Out of the 5 YES Abroad students: Drew, Adriana, and I live in Accra; while Logan and Kyla stay in Kumasi. While Kumasi may have the advantage of containing the largest open-air market in West Africa, it is missing out on one key element: the beach. In fact, until today Logan and Kyla hadn't gone to any Ghanaian beaches
The situation was remedied today when the five of us visited Bojo Beach. Bojo is absolutely breathtaking- from the kayak ride onto the beach, to the stunning view and delicious food; we had a perfect beach day. That's not even mentioning the best aspect of Bojo Beach; that it's entirely undiscovered. Excluding ourselves and the staff working the bar, we only saw two people during our whole stay.
What makes Ghanaian beaches different from Florida beaches?
- Admission Fees: Not a single beach that I've visited in Ghana has been free. Admission is charged – usually 5 or 6 cedis – $4 American. Despite myself thinking that paying to go on a beach is crazy, I have no qualms with paying since the money is (supposedly) used to keep the beach clean.
- Hounding: At the more populated beaches, overpriced merchants carrying goods will come by and hound you throughout your entire stay to buy from them. It's impossible to relax without being pestered every five minutes, especially if you're white. Bob Marley "wannabe's" will even come by your table and start singing about you without notice; it's honestly quite charming. Note: This does not take place in less crowded beaches such as Bojo.
- Rip Currents: These are strong, sudden currents of water that push one out to sea. They seem to occur regularly – particularly at Bojo beach. They were very strong today;- one pushed me nearly 100 feet away from the shore despite swimming against it at full strength. But after a couple of minutes, swimming returns to normal.
- Pollution: The amount of trash washed up onshore and floating in the water varies by day, but you're almost guaranteed to swim into plastic bags in the water. It is pretty gross – especially when considering that all the world's oceans are actually one large ocean.
Photos:
(front to back) Adriana, Logan, Kyla, and Drew during the canoe ride to Bojo Beach
Left to right: Drew, Kyla, Adriana, Avery, and Logan
Due to the rip currents (and the fact that most Ghanaians cannot swim), swimming is only allowed in between the white flags.
Due to the 'swimming between the flags' rule, the ocean can get pretty full – particularly at Labadi Beach.
When floods occur, the pollution on Labadi beach becomes even more of an issue.
On Labadi Beach, at least 3 soccer matches are being played at any moment in time.
Grilled red snapper with fried rice and shito – absolutely delicious.
Jogging into the ocean.
Natural patterns on the sand
[hr]
To see the rest of my photos from our day at Bojo beach, check out my Picasa Web Album!
AT least there is a little bit of fun in between the learning!
i love your posts!
Love the last picture of the group!
I really like your clear descriptions of the culture. I never would have imagined that a beach experience could be so different from what I am familiar with. You are helping me learn so much about a different culture!