A weekend at Coconut Grove

I just want to start by saying that I am so glad the Lord made the ocean and gave us beaches to look at.There are few places that I know of that capture my heart and soul like the ocean. I could sit and watch and listen to it for hours. Perhaps I would have loved it anyways, but I am certain the fact that I grew up on the beach in Liberia is a big factor.

My friend, Mariah, and I decided to get away for a couple of days while she had fall break and we all had a national holiday for the ending of Ramadan. We have some friends who stay consistently at a place in Cape Coast called Coconut Grove and highly recommended it to us. This place is just beautiful and so peaceful yet fun.

The first thing we needed to do was figure out how to get there. Since the intercity bus system is pretty good here we decided to go that way. For less than seven dollars round trip we road the bus 2.5 hours each way from Accra to Cape Coast. Such a deal and really a very pleasant ride. I am grateful for a trip without many stops or mechanical problems. The taxi driver that took us from the bus stop to our "hotel" was very kind so we got his number to call him as needed over the weekend. Initially we had planned to go to one of the nearby slave castles after we were settled in our room but the weather, pool and ocean were so inviting we decided to just stay and enjoy it all.

This place is called a "resort" but it isn't exactly what you would imagine in the states. While the grounds and pool are very nice, the rooms are really just ok. But we didn't mind as we weren't in there for much more than sleeping. The restaurant has really great food for reasonable prices but you might have to wait for an hour or so to actually get your food. This isn't uncommon in most restaurants here actually. And the odd thing is that if you are in a group, people are served as the food comes up, not all together. So half the table might be done eating before the other half has gotten their food. Again this also happens in Accra. It is a hard thing to get used to but I am getting there. In spite of the less than stellar service, the food was really, really tasty!

As we were planning what to do on Sat. as far as site seeing, the "bellboy" told us he had a driver friend who worked at the resort and would take us around to see things. Jojo came to tell us all that he could do for us at a completely ridiculous price. As nice as he was we just couldn't - wouldn't- pay it. So we called our taxi driver guy and he said he would take us to the same places Jojo had offered for half the price. Now that is more like it! And Kwame did a great job.

Oh but I am getting ahead of myself. Friday night we wanted to go to an off site restaurant and got a recommendation from...someone. So eventually we ended up at a place next to a slave castle called Cape Coast Castle. Interesting little place. Set on the ocean but of course we couldn't see it at night. Mariah graciously shielded me from the fact that as we were entering the place there were a couple of men killing a cockroach. She did tell me at the table and then proceeded to say "don't look over here, there is another one". Lovely. I must be growing some b/c I didn't insist we leave but just put my feet up on the chair next to me and demanded that Mariah protect me if it came any closer. It didn't. The food was good and I am just this moment realizing that I didn't even think once about how it might have been cooked or the fact that there were cockroaches around and several cats roaming freely. I guess I am getting used to things and they just aren't and won't be like they are in the states. As we are waiting for our dinners, Mariah gets involved with a game of connectfour and was winning before the guy she was playing was called away to wait on a table. Our taxi driver waited for us and took us back to the hotel. On the way we had a really great talk about God, Jesus returning and him waiting for a good Christian woman before he will get married.

Saturday...Kwame picks us up at 7am (thank you very much!) and we drive about 45 minutes to Kakum National Park. It is called a rain forest and I believe it as the humidity increased tremendously. We hiked up a short path to a really jungle looking area where 7 different canopy bridges have been secured. It is more than a bit unnerving to walk across them as they move and sway with each step. There is a net on each side which was great but every little creak that happened when someone got on or off a bridge was really creepy. I am not a huge fan of heights but was surprised at how much I enjoyed it. The trees and plants all around us were really beautiful. We met up with some of the other teachers that Mariah works with as well as a guy from India, Shiva, whom we had seen at the same resort we were at.

