5th June. Kumasi, Central Ghana

 At last, a fast connection. Getting the van serviced here so might be able to catch up with a few emails and get some photos on flikr. Three days at Green Turtle Lodge relaxing made it hard to get back on the road.

Regards

Gary & Joan

27^th May. New Estuary Camp, Volta River Estuary, at Ada Foah, Ghana.

Both maps displayed a camping sign on this area, at the mouth of the Volta, one of the major African rivers. Yet when we reached the town after crossing over from Togo, camping grounds seemed few and far between. In fact zilch. Outside the Maritime Board building on the estuary we asked two men who seemed to be waiting for a lift, I jokingly asked them if we could maybe camp in the grounds of the Maritime board, they were giving it serious consideration when I informed them it was a joke. But they did ring up Daniel who had a house on an arm of the river who was happy for us to camp in his back yard. On arriving we couldn't help thinking we would be intruding on their privacy and suggested perhaps we would prefer somewhere near the beach. He rang up Bibu who lived near the spit that divides the estuary from the Atlantic. Yes, we could stay there but we might prefer the picnic areas further along the spit, we had 4 wheel drive didn't we? Yes, but I am a little averse driving on sand after our experiences leaving Congo/Brazzaville. We took the plunge, put it into 4wd and took off for over 2kms of soft sand. Most people come to these picnic areas by hired boat but we made it. So here we are, the Atlantic crashing behind us, the still waters of the estuary lapping a few metres away. The picnickers have all gone home, leaving the place to the manager and ourselves plus a few dogs.

A couple of one of the groups were very intrigued with our camper and came over to introduce themselves and have a closer look. One was an American, Guy Chambers, who has been in Ghana 8 months now setting up a business. He feels Ghana is the place that will go ahead in leaps and bounds especially with the discovery of massive oil deposits off the coast. Signs of preparatory work to tap in to those fields are already evident out where we are. He had never met an Australian before. They were all very interesting to talk to.

The border crossing went off with few hitches. These hangers-on can be annoying but in this case there were quite a few offices to go to and the $4 I paid him was worth it.

The two nights in Chez Alice in Lome were great. A place that caters for Overlanders. We also met a young Dutch couple there, Maartin and Vincent. They are heading south, it is their first time travelling overland and were very apprehensive about Nigeria. We were able to calm their and their parents fears about travelling through that country.

28^th May. New Estuary Camp. Ghana.

The girl has gone home leaving the New Estuary Camp to Joan and myself as well as a couple of dogs. It has been a relaxing day; a little swimming, walking and reading. Just what we needed. Tomorrow we head up to Lake Volta, I believe the biggest man made lake in Africa. There are some pleasant camps up there.

Settlement of our Nambucca apartment happens at 2am (our time) tomorrow. I wonder if there has ever been a sale of a property quite so interesting as this has been. The day after arriving in Pretoria we received an offer, the first we knew there was an interested party. A price was settled 2 days later. In Luanda, Angola we heard the purchasers had reservations and needed more details. In the DRC we heard they were going ahead with the purchase. A settlement date was received while in Congo/Brazzaville. Discharge of Mortgage papers were emailed to the NAB from Libreville, correspondence with solicitors and agent continued through Gabon and Cameroon and here we are in Ghana with settlement occurring tomorrow morning. It has been difficult selling from a distance especially when the internet is not good in many of these countries but we appreciate the effort put in by Jane & Gerry, Pam, Paul and Tipper Associates staff and Taj at the NAB. They all accommodated our situation very well.

And thank you Annee and Jane for both your comments on the blog, I'm sorry we haven't had the time to reply up till now, hope things will slow down giving us time to catch up. Bird watching has had to take a back seat the last few weeks, getting through in one piece has been the important thing. Hope we can get some photos etc on Flikr shortly as well. Also the emails we have received, they have all been appreciated and if we haven't replied, will do so shortly.

29^th May. Abylos Hotel, on Edge of Volta River near Akosombo, Ghana.

Mango season is in full swing at the moment. The roads are lined with stalls selling them, both the old stringy type that you only eat in the bath, and the newer, larger stringless variety. We have been feasting on both. The downside though is where we are camped, metres from the Volta River there are two large trees, both laden with ripe fruit. A corrugated shed sits below one of them and when a mango drops there is an almighty 'Bang!' Might be a night for ear plugs. Last trip we didn't bring a couple of sets and suffered on many a night with the surrounding noise. This time we have 5 pairs between us. Just in case.

