Our children are off school this week after a week of exams and another week of Christmas partying that included a visit from jolly old...well, "Santa." The momentous event took place last Thursday, when the students gathered outside, underneath a big mango tree in the playground, to await the arrival of Father Christmas. The students were stirred up into a frenzy and belted out a few carols to coax Santa out of his air-conditioned room and into the blazing sun of late morning to distribute their gifts, induce further merriment, and terrify small children. I should know, I was there...in every possible way! 
At the first clang of Santa's rather large school bell, and the first glimpse of his disco Santa jumpsuit, chaos reigned and I'm sure at least one of the children present peed their pants (in his defense, Finn still wears a diaper so it was to be expected). Santa then conducted the laughing children in stirring, Boney-M-esque renditions of a few beloved Christmas carols. Then Santa nestled his ample bottom into the Christmas throne and began to dole out the gift-wrapped booty. I hope that you will now spend a good, long while (at least as long as Finn did) looking at the picture of Santa. If you can't shake the feeling that there is something altogether familiar about Santa, you can relate to my children's experience of the day.
Aside from Materia, all of the kids figured it out. We weren't sure about Cuyler, but when he was later asked who gave him his new dinosaurs, he swiftly answered "Da-Da." It was a bit surprising since he spent the better part of his time peering at me from behind mom, and was very reluctant to accept a gift from me. After I gave Cohen his gift, he leaned in and said, "See you later dad." Brontë begged me to admit that it was me, as there was still enough magic in her imagination to leave room for doubt. The kids reported later that their school mates had never had a Santa that was so funny before. Of course I have had prior experience as I played Santa in the school in Black Lake several years ago. Yep, that's me, always the class clown! I suppose there are worse things than being type-cast as Santa!
Generally speaking, Christmas here is much as it is in North America, with a slightly more British-Victorian flavour and considerably less snow! The Accra Mall has a Santa and it is thoroughly decorated, and most families travel for the holidays. Traffic has reached frustrating new levels of thickness and density, but we saw this coming. We bought a small Christmas tree for the house, hung the few decorations we brought and we remembered to bring our stockings (alas, no chimney). We are preparing for our homemade family safari over the break and we should awake on Christmas morning overlooking elephants at the watering hole. Not a bad way to stuff a stocking, I'd say.
2. Monkeys and Hippos and Elephants...Oh My!: You are guaranteed to come up close and personal with a rather splendid variety of plants, mammals, and birds that previously existed only in books and zoos. If you're really lucky, you may even get bitten by something and have a cool scar to show for it!
3. Bragging Rights: You just know you've got that one friend who has a PhD in oneupmanship and try as you might, your accomplishments (which are, let's be honest, pretty darn impressive in their own right) always fall just short of winning the focus of conversation around tea (or other such "refreshments"). Try this: "I just crossed oceans, jungles, and continents to explore Africa with my grandchildren. What are you doing in your retirement?" The photographs alone will set the hens a-twitter! The Killarney Guide and will likely want to do a "Where Are They Now?" exposé and you'll probably wind up with key to the town. 
4. Beaches: This should be the final straw, as we know all too well your weakness for sun, beaches and sand. We just bet that the thought of your feet in the warm sand (in winter!) set your toes a-wigglin'! Can you hear the waves? ...the sound of the ocean in the conch shells? ...the windswept voices of your grandchildren playing on the beach? We can. Enough said.
5. Waterfalls: Okay, so I know that Canada has waterfalls, but the chances are that you will not have any of them all to yourself, at least without a half day hike into the rocky mountains. And, you will certainly be discouraged from getting close enough to feel the rainforest spray on your face! We've hardly seen another tourist on any of our excursions, admission is ridiculously cheap, or free, and (for better or worse) no one seems to discourage us from doing anything in the presence of a waterfall.
6. Culture: Museums, markets, safaris, grass huts, dancing, Kente weaving, castles, drumming, woodcarvers, palava sauce, fufu, banku, and so much more. Not to mention the fact that Ghanaians are some of the friendliest, most welcoming people in the world--and they love Canadians. 
7. Africa: Hey, it's Africa! There is very little chance that you will say to yourself, in reflecting on the content and quality of your life, "It's too bad I went to Africa." Quite the contrary, I might argue. Of course, you might get eaten by an alligator or trampled by a hippo, but who could ask for a better fate than this?! You'd be legendary, there would be a video on YouTube and Peter Mansbridge would be talking about it on The National. Sure, there would be emotional scars left on the children, but they'd all be spiritually healed and financially affirmed after their father wrote his tell-all creative non-fiction memoir about the experience and it became an Oprah book (and you know how I adore Oprah...it's a win-win!).
