July 5

Nii Lante reminded me how his tribesmen have a pronunciation problem with, is it the letter h? Or is it a? He was giving directions to a friend of mine on the phone to come to Kokrobitey where I was this Sunday afternoon. it was difficult to get a position to stand where I could get network service except where he was manning the grill. Expecting a call, I left the phone with him to answer and give directions to the caller.
Walking towards him, I heard him as he gave the directions. “Yes, if you come forward small, you go see the signboard him wrote Cresta Hatrantic!” Hey, sturdy, young man! I looked at him. He was so eager to assist. “You fit hask anybody for there, or follow the harrow!” I wore an expressionless look and regarded him askance! ‘What?!’ I was bursting inside. I grit my teeth. I didn’t want to laugh out loud. So, looking away, I gave out a mighty minute long grin, releasing some of the hilarity from the bottom of my belly, and turned back to face him with my poker face!
I like it here at Kokrobitey. Not because I often hear the likes of Nii. My sister has this fabulous beach house that we often come to, to unwind. Away from the crowd, it is always peaceful, particularly when the day is not a holiday. On holidays, too many people throng there to the beach, and make it too busy. But this afternoon, having been travelling all over with my ‘Ethiopian’ entourage from last week, I went to there to rest the day away. And it turned out to be a wonderful day.
On Friday, we had made the hour long ‘voyage’ up the Accra-Tema motorway to the ‘Lake District’ – the Akosombo area! Lush, green with breathtaking views, we went up to the balcony at the Volta Hotel to catch a glimpse of the famous Dam in all its glory! There, it lay bare, huge, looking as magnificent as ever!
Nothing beats a leisurely cruise afloat the largest man-made lake in the world! - Lake Volta - with the ubiquitous Adomi Bridge at Atimpoku, Ghana’s steel marvel of the 1960s, a suspension bridge that is well-structured and beautiful, set as background for many picture perfect images! And though we did not go on a cruise on the lake, a stopover at the beautiful Afrikiko Resort nearby further exposed the lake, and gave us the chance to write our own poetry with it! Still, serene and picturesque, it painted a thousand different stories, ours included!
Then we discovered this new place, 10km away from Akosombo at Atimpoku called the Sajuna Beach Club. At first, I wondered how there could be a beach in the area, but then I realized it’s just the name of the club. It’s a fine place, with a playground for outdoor games! There’s an area for a 6-a-side soccer, volley and such, and a short lagoon that joins the lake set up for canoeing, and a pool for water squash, and trampoline all set with the expanse of the lake as backdrop.
A picnic area set under the big tree in the centre, close to the water creates the perfect atmosphere for quaint dinning, and here we sat to nibble on some snacks we had packed, some chicken and salmon in paninis and bagels from Melting Moments. This is the life, and we didn’t want it to end, but too soon, it did.
We took the scenic route back to Accra, up the mountains, the Akwapim-Togo ranges, through Adukrom and Asesseso, then Akropong and Aburi, cruising along the new dual carriage road with the capital spread on the planes in the horizon as we descended!
We overslept, when we tried to catch a short nap before going to the Alliance Francaise, where together with the French Embassy, they were presenting F. Nii Yartey’s Noyam African Dance Institute in a piece entitled the ‘Spirit of Dance’! So it was that, just as we sat down, amid a grand applause with cat-calls, the cast came on stage, hand-in-hand to take a bow! We weren’t amused at all! But we laughed at ourselves, and continued to do so even as we sunk into the cozy chairs at the lobby bar of The African Regent Hotel for coffee. Outside, a band played the night away in an animated and enthused fashion at the poolside with a mill of happy people.
Indoors, the sound was muted, but a Larry Otoo painting of musicians on the wall to my left kept drawing my attention! It had such movement, and each time I looked at it, it played me the song of my mood. Larry Otoo, he’s such a fine artist. Lately, I’m seeing more of his incredible works in public places, and that gladdens my heart. About time our art permeated our community! There are a few of his works at Berj Gallery at Ringway where I often go just to see. And there was some also at Auntie Frances’ The Loom, which last Saturday opened a unique exhibition that commences the eightieth milestone commemoration of the lady who started it all some 40 odd years ago, Mrs Ademola, who doesn’t look a day older than 60! On through the month, ‘Celebrating 80’ shows some great works and artists such as Otoo, Nana Amu Fleischer-Djoleto, Heather Badger among many others!
So the week ended with dinner at the cozy Piccaso restaurant inside Crown Apartmento Hotel at Airport Residential, serving their inimitable popular dish – the Fristo Mixto! A platter of seafood; of grilled sole fish, calamari’s that melt in your mouth and lobsters or shrimps, depending on what available on the market, tonight, shrimps! As I sat observing my guests enjoying it, I knew the chef had lived up to make this dishes’ appeal consistent. We returned the plate to them cleaned, with just scales and bones.
I’m off again now. This time I’m exploring the Axim area.