Upstream from where we are is the dam holding back Lake Volta. The guide book tells us it is the largest man made lake in Africa I always thought Lake Nasser in Egypt was that. You live and learn. We took a drive to look at the dam wall and part of the lake. When we head north to Burkina Faso I think we might even travel over part of the headwaters.

The drive from Ada Foah was uneventful, partly on highway then hitting the outskirts of Accra was a mess before turning off and heading north. We had hoped to bypass Accra proper but there is a possibillity we may have to get our Burkina Faso visa there. It was our belief we could get it at the border.

Tonight we had a delicious meal of Tilapia and pap on a pontoon set out into the river. Tilapia is an introduced fish that has proven popular in many African countries. Very fleshy and flavoursome it must be able to co-exist with local species without too much disturbance. We have eaten it before in at least Ethiopia and Tanzania. Can't think of where else.

31^st May Anomabo Resort, West of Accra

N05 10'17.7” W001 07'47.1”

Note, we have passed the Greenwich meridian and are now in the western hemisphere.

Nice place to spend your birthday and hope the meal tonight is better than my birthday last year in Mozambique when, although in a fishing village, the seafood platter we both had was all from frozen ingredients, the worst meal on the whole trip.

Yesterday was pretty full on. We travelled down from the dam in rain which continued all morning. There is a Shoprite in Accra, a good place to stock up in essentials and some shops for Joan to get some therapy. Shoprite is big in SA & Namibia and you get the odd one in the major cities north of there. Checked emails while there, there was one from Georges, a bloke working in one of the embassies in Burkina Faso who informed me visas at the border were $180 per person. Wow. Decided to find the BF embassy in Accra which we did fairly easily, usually you drop your passport in in the morning and pickup the visa in the afternoon. It was the afternoon when we arrived but the lovely receptionist, Fatima, talked the official into giving it to us there and then. For a cost of $37 each. We are so lucky with visas, maybe age does count?? I think I've said that before.

Were dreading the traffic in Accra but, compared to Nigeria, were very well behaved. Had an incident with a young police officer while there: wanted to go in the opposite direction so did a U turn at traffic lights. I had seen another bloke do it and, although saw the cop standing there, thought it must be ok. A km further on this taxi pulled alongside with the cop in it waving me to stop. He must have commandeered the taxi to chase me. He went off his head about me doing a U turn, I pointed out there was no sign like the one over there.... showing U turns were not permitted and I had seen someone else do it. He countered saying he had yelled after us to stop, we answered that we had heard no such sound which was true. He said we must go back to the station, we said we were only tourists passing through, were very apologetic and would not do it again. He kept on and on, I said right! Let's go back to the police station but you're not coming with us! I started the car up and said 'Let's go!' Suddenly he changed, I think realizing we had called his bluff, I think he wanted Dash (bribe) but we were damn sure he wouldn't get it. After both parties cooling down, we shook hands, gave him a smile & wave, and took off. 5 minutes later I had cause to do the same manouvre again, but luckily no cops were there to see.

2^nd June. Green Turtle Lodge, Dixcove, Ghana.

There are two places on the West Africa route that are renowned as places where Overlanders take a break, learn about routes further on, places that have good food and cold beer. GTL is one of them, The Zebra Bar in Senegal is the other. This place was some 120kms off our route but thought it best to visit just to say we had been there. The last 10kms of road was bad due to the rains but the lodge itself has a relaxed atmosphere and friendly people in attendance. There is no phone reception and no WiFi. The uploading of photos I was intending doing here will have to wait for another day. No electricity, small solar panels seem to provide light in the chalets. A few guests, mainly a group of English girls that look like they are having a break from volunteering, and one Overlander, Ronald and his dog Puli. Ronald is filling in time until his girlfriend flies to Accra next month to join him. On talking to him we discovered that we had met 4 years ago at Jungle Junction in Nairobi. He remembered us from the blue VW parked in the yard. He is heading south on this trip then up the east coast once again back to Holland. Meeting people from 4 years ago, perhaps we have been in Africa too long.

Got caught for speeding yesterday. Cars had been flashing their lights at us but that happens a lot so didn't give it much thought until rounding a corner in the smallest of small villages face to face with a radar gun. The chief came over, leant on the window and commented how much I would have to pay and how long a court case would take and we wouldn't be able to leave the country till it had been settled. But,,,,, we could settle it now with say..... 100cedi ($52). Oh no! What about 20cedi. He laughed came down to 50, I stuck on 20, he laughed again then we settled on 30. Might have been able to get it lower but I was doing 82 in a 50kph area. I find it hard to argue with a radar gun.