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.
Wow, I have really been remiss in updating my blog, but life, school and Easter Break (I was going to say "Spring Break" but Ghana has no spring!) intervened. Needless to say, we chose to celebrate spring--in honour of our still-thawing, winter-weary, damp, Canadian friends and family--the same way we celebrate everything here: by going to the beach! This time we outdid ourselves and booked into the LouMoon Lodge, a rustic, secluded traveller's retreat that occupies a stretch of what is reputedly one of the nicest lengths of beachfront in West Africa! We stayed for three dreamy nights and four sunny days at this tropical nirvana, and we were rewarded for it at every turn with what will undoubtedly stand out among our African experiences for some time to come. 
The lodge and dwellings were constructed by a European designer who has since moved on to other projects, leaving it to be managed by our ever-competent and attentive host, Timo. The open-air, world-inspired restaurant is the gathering place and centerpiece for what is an all-round perfectly planned paradise for the backpacker-made-good. We stayed in a hillside bungalow and have already booked to return, next time moving up in the world to a Bayside Suite that has an uninterrupted view of LouMoon's private bay. The prices are reasonable, given what is on offer, but there is an overall commitment to simplicity and conservation that is admirable and appealing, especially in Ghana. While this might turn the average tourist off, it is certainly a traveller's delight. The one big drawback for us was that self-catering was discouraged (and even forbidden) and it really added up with four children tallying "world restaurant" bills at every meal. We actually avoided the resort at lunch (breakfast was included and conspicuously ordinary, given the quality of the meals we paid for!) and just came for supper, usually accompanied by a staggering sunset across the sea.
As there are only about ten rooms in total at LouMoon, there is no such thing as busy, and there is always plenty to do. There is a full-sized volleyball court (on average, we're still a little small for such pursuits) and other outdoor games, and the sea kayaks were very popular with our clan. It was impossible to tire of playing in the sand, swimming, snorkeling, and beach combing, but we may have gone through a gallon or two of sunscreen as the Ghanian sun is force to be respected. The kids managed to complete various castles and sand sculptures while there, and depending on the weather and tides, the bay makes for a reasonably safe beach. We did, however, break the beach time up by managing a couple of day trips to the (relatively) nearby stilt village and an impressive fort in Axim (blogs to follow).
It would be difficult to make it as far as Axim and LouMoon, from Accra, for an overnight, but even two nights offers up one full day of heaven. We checked out other options in the area and are planning to visit Beyin Beach Resort for a couple of nights in the near future as well, having discovered it. We discovered it when registering at the guide station for Nzulezo and the Amansuri Wetlands. We had a memorable, inexpensive, kid-friendly lunch, something of a rarity in Ghana. It is relatively new and hasn't really "made" the Bradt guide as yet, but it should for the next edition! We'll let you know more about it after our stay!
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. 