After the canopy walk several of us headed for Hans Cottage where you can feed and touch (if you so desire) crocodiles. But we passed a monkey sanctuary on the way and stopped there. Shiva's taxi followed us and then a young couple from Denmark also joined us. The man who runs the monkey farm does have monkeys there as well as civet cats, bush cats and baby crocodiles. After being here for awhile we head to the real crocodile place. At Hans Cottage you actually can pay to have a worker feed or hold a chicken in front of the crocodile while you touch it or even sit on it. I am pretty sure I wouldn't want to do either even if the thing was stuffed so I am not going to do it with a live one! But Mariah and I did at least want to see how it worked. Well we get to the little area where the crocs are and the worker says "oh be careful. The young ones are aggressive so we need to see if any are out here." As she is saying this she keeps telling us to come on out "it will be fine". Whatever! I am staying by the gate!! Of course the croc on the grounds is a young one and literally turns and starts moving towards us and the worker has a huge weapon to defend us - a stick. Mariah and I haven't strayed far from the gate. But it was far enough that when I saw the croc start moving towards us with what I consider a very unfriendly face I run the two feet to the gate, yelling at Mariah to "go, go, go" like we were in some kind of heated battle. She isn't moving very fast so I basically push her out of the way to get through the gate. What a chicken, huh? She finally wakes up and is right behind me. (We were laughing about this just tonite). That is enough crocodile fun for me. But as you walk around on the ramps, etc. you can see them in the water. And there aren't really good rails that would block you from falling in if you slipped. As a matter of fact there is one sign that reminds parents to watch their kids as the place isn't responsible for what happens. Not comforting. But we did have lunch there with Shiva, Lauge and Nanna and it was very nice.

We then head to Cape Coast Castle - one of the slave castles very close to where we were staying. They have a very good museum here and also quite a bit of tourist stuff to buy. We were just starting the tour when a group of about 5 soldiers joined in. A little unnerving as we were the only obronis in the group and they seemed to enjoy that. But they were mild compared to the rather drunk men that joined the group shortly thereafter. It really was annoying to have them in the group as they were disrespectful to the leader and the whole place in general. Mariah, Shiva and I didn't quite finish the tour b/c we wanted to leave before they did. What we did hear and see was interesting and troubling at the same time.

The rest of Sat. afternoon was spent by the pool relaxing and then enjoying dinner at the hotel. They had a man playing keyboards and an older gentleman ringing it on the saxophone. He was awesome. I haven't heard the sax in ages and it is one of my favorite instruments. We all enjoyed it a lot. Mariah has a really great voice and didn't need much encouragement to join them on stage. We didn't get to hear her too much over the sax but still she did a great job singing something by Nat King Cole.

Sunday we decided to stay at the hotel and read and listen to music, etc. We had met a man who, with his wife, have adopted two girls from a village up north. Two beautiful girls. (I will put up a link to see some pictures of them soon.) We enjoyed playing with them in the pool. Smart, cute and athletic. They were just great. We also played volleyball in the pool for a short while with some Lebanese people we met until someone spiked the ball a bit too hard and almost took out a lady who was enjoying her lunch. That was the end of that. Walking on the beach, taking tons of pictures, enjoying friends from Accra and new friends we just met, talking with Mariah, reading, and enjoying God's creation was pretty much how we spent Sunday. It was absolutely wonderful.

It was hard to leave that place b/c of the beauty of it as well as the great people we met. There were many wonderful and interesting conversations. Some which were of good spiritual depth. I am so grateful to meet these people and to see more of this beautiful country that I now live in. What a refreshing and wonderful blessing from God.

If you go to the side bar you can click on the link that will take you to the flickr website where you can see all the pictures I took. You will see what will probably be some strange pictures to most people (the Faces set). Just me stretching my wings as an amateur photographer:) Bear with me! Also if you go to the link that says "Mariah's blog" or "Mariah's pictures" you will be able to see a lot of the pictures she took.