Accra's Best Kept (Family-Friendly) Secret

As you peruse this blog entry and scan the pictures, you will undoubtedly say to yourself: Big deal, another petting zoo and playground…whoop-de-doo! This may be an appropriate response in most parts of Canada, but in the context of Ghana, and more specifically in the big, stinky, family black hole of a city that is Accra, the Botanical Gardens at the University of Ghana are nothing short of a miracle. Open every day but Monday, there is much to see and do for the whole darn clan! There is a lot of thoughtful development going on at the park and before long it will be the crown jewel of Accra, at least for families. (Especially since the zoo was bulldozed--some say it was relocated but we haven’t found it yet--to make way for the Presidential Palace!)

Admission to the gardens was a mere two cedis per adult and one cedi per child, conjuring memories of, and comparisons to, the ever-so-reasonable kiddie rides at Kinsmen Park in Saskatoon. A ten minute horse ride garnered an additional one cedi, which is roughly ninety-nine dollars less than a trail ride in Canada will cost you. The petting zoo had Guinea pigs, rabbits, ducks, Guinea fowl, horses, donkeys, egrets, a fish hatchery, baby alligators, rats (Carmilla's hands-down favourite), and apparently a bush rat, though we did not see on this trek. We like to think of ourselves as petting zoo connoisseurs, having graced the manure trodden pathways of dozens of such parks across three continents, and on this day I can only say that while we have seldom felt more gratified (think glass of murky ditch water after two weeks in the desert without!), we chose, on this fine Sunday, to keep our eyes on the potential, rather than solely on the comparative reality.

Top prize for the day simply has to go to the playground. It has actual, fabricated, safe, fun playground equipment that has not been made by a roadside hawker with a couple of trees, a machete, and some leftover paint. It also has, as the photos will surely reveal, a few grown-up sized bits o' fun that ensure everyone is engaged and included. To give you a sense of how starved we are for parks, playgrounds and city infrastructure of any kind, we'd have paid double and waited in line just to play in the playground!

At least somewhat ironically, the botanical side of things seems a bit worse for wear but we didn’t venture too far into the park, so there could be gems of the flora kingdom tucked further in, as yet undiscovered by our family. There was a sizable lake that also serves as a lively fish hatchery and favourite haunt of about a zillion egrets that loom nearby, hoping the hatchery nets suddenly disintegrate as if by hope alone. There are boat rides available out across the lake, though we did not enquire as to the cost or nature of such an excursion, since the boat man was thoroughly engaged in Ghana's hot-part-of-the-day national pastime (pictured below).

Our time was capped off with a good meal at the restaurant inside the gardens and in keeping with a Ghanaian sense of Murphy's or Sod's Law, the food was exceptionally fast due to the fact that our children had an enormous, well-equipped playground and various free-roaming animals to keep them occupied.