8. Winter: Need we say more? Let us know when your flight arrives and we'll pick you up at the airport!!
This said, the resort is the exception to Accra's coastline--a real oasis in the heart of dirtyville! It does cost more to use the pool as a day user (10 cedis for adults and 5 for children), but they didn't charge for our two youngest, so it was actually less expensive than Shangri-La, despite the latter being the much poorer cousin. As the pictures reveal, we had the enormous labyrinth of pools--kiddie pool, shallow pool and wraparound grown-up pool with bridges, waterfalls and swim-up bar--to ourselves when we first arrived and this was pretty much the case until noon. As most people find the mornings unreasonably cold for swimming (a mere 28 degrees!), we are often alone in the a.m. and we tend to leave by mid-afternoon when things start to fill up.
The pool also has a theme park for children and was generally kid-friendly all round. There is a boat ride around the theme park that was closed for renovations (welcome to Ghana!), but the kids were still able to explore the structure to break up the day a little. The massive grounds also provide for a decent stroll with a view of the ocean, without any of the very aggressive city sellers that haunt the beach. There was a fishing net catch that was being divvied up on the beach that attracted much attention and was interesting to have a glimpse of.
The hotel was adorned with Christmas trees (reminiscent of Victoria's Empress at Christmas) and some of the most original and stunning paintings that I've seen in Ghana. We also took note (for future reference) of the Thai massage parlor and the salon that is reputed to be adept with "European" hairstyles and cuts. 
Eating is something of an adventure all to itself at La Palm as there are several restaurants and lounges, and prices vary considerably. We opted for the poolside menu which featured inexpensive and delicious pizzas that the kids loved, a pool burger topped with a fried egg (common here), and a substantial clubhouse wrap for mom. After the meal, Cohen noted that it was the first time that everyone was happy with their meals, and he was right. Carmilla noted that the chef must have some Western training as the food could have come from Earl's or some such franchise, though less expensive. I hope your sitting down for this next statement: THE FOOD WAS ON OUR TABLE IN LESS THAN THIRTY MINUTES!! The Sunday brunch is reasonably priced and said to be incredible, so watch this space!
The "Holy Grail" of trips to the pool is any (much-coveted) block of time that "the parents" are able to spend reading an actual book (we don't count the menu or the pool rules). As this whole experience was already surreal, we managed to devour several pages of Scott Griffin's My Heart is Africa, while Finn sawed poolside logs. We hardly believed it ourselves! We will be back , and likely often, as it fires on all cylinders for our family's buck and it is a mere fifteen minutes away in weekend morning traffic. 
Now, the pictures we took will speak for themselves in suggesting that this is one of the most stunning locations along this or any other coast, but it is just the sort of elitist, posh, wealthy indulgence that makes me feel guilty as well as broke. We had tried on one other occasion to come to White Sands, but we were told at the gate that it would be $25 (USD!) per person to attend. Yes, that is a whopping $150.00 for our family to access the beach through their resort! This time, we arrived with friends who thought they were allowed to bring a family in with them. On this day (rules change on a pretty regular basis in Ghana), it turned out that they were not allowed to bring a family in, but we could pay a special reduced rate of $75. Having made the trip, and as we were with friends, we paid, albeit grudgingly. Apparently, several families can get together and buy a corporate membership for a couple thousand dollars and then they can come for free all year. As the resort is quite close to Accra and the beach is exceptional, this is probably a pretty good value even if you were to come once or twice a month.
Lunch was a quintessentially Ghanaian adventure as the restaurant and beach were especially busy and there had been a large event the night before that had depleted resources. We ordered pizza, which was very pricey, but good, and it arrived just short of two hours after I ordered it and about an hour after everyone else's food had arrived. The people we were with were very kind in that they shared their meals around until ours arrived. There were eleven children and six adults to begin the meal, and with my pizza arriving so late, I was the last one left alone at a table for seventeen. In Ghana so long as there is an explanation for lateness (the national pastime), there is no problem, so we received no discount and no compensation. While you are guaranteed access to a fine stretch of paradise at White Sands, customer service is optional!
Perhaps the best thing about White Sands is that the ocean here is another spot where things are less dangerous and parents do not have to be on constant "baywatch" (Sorry, I couldn't resist the slow motion image of me that this would conjure up...eat your heart out Hasselhoff!). The tide goes out a good long way so when we were there, the amount of beach front was massive and there was loads of space to run. Also, the village, with its fishing boats and busy waterfront make for a nice little walk, though it seemed to me my walk into their midst was more the exception than the rule and I stopped before I interrupted their football match on the sand. I also turned back because I felt I was intruding and there's no way turnabout would have been fair play if they had tried to invade White Sands.
