone can be a challenge. But to his credit, he has good reason to not want to do much...and that is because most things here wind up being quite a disappointment in the end. Even the touristy spots that expats explore around Ghana tend to be not all that great and most people will tell you honestly when you ask them how such and such place was, "well, you know, it's Ghana" which translates into "not great." Occasionally someone will remark that they've found the only place in Ghana that they'd actually make the effort to go back to again but this is rare.

Anyway, so in an effort to give the botanical gardens a shot, we packed up Eli in his jogging stroller, brought along some water and snacks and trekked outside of Accra a bit where the university is located. We drove back and forth a few times before we decided that the unmarked dirt road with some sort of security gate at the end had to be the entrance to the university. And, we were right which begs the question, how great can this place be if there is not one single sign directing anyone to the entrance to the biggest university in Ghana?? We reached security and the guard angrily pointed to the sign that read "No entrance without University ID" which we clearly did not have on our car. He hadn't even given me a chance to ask for directions yet! I rolled down my window and kindly explained that we were looking for the botanical gardens. He told us about some other entrance on the road but we pleaded with him that we would like to enter through the campus and he said ok. And just to make a point since Ghanaians are so fond of following the rules without knowing the reason but have no problem bribing police officers to get out of a sticky situation, I said, "but, Sir, we don't have an ID to enter" and he said, "yes, I'm granting you permission." I was waiting for him to ask for a bribe but he did not and opened the gates. We drove through campus and finally arrived at the botanical gardens which at first glance was already a disappointment. The only encouraging bit was that we saw a few other cars with diplomatic plates which means that some other expats have found this place worth coming to. With the sun bearing down us (it was only a mere 100 degrees that day) we walked on the unshaded dirt road looking for interesting flora but instead saw some palm trees and bouganvillia flowers which we see every day driving around Accra.





We did find some fauna interestingly enough...this emaciated horse and a donkey.



We finally made it to the end of the path where the best part of the gardens awaited us...a bar with cold drinks! We sipped the mixture of a Star beer and a Pear Alvaro (both Guinness products). The sugary pear soda went surprisingly well with the minimally flavored Star and we rehydrated while Eli sipped his water and ate Cheerios.






So on assessment, the gardens were a disappointment but somehow I still enjoyed myself mostly because it was something different to do and see. However, that doesn't mean I'll be running back there anytime soon.

This last weekend, we ventured to the beach where my friends have a membership at a resort. We went as their guests and that was thoroughly enjoyed by all including Eli!! This is one of those places worth coming back to. We soaked up some rays, dipped Eli in the sea, and let him play with the sand.




And of course we had a Ghana moment when we ordered our lunch. The waiters from the restaurant on the beach brought us menus to decide on our lunch and when we decided, we called one of them over to place the order. The waiter explained that he could not take our order from the beach itself but we had to be inside the restaurant to tell him our order. Mind you, we were 15 feet away from the restaurant. So Gilda, my friend, step into the open air restaurant that is raised on some wooden planks and began to tell the waiter our order. He interrupted her and said that she actually had to be seated at a table in order to place the order. Of course, at this point, she looked at him like he was crazy and asked why this was. His answer was "this is the policy." See what I mean about following nonsensical rules for no reason! So Gilda plopped in a chair, gave him the order, and returned to our beach plot 15 feet away. It at least gave us some comic relief.

Conked out Eli post sun and sea...