Our next destination is to Takoradi to see the village on stilts and have a couple of resort days. Our resort, the Venice View Beach Resort, is in the Gulf of Guinea or specifically on the Atlantic. It is only a 20 minute flight from Accra to Takoradi. Or if you go by car it would take you about 7 hours because of the horrible roads. Or if you have a sudden downburst of rain it could take you eleven hours.
We needed to check out of our apartment by noon. We had Mary come to drive us the 20 minutes to the airport and to stop for lunch first. She got to our apartment just as the rain started coming down in sheets. The palm trees were waving like crazy with what seemed like hurricane winds. The people at the front desk of our apartment complex were willing to help us carry the luggage and hold umbrellas for us. We and our luggage would have been soaked. Besides - we have plenty of time - the drive to the airport is only twenty minutes!
These photos look tame to actually being there! Finally the rain starts to slow down - we get ourselves and our luggage in Mary's car. We start off and Mary is suggesting places to eat. We are going very slow - Lets just go to the airport I say. We have some snacks. We all agree and head that way. The traffic crawls along. Mary says, I have never seen it this bad. We stop completely. We do not move for 10-15 minutes. Some people come by our car and tell Mary they want money to direct the traffic to be positive for us. Here is what is happening - the traffic lights are off because of the rain. The traffic police have not arrived. The main road is moving swiftly - none of the side roads are being let in. We have no idea if the guys telling us to give them money actually have any control over the traffic. Finally the traffic police arrive and we are moving again.
We get to the airport about 30 minutes before the flight is scheduled to depart. But the rule is you have to be checked in 40 minutes before the flight. This is a very small domestic airport. There are only 6 gates and everyone is driven by bus to the plane to get on-board. The bus has not arrived to take passengers to our plane. All our fellow travelers are still in the airport waiting. We try to check in - and are told we have to rebook. We go to rebook - they tell us the flight hasn't even boarded the bus go and check in. We go to check-in - no it is not possible to take that flight go back and rebook!
So we spend another $90 to rebook. The original flight cost was $136. for the two of us. We make it up to the gate area. All of the travelers on our original flight are still waiting for the bus. It is delayed for hours. Our new flight is at 4:30. At 4:00 the original flight has still not taken off. They announce the original flight should now go to board the bus to the plane. Finally it is announced that our flight will not take off until 8PM. I am thinking - this is a 20 minute flight how can it take for the airplane to fly to Takoradi and then turn around to come back to Accra to pick us up? Does it take 4 hours?
But around 6 - 6:30 they suddenly announce that we should board the bus to get to our plane. I should explain that the gates are just doors with ramps to the ground. There is no signage anywhere. There is small groups of seating between each gate and the occasional food stand. Sometimes a professional person will come and stand in front of some seats and announce in a quiet voice that there will be a delay. Then she stops looks down and then walks to the next seating area and repeats. There are overhead announcements that are very hard to understand. Michael had been walking around and noticed everyone crowding around out gate - that is how we found out.
The flight is uneventful - they just have time to give each of us a bottle of water before we have to get ready to land. Our driver is waiting for us. This airport is even smaller. We are led from the plane and then through a short hallway and then outside. It is raining lightly while we wait outside for our luggage to be delivered. I really have to go to the bathroom before we have a two hour drive to our resort. Our driver talks to someone and we are allowed back into the airport to use the washroom - that is what they are called here. We are also hungry. Our driver takes to a hotel that has a restaurant. Michael and I decide we don't want to wait an hour or more for food which would make our arrival to the resort even later - as it is we should get there by 11pm. There is no such thing as fast food here. Actually we have not tried many of the U.S. chains. We did get Pizza hut one time and it took over an hour for take-out.
the roads are even worse outside of Takoradi. We make it to the resort after 2 1/4 hours of driving. We had called the resort to see if we could get some food. They have on chicken with fried rice and one chicken with jollof rice - they will bring it to our cabin. Then we get the first hint something is wrong. Our driver is told to drive us to our cabin on tiny roads meant for a battery car. They show us our first option - it is pretty awful - they have another choice. This one is a little bigger - otherwise it is exactly the same. We are so tired that we say we will take it. Next post - The worst resort in Ghana.
what an epic day of travel - and not in the good sense :(
ReplyDeleteUgh, that sounds rough.
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