Weekend at Lake Volta

Six of us took a trip this weekend to Lake Volta. We hired a van (with air conditioning - whoop) and drove west for a couple of hours in monsoon like rain through a load of small towns and villages. All the potholes (and there were many) filled up to provide us with very exciting swampy driving conditions and though I took a book I found that the scenery on the whole was much more entertaining.

The accommodation of the settlements varied from mud huts with roofs of hay and leaves, tin and corrugated iron buildings, wooden houses or small stone one room buildings. Occasionally we passed bigger and more expensive looking houses interspersed with long stretches of green land. We frequently spotted smoke and flames in the woodland which definitely did not look like deliberate or controlled bonfires.

We arrived after about 2 hours at our hotel which was so luxurious after a week in Hohoe. It came complete with swimming pool, lake (obviously) and crocodiles. Yes, really crocodiles - though thankfully not in the lake or swimming pool. And monkeys, snakes, parrots and other unidentifiable animal species. I'm not quite sure what the purpose was in keeping them - they were barely on display and nobody was charged for seeing them. The animal's accommodation, it has to be said, was not great and not allocated particularly fairly either: there were 2 monkey cages, one was fairly big and had many monkeys with lots for them to do while the other one was a small bare cage with a solitary monkey in it. The naughty cage perhaps: he certainly didn't look too impressed with this arrangement.

We spent the weekend mostly sitting around the hotel and pool. Quite a challenge for me in fact. I went out for a walk around the lake which is enormous for a man made effort. It wasn't really very successful as I couldn't get near the lake without trampling through peoples' back yards and it was unnerving to have people stopping me to request my photo every few minutes simply for the colour of my skin. Feeling a bit like a tourist attraction I retreated to the hotel where we took a short boat ride around the lake. All the locals living at the edge came out to wave at us or were already there washing or bathing in the lake. They didn't seem to mind the regular intrusion of tourists on their doorstep.

Lake Volta is a fascinating place to be if you are not afraid of bugs or lizards. Everywhere you go you see tails disappearing into bushes or feet scuttling along the walls or ceilings. There are tiny green and brown lizards, including one residential in our bathroom, and much larger colourful (red, blue and yellow) ones. Definitely one of the highlights and compensation for the stifling heat, but despite much perseverance I never did manage to convince one to stay still so I could watch it close up or take its photo. It is a close thing in terms of amusement value - to watch the lizards or to watch Ali as she spots one, jumping out of her skin or leaping out of her chair. She may have found it a long weekend.

Meal times have also proven quite amusing. The menu for a start is hilarious - here are some examples:
'midnight hunted snail chosen for your motionless in charming garlic sauce'
'grilled fish conceived in terbanut sauce'
'chicken thighs with jealously hocked on a skewer'
'chicken ripped in strickey bacon ona town of paprika roasted potato'
'napolitan sauce fine march to panne'
'fried egg worshipped with flame grilled black peppercorn'
'a forest of bacon rained in brown sauce'
'or the classic bangers and mush!

Definitely a few things lost in translation.

Ordering the food is the next challenge: I adventurously ask for one of the Ghanian dishes.
"that is out of stock"
I try again with another dish
"that is out of stock"
Plan C: do you have......
"No we don't have that"
I order a plate of vegetables.

I am not the only one having trouble. Ali, following her previous encounters with the food has opted for chips but is still struggling with the ketchup which just isn't Heinz. Emma picks all the visible chillies off the top of her pasta but has to request a box to take away all but a few mouthfuls, while Rebecca valiantly conquers her vegetarian pasta dish, picking out the bacon and getting through 2 litres of water to take out the sting. Becky's meal seems ok today but all the bugs flying around have given her the air of somebody suffering with tourettes. All most entertaining.