Volta Dam in the distance at Akosombo

Wow!  What a fabulous weekend!  Saturday was spent in mountainous Volta region on the east side of Ghana.  It was a 3 hour drive from Tema along the coast and then north.  The Volta region is home to Ghana’s hydro-electric energy source and coincidentally is linked to the client we’re working on so it’s great to see the source of energy for the country.  Akosombo is a town that hosts the 50 yard dam built by Italians which resembles the Hoover dam in Nevada but to a smaller scale.  It’s beautiful in this area with the hills and lakes and the temperature seems cooler.

Mt Gemi

We then traveled through a number of villages before climbing high on a very, very, very rough road to the highest human settlement in Ghana known as Amedzofe (A-med-zo-fe).  There we walked up Mount Gemi to the summit where the German’s built a cross in 1939 and which sits, still untouched by time.  Actually, the village itself would have looked much the same 100 years ago except for the school and hotel which are additions in the last 50 years.  

At the top of Mt. Gemi

We were fortunate to get out and walk through the village (the first time we’ve been allowed to venture out of the tour bus on our own) and take some pictures of locals in the market and sample some palm wine (kinda sour but served over ice it would have been superb).  Palm wine is tapped from palm trees and the alcohol content in the juice is natural without fermentation and increases in strength from early morning to mid day when it can climb to 20% alcohol content.  Our palm wine was about 15-20% but it tasted like fruit juice to me. 

Mona monkeys

After a lunch overlooking the valley, we ventured down to Tafi Atome to visit the monkey sanctuary where the monkeys climb down from the branches in the forest to eat bananas (or grab them if you’re not holding tight) from your hand.  It was great fun for us to get so close to these Mona monkeys.  It was actually a Canadian who helped establish the sanctuary some time ago.

Lots of ant hills that stand 6ft +

On the trip home from Volta region we came across rain and I wondered how the villages here where most homes are built of mud bricks and thatched roofs with stand the strong winds and rain.  I’m sure the dirt floors were slippery. 

Tables and chairs clutter the beach

Sunday….the most fun I’ve had in Ghana yet.   

I worked a bit in the afternoon before heading to the beach with the team.  I was not as interested in the beach as others as I’m not much of a sun worshiper but little did I know that beach parties in Ghana are like spring break in Fort Lauderdale.   

Very busy even at 5 pm

 People everywhere and most wear clothes (jeans, shirts, and dresses), not bathing suits.  The music was blaring and there were a ton of tables, chairs and umbrellas for people to use.  We were attending a birthday party for a friend of Samantha’s (Francis’ girlfriend).  Drinks, food and entertainment were provided and we greatly enjoyed the hospitality.   

Lots of wave riders

As the sun set, however, a whole different Ghanaian culture emerged…one much less conservative than what we see during the day.  The dancing was a blast although Akiba and I stuck very close together (literally hanging on each other) while locals surrounded us.   We laughed and danced for a bit before heading home early.  It was the best time I’ve had dancing since I was 20!

Samantha and Akiba

We girls went swimming in the ocean in the evening.   The waves were reasonably gentle compared to what I’ve seen along the Jersey Shore in the summer and the water was so warm, it could have been a bath.  It was peaceful as most people were up dancing on the sand and the moon was out.    The music in the background has a distinctly African-reggae beat to it which makes it perfect for dancing.  Little did we know there's a Ghanaian version of Lady Gaga...right Denis?

Needless to say, the beach was a blast and we plan to head back again next weekend to join in the wave riding and the dancing.