Cuyler was pretty sleepy after a day of beachcombing and wave dodging, so while the gang went to swim in the pool for the last hour, he slept in my arms for an hour. I certainly couldn't complain about the view or the company! He will soon be two and I'm sure for him, Ghana will exist only in pictures and stories for him, rather than in memories.
We had the party on the actual day of her birthday, so it made for a hectic day (especially for Carmilla--thanks mom!) as it was a weekday. To complicate matters, the waitress from the restaurant at the pool refused to serve us, claiming there was "no menu and no food." She just happens to be the very same server who tried to double our bill the last time we were there, trying to tell us that the prices had changed since she handed us the menu. We did not fall for this age-old Ghanaian custom (reserved for obruni) and simply did the math ourselves, included a small dash, and went on our way. The patrons, "Douglas the Driver," and staff of the pool were on our side (as they knew the real prices as well as the "custom"), so we left her with a rather sour expression on her face and went on our merry way. Her revenge meant I had to dash out and get pizza, which was probably for the best as the last time our food took more than an our to arrive and the order was wrong. Alas, this will probably be our last visit to the Granada, as the pool was also quite dirty! Welcome to Ghana, have a nice birthday! 
There seems to be few rules about posting election materials and the faces of Nana Akufo Addo and Professor John Evans Atta Mills, thought to be two front-runners, are everywhere. The ruling party, the National Patriotic Party, (outgoing) President Kufour's, is said to be the favourite and my sense is that they are a right-leaning party. Nana Akufo Addo is their candidate and his main press shot is so grandfatherly and cheerful it makes him look like the black Wilford Brimley (minus the moustache)! Their close rivals and opposition, the New Democratic Congress, are represented by the all-inclusive, rather liberal, umbrella, and they are pitching themselves as the party of change (this isn't the only parallel with President-elect Obama's campaign). There are eight other candidates (I think), each with its own party, but I think the only hopeful is the far-left leaning "Jack Layton" of Ghanaian politics, the Convention People's Party and their candidate Papa Kwesi Nduom. His party was formed by the father of independence, Kwame Nkrumah, but it doesn't appear (to my untrained eye) that they will win.
There is a great deal of concern of the voter registry and the carrying out of fair elections. When we first arrived here, there had been some turmoil in the north connected with the elections and while it made for a tense few weeks, it did settle down. Every party has been promoting their "manifesto" (this is the term they use for their platform) and they organize parades that march and sing around the city and the town. There are cars with big speakers and propaganda that drive around town extolling each party's message. The sellers flog fans, tissue boxes, t-shirts, calendars, scarves, flags and a host of other goods with the party logos on it, and debates can get pretty fierce, though not usually violent. The big issues are traffic, economic development (particularly around the recent discovery of oil), poverty, policing, corruption and the cost of living. Needless to say, there will be a lot of eyes on Ghana this weekend, as the voting takes place on Sunday (that's right...Sunday!). Perhaps now, you too will be watching--I sincerely hope that what you see is yet another peaceful display of the growth and progress of democracy in Ghana. 
Her birthday just about coincided with a Winnie the Pooh event at Accra's National Centre, and being the loyal corporate licensing fans that we are (not to mention the fact that a good number of us were born in the city after which "Winnie" was named), we decided to cough up the 15 Ghana cedis per person to attend. It was not without some (rather discriminatory) trepidation that we did so, as the event was rush seating, we had never been to the National Centre, and our tickets were for 2:00 p.m., with the first show at 12:00. We wondered how they would get the first crowd out in time for us to see the show, but we also felt the 2:00 p.m. show would give them time to work the bugs out. Of course the thought also occurred to us that the power has a tendency to go out in the mid-afternoon every day. 
On the Sunday of the performance, we had a small family birthday party at home (homemade, Ghanaian cocoa, chocolate cake--hooray for mom!--and FanChoco ice cream) and then we left. We arrived about fifteen minutes early after a brief pit stop at the Pizza Inn, to find that our timing was perfect and they were just letting the next wave of "fans" in. The trouble was that the last group of people were still in the building and they were just starting the on-stage pictures with Pooh and Friends. There were about 150 people waiting and I commented that it was at least a two hour line up. To the credit of the event organizers, they moved the pictures into the lobby, to make way for the opening acts (we did not know that there were any!), which consisted of a child modelling agency fashion show (Bronte knows exactly what she wants to be now...imagine her father's delight) and a youth dance troupe. Both were a pretty decent way to wait out the start of the Pooh performance, which did not begin until just after 3:30 p.m.!
