We have covered approximately 320km since we left Lagos and with an estimated 122km planned for day 4 I was eager to get going again. With Day 3 now firmly behind us, I was looking forward to an easy and relatively quick ride to our destination for the day given that we were not going to cross any borders. But that was not going to be the case.
Shortly after waking up at the Keta Emancipation Beach Resort, we paid Joe Ghanaian Cedi 46 (approximately USD30) all inclusive and headed off to the church about 2km away where we had parked our car the previous night. This was based on advice the previous day from our good Samaritan friend, Bright, that it would be better to park our vehicle at the local church compound as security might be an issue. He assured us however that the local pastor is a very good friend of his and that he won’t mind to help us out. And right he was.
The pastor, an elderly gentleman, was very friendly and extremely inquisitive as to why we were undertaking the journey from Lagos to Accra and back. After explaining the reason to him he left to attend to his daily chores.
After arriving at the church we cooked breakfast on my cadac gas stove before heading out to the town of Ada. On the menu - instant mash potatoes, baked beans, carrots, peas and tuna. Friday and Bright very kindly insisted to wash the dishes which allowed me to rub some sun block lotion on my body, mix my hydration drinks for the day and get dressed. While all this was going on, an elderly local resident, referred to by Bright as a “madman” (I must admit he did appear to be somewhat harassed and delirious), preached fire and brimstone down from heaven when he saw me. I must have looked like a ghost or something. May God bless his soul!
When Bright heard that we were planning to head to Ada, he told us that he is actually a native from Ada and that our ride for the day will no doubt be a very easy one. After all, the total journey will be no longer than about 67km, this coming from a man who travels between Keta and Ada on a fairly regular basis. First lesson for the day – local knowledge is good but GPS is typically more accurate. I was going to make the same mistake a few more times later in the day.
After leaving Keta (an hour later than planned because it was going to be an "easy" day), we arrived at an adjacent town approximately 20km down the road. By this time I had settled into a nice rhythm and felt pretty strong. All of a sudden I saw a woman selling generous looking pineapples next to the road. About 100 metres later the urge to devour one of those pineapples got the better of me and we made an unscheduled stop. Friday bought two pineapples and the lady very kindly agreed to peel and cut one of the pineapples into pieces for me to enjoy as a mid-morning snack. WOW! One thing that has to be said about fruit in tropical West Africa – they don’t come any better than this.
The next 40km went by remarkably quick. We had now turned into a northerly direction which meant that for the first time on this trip there was no head wind and I was able to maintain a speed of approximately 25-30km per hour. This did my confidence the world of good. Then all of a sudden when we completed almost 65km I hit the wall once again and realised that our journey was not going to be as short as Bright made us believe earlier in the morning. The thought going through my mind was that I was most probably going to have to repeat the distance I have just completed for the day thus far. By now I was already a spent force. It was almost mid-day and with the sun beating us with all of its glory I as unsure as to how I was going to recover from this psychological setback?
We found a shady street side kiosk and asked the lady if we could rest there for a while. I grabbed the remaining pineapple we bought earlier the morning and I started peeling it with the kitchen knife I had brought with us from Lagos. Within minutes the pineapple was history and already I started feeling better. After taking a 20 minutes power nap on the cool concrete floor of the kiosk and some kind encouragement from the lady and her husband who own the kiosk, I felt ready to take on the second half of the journey.
About 12km later we reached a town called Sogakope at the Lower Volta Bridge. This was yet another awesome sight to behold and one of those precious moments that makes a journey such as this very special and worthwhile. I took some pictures before we made a quick stop at the local bank to change some foreign currency (we were running low on cedis and needed to replenish our cash).
At this point lesson 1 had not yet fully sunk in as I asked another local how far we had to go to reach Ada. He told me that we only had about 15km to get to Ada and then another 5km or so before we would reach Big Ada (somehow the fact that there was a Big Ada and an Ada did not register on the map I studied before we left). How wrong this estimate finally turned out to be. The 5km from the main junction to Big Ada turned out to be 25km and not 5km. Silly me!
By now we were heading straight towards Accra on the main expressway and traffic started to pick up. The road also became longer, a lot straighter and with that more monotony. I really had to concentrate to ensure my focus was not too much on my garmin because then it seems like it takes so much longer for the km to tick over. Then out of nowhere we met a lady next to the expressway who sold watermelons. I did not need any invitation to pull my brakes and engage her in negotiations. I haven’t even paid for the watermelon when my mouth was filled with the most delicious and sweetest watermelon I have tasted in a long time. I finished the entire watermelon by myself and immediately felt refreshed and ready to take on the rest of the day’s journey.
Lesson number two – there is absolutely no substitute for the goodness produced by mother earth. Yes there are lots of good and effective food and energy supplements on the market, but nothing beats freshly cut tropical fruit when you are tired, hungry and thirsty.
We eventually reached Ada which essentially is a junction area where you turn off the main expressway to go to Big Ada, our ultimate destination for the day. With lesson 1 still not learnt, I asked a street vendor at the Ada junction how far I had to go before I reached Big Ada. His advice, 9km, which turned out to be about 25km. Silly me!
And now for lesson number three – it is ok not to book accommodation in advance but at least call to confirm that the hotel or beach resort is still in business. Yes indeed! You have guessed it. When we were almost at our final destination for the day, a local resident informed us that the Manet Paradise was not open for business as it was undergoing some much needed refurbishment. HuHH? You’ve got to be joking!!! I really had to keep it together so as to not lose my cool at this point because by now my body was telling me that it can carry on no further. My legs were hurting real bad and I guess the mileage of the previous three days’ cycling was starting to show its effects.
Fortunately for us, there was another “beach resort” only about 2 or 3km down the road and when we got there we were pleasantly surprised by the facilities. Clean rooms, en-suite bathroom with a shower and toilet and very important a mosquito net. At a modest USD20 per room per night I did not hesitate to book two rooms and also tell the owner that we will spend two nights. I definitely needed the rest and was quite happy to delay our arrival in Accra by one day.
After two ice cold beers and a very delicious hot plate of food (jollof rice, coleslaw and chicken) I took a shower and went straight to bed. Sleep never felt so good before!
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