Wli Falls and Tafi Atome Monkey Sanctuary, Volta Region

I drove up with my sister and one of my best friends up to Wli during Easter weekend. Oh wow! Some adventure for us. I had heard the Akosombo bridge was under construction so we went around Ada for a longer route and scenic view.  We left on a Friday and returned to Accra on a Monday.

The road less travelled

I won't go into details on how our car broke down in the middle of no where in Sogakope on Friday and how God had sent an angel to help us out and stayed for 4 hours sorting out the car and was still really nice about it. Good samaritans out there! 

In the middle of no where

Anyway when we finally got to Wli, our lodge was easy enough to find. We stayed at Big Foot Safari Lodge. The two guys managing the place were Innocent and Gideon... such nice guys and they give great service. Better than that in Accra!!!

On Saturday, we headed off early to hike to the Wli falls with our bottles of water and packed sandwiches. We had our guide, Samuel and begun this 3 hour hike up. 

Now if you love hiking and you have prepared for it, you would like this hike up and hike down. 

The view on top was breath-taking! And as we neared the upper part of the falls, where I could here the water, it was all pretty exciting. I felt so much relief having to see that the very tiny waterfalls got closer and bigger. :) It was even more amazing to be in the water and under the falls!

Our glimpse of the falls

Finally!

up close and personal with the falls

LOOOOL! Yes we were standing there looking like that cos we felt free with the water splashes!

Now if you aren't used to hiking, the longer route of this hike is not for you! My out of shape body was in so much pain after all of this... part of the hike down included having to grab onto rocks and roots of trees where at times you would have to bend your knee all the way to your chest to be able to climb without falling. The other part of the hike down was walking on narrow trails where you miss one step and you could be rolling down that mountain. 

Don't get me wrong, at the end of the hike, I felt it was worth all of it. It will be the last time I make that long hike though :) 

I decided not to join my friend for the climb on Mt. Afadjato on Sunday. Instead, while she did another hike, I sat with a lovely Ghanaian family who were so kind to share their fufu (local Ghanaian dish) with me. Horray for great hospitality of Ghanaian people!

On our way back to Accra, we did a quick stop at Tafi Atome to see the Monkey Sanctuary. Cute litte monkeys! You feed them banana so they come to you. Nice way to end our weekend!

Thought it was cool for the baby monkey to be hanging on the
mama monkey while she jumped from branch to branch!

Le Grande Bleu Beach Resort, a little past Kasoa

The resort is owned by retired Ghanaian born French football player, Marcel Desailly.  Found out about it through our guy friends who play football at Lizzie's Sports Complex (also owned by Desailly).

It has several chalets that surrounds one main house which consists of a big kitchen, a dining room that seats roughly about 10 people and a cozy living room area. In front of the main house is an intimate pool with quaint sun beds perfect for those sunkisses!

The chalets - Simple but clean and decorated nicely. All have air conditioning units. :) 

Between the beach front and the pool are three areas: two of which can be used to dine so you have the view of the beach and one area for a bar. 

One area for dining with a view of the beach

The bar and the second dining area

This resort is perfect for big groups of friends, family reunions, company team-building weekends or retreats... basically any big gatherings where everyone is sort of linked. The lady of the kitchen, Georgina, will gladly help you out with preparing food. We also have our champion grilling master, Daniel.

A group of us childhood friends drove there for a weekend as a farewell for our friends, who are one of the coolest couples i know!

I'd like to share how you should go about it to make sure you thoroughly enjoy the weekend! 

1. Plan a food menu for the weekend (so you know what ingredients to take with you and if it is necessary for you to take other kitchenware needed to prepare the meals. Here are two dishes that was part of our menu: 

   

   Lobsters wrapped in bacon

   
   

   

   This photo doesn't do justice of just how huge this fish was!

   
   
   
2. Plan a list of drinks you and your friends want to have over the weekend. (include ice on the list!)
3. Assign responsibilities e.g. Transportation for everyone, drinks, entertainment etc. We had a van, we had cool boxes of drinks and we made sure we brought music, shisha and a projector for movie night (no there is no TV).
4. Check what facilities and resources the resort has that you feel you may need or want, with the resort coordinator. e.g. They do not offer beach towels but they do have towels for when you shower. They do have a volleyball net. etc.
5. The most important of all, make sure you have great company! What's a weekend like this if you don't have good peoples to share it with right?!

We had a fantastic time during that weekend! Too bad we couldn't have stayed one more day! We had brought so much food and drinks, it would have been great to do so :) 

Pathway leading to the beach. You will even catch a glimpse of the grilling area :) 

Sankofa Beach Resort, Langma

Quaint and very personal resort in Krokrobite. Hidden spot, far enough to get away from the city but close enough to be reached fast enough.