All in all, it was a pretty darn good day and the kids were excellent. This, despite the fact that the performance lasted just over fifteen minutes (yes, your math is correct, that is 6 Ghana cedis a minute for our family!) and they had to wait so long. There were a few moments where Carmilla and I shared a giggle as the whole exercise of seeing Winnie the Pooh in Ghana was surreal and a little disjointed. We are not surprised though, as people are pretty quick to embrace western goods and consumption habits, and the CEOs of corporations such as Disney must get goosebumps thinking about the market potential of a largely untapped African consumer population. Of course the English teacher in me thinks it can't all be bad as Pooh's creator, A.A. Milne, is a literary giant who deserves a posthumous readership well into the future. To paraphrase Eeyore, who celebrated his "tail-aversary" in the performance, with a bit of literary license: "It's not much of a blog, but I'm kind of attached to it." I hope you are too! 
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We spend the first hour or so of any trip simply getting out of Accra, and this trip was no exception, taking more than an hour and a half to escape the city. One or two wrong turns, some good ol' family tension, more than a half a dozen hours on the road, and we pulled into the Busua Beach Resort, which was to be the reward for our perseverance. While one does not have to stay at the resort to enjoy the beach, we could not resist the urge to enjoy all of the ammenities of an ocean-front suite with a view of the ocean. For a three-room suite (living room, bedroom, and small kitchen), it cost us a mere 125 Ghana cedis and this included a full English-African oceanside breakfast, use of the pools, playgrounds, and tennis courts, and access to one of the most incredible stretches of beach we've laid our toes and eyes on.
Most resorts seem to make a good deal of their money in the restaurant and in the bar, and despite the fact that the food was quite good, this location was no exception to the rule. It is not generally uncommon at such locations for us to pay more 5 Ghana cedis for potato fries or fried rice, which is pretty steep by any standard, and outright theft by Ghanaian standards! Having noted this, there was a seaside barbecue on Saturday night, complete with a Ghanaian jazz band. The band was led by what I believe to be the world's oldest saxophone player, who also took the vocals for a few jazz standards. With the smooth jazz, the generous pile of lobster tails, and the steady, soft crashes of the ocean waves to accompany us, it is hard to complain about prices that are still mostly below what we'd pay on the prairies for anything comparable.
The ocean was the safest and most accessible we've seen because the beach is in a natural cove, and because a small island and rocky ledge provide for a breakwater (and scenic eye-candy!) just offshore. I woke up at five a.m. and watched the sunrise while the small village of Busua started to begin its work for the day. The small fishing village is pretty friendly, though I didn't venture too far at that time as I had read warnings about muggings and I like my camera. A couple of children who spoke no English, tagged along for my walk and insisted that I take pictures of them which, to be honest, I was happy to do because I'm quite shy about taking pictures of people here. It can often lead to conflict, an argument, or an intense negotiation. 
There is a lot more to explore in the area and we have already vowed to return to explore the village, and the surrounding area on foot. One can walk to the next village and there are even a couple of old forts within hiking distance. Again, we have been advised to take a local guide, as this is one of the few areas in Ghana where robbery is said to be somewhat frequent. We also want to spend some time in the twin-cities of Takoradi and Sekondi, bustling market towns that we passed through along the way. There are supposed to be a few good restaurants in the area so we'll keep you posted when we return.
Before I close this entry, I have to give specific mention to the African Rainbow Resort, which sits just before the gate to where we stayed, and will likely be where we will stay next time. The co-owner and operator, a Canadian and former resident of Maidstone, Saskatchewan, has put together the sort of retreat that conjures up dreams of Casablanca, or an Ernest Hemingway novel (minus, of course, the bull-fighting, and misogyny), complete with a rooftop bar that must have one of the nicest views in Ghana. We went there specifically for the pizza and we were not disappointed, as the consensus was that it was the best pizza we have yet to have in Ghana. While I'm sure everything tastes better with a saltwater breeze in your nostrils, this pizza could have stood up against some of the best that Corydon Avenue and Little Italy have to offer.
There is no doubt that we will return (and soon!) to Busua Beach as we have covered many sandy spots along the Ghanaian coast, and this is the hands-down winner. We are thinking about staying at the African Rainbow, where we can get day passes for the pool area at BBR. I would not be at all surprised as this becomes a traditional Land family monthly excursion and it will be near the top of the list of "Things We Miss About Ghana" after we return to Canada. Of course sitting on a beach sipping a Star and being misted by ocean spray, while watching the children frolic in the ocean, does not turn one's mind to Canada very often, if at all.
