Poolside in Accra

It will be difficult to convey sincerity within this entry, but let me say that I do hope that you are not reading this entry, or looking at the pictures, whilst feeling the promise of winter in the chilled, autumn air. I decided to open with this picture in case you thought I was getting any sexier in Ghana, and just to level the playing field a little (since most of the pictures are of everyone and everything but me!). It gives me a modicum of comfort to note that at least I am not beached. Suffice to say that this will not likely be the cover shot for Sports Illustrated swimwear edition, unless of course they are looking to fill (pun intended) out a shot with some marine life. But enough about me, let's have a word or two about weekends in West Africa! As you can see, even Cuyler wants me to get on with it.

In Accra, there are dozens and dozens of resorts and hotels, some of which are on the ocean, and some of which are not. Most of these have outdoor pools, poolside restaurants and/or bars, and are surrounded by palm trees along with a lush variety of other tropical plants. For a fee, anyone can use these facilities, much like a public pool. We had read about a number of good places and so we have started to try these out. Eventually, we may even buy a yearly membership, if we find one we want to use often enough. The first three pictures were taken at the Royal Granada Hotel, which is not on the ocean, but is very close to where we live. It also cost us a mere 14 Ghana Cedis for all of us to spend the day poolside. We were able to order a moderately priced meal, served poolside, and we pretty much had it to ourselves for the day.

The other resort that we checked out is soon to be a Ramada Hotel and is located right on the ocean. It is still called the New Coco Beach Resort for now, and its pool area (above) is at least as impressive as its location (below). Again, we don't really get to enjoy more than a stroll along the beach as the water is always pretty rough in these parts and our kids have not yet internalized the difference between success in swimming lessons in a highly regulated, supervised pool, and the terrifying tide and current of the Atlantic Ocean (which, incidentally, does not care if you have your "little shark" badge).

New Coco had two separate "kiddie" pools and should soon have its playground open again (currently part of the renovations). The pool was pretty busy compared with the Royal Granada, but it is massive, so we never felt we were in anyone's space. With six of us, that in itself is saying something. For all six of us for the day, it was a whopping 20 Ghana Cedis. The most we have heard of would be for La Palm or the Labadi Beach Resort, and these would run around 40 Ghana Cedis. One of the best parts was surely the fact that one of the resort restaurants is called the "Pizza Hut" and they served fresh, authentic pizza that we were able to gobble up seaside.

In essence, we can have all the safety, relaxation, service, beauty and convenience of an oceanside, urban resort, without the bother of a rather steep overnight charge. Imagine Jamaica within a short drive of Winnipeg--you get to enjoy the balmy tropics poolside, and then sleep in your bed. We will try others for sure, but the two we have checked out thus far both offer their own advantages.