The owner, Masao is a fantastic host. I stayed in that resort for about 4 days and every day he would come to us, tell us what ingredients the kitchen had, and let us say what we are in the mood for. He surprised us every with great dishes! Too bad I wasn't able to capture the other dishes we had!

Rooms are decent. Don't expect anything fancy. We had the room on the beach front. It was not bad at all. :)

http://www.sankofabeachhouse.com/

Rockafeller, Osu, Accra

Rockafeller is my new favourite spot to eat to have a shisha and relax. It is a fusion of sushi and grills. If you have lived in Accra long enough, it is like me saying 3121 and Honeysuckle. The ambiance has a good feel though... although it seems like a fancy sports bar (big screen Tvs showing sports and some of the food on the menu)... it's not entirely one because they have sushi!

So far I have tried the appetizers and the sushi. My recommendations for sushi - crispy salmon salad, dynamite rolls, crazy boy rolls and smoked salmon rolls.
But that's just me being biased... I have a habit of always just ordering a bunch of appetizers and I LOVE sushi. Some have told me though that other dishes on the menu is a must try.

Photos below are of when I ate inside, but I discovered I like their outside space. It's a corner of 3121, it's quiet, doesn't feel like you are in Osu, and they have shisha. They do run out of shisha bottles so if you want to smoke one, go on a weekday!

Strawberry Margarita (if I remember correctly)...haha!

Some of the appetizers we ordered - the chicken wings are great!

Can't go wrong with sushi

Zebra Chocolate Mousse

The Colour Centre, Coral Paints, Accra

The Colour Centre, the first in the country, is a place where homeowners can sit with the colour consultant to be guided through colour schemes and colour inspirations.

It was a great experience choosing colours. I came in because I was repainting my newly moved two bedroom house. So I booked an appointment via email and I was replied to promptly.

When I visited, I was offered coffee or tea. I noticed a Nespresso machine so I had that instead - decaf. :) I was also offered a chocolate bar (local favourite - Golden Tree with the red cover). Now already I saw the fishes in their pond, the security guy greets me before I enter the place, now I'm being pampered with this. Little things matter. I was impressed.

The surrounding is cozy and comfy. After small chit chat, I showed images of my home to the colour consultant and she took me through 3 options of colour combinations / schemes. She also showed me pegs of homes in magazines that she thought would inspire me think of how to set up my home. Nice and friendly lady. :)

The best part of it, all what I've talked about and the consultation... it was all free of charge.

Two words - Customer service!!

So if you're looking to repaint or paint your home and needs help in choosing colours, I recommend you to visit the Colour Centre.

 Consultation is via appointment. You can email to sales@coral-ghana.com
You can see photos of The Colour Centre:
https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.255802567894521.1073741832.234137856727659&type=3




 

Shisha and Salsa at Tam Tam African Restaurant, Afrikiko

It started when one girlfriend invited me to go out on a Wednesday night to try out the salsa at Afrikiko. It was really intimidating at first seeing all those dancers twirling and shaking it. Everyone looked so good dancing salsa that I wasn't sure I could even start learning there.

But there came a Wednesday when I just didn't care whether or not I could kept up or not. I decided I should just start and see how the salsa finds me! My first dance partner, Charles, was a winner. He was patient and he taught me the basics.

Now I look forward to Wednesdays. I'm slowly learning more and more moves. More than that, it's thoroughly enjoyable!

So ever since, I try to go every Wednesday to Tam Tam African Restaurant at Afrikiko to learn more steps :) The dance instructors are from Dancation International. They also have other dance classes like kizumba and so on.

The plus of going is that there is shisha! The vibe around you is chill and fun. More and more of my friends come by to try salsa and hang out to have shisha. I think out of all the places I go to, to have shisha, this is the most enjoyable - good company, music and ambiance.

Shisha at Afrikiko

The Villa, White Sands

One word - AMAZBALLS! hahaha! (c/o LC)

Absolutely felt like we were some where else and in our own world for a weekend. The girls and I spent an overnight at the villa at White Sands. We had our own butler and our private pool which was just fabulous.

 

Lunch time! :) We  had lunch brought to us at the villa. 

Our villa at night

Dinner at the restaurant. Absolutely divine! Our waiter, Oscar was a delight. 

In the morning, we had breakfast by the private beach. 

It was pricey though, rates are in Euros. Also you have to be endorsed by a member in order to book a room there. So VIP-ish huh? :)

Worth every penny!