"thebigbossyboss" (thebigbossyboss)
02/26/2014 at 11:00 • Filed to: West African Adventures
5
6|
"thebigbossyboss" (thebigbossyboss)
02/26/2014 at 11:00 • Filed to: West African Adventures | 5
| 6 |
Hello. My name is thebigbossyboss. Come with me on an adventure to west africa where I used to live. Previous adventures can be found here:
!!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!!
Today we are travelling to the Ghanaian town of Keta.
!!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!!
Easter Monday, I went to Keta with my buddy to visit his family.Keta is a small town of maybe about 10,000 or so in the Volta Region of Ghana (the region that borders Togo).
Keta was originally colonized by the Germans and part of western Togoland before the end of ww1, when the Germans were kicked out of Africa.Getting to Keta, was yet another African road adventure.(I'm not sure if I've ever had a road trip here without some form of excitement). Out near Tema, a tro tro coming the other way blew its tire. Little did I know flat tires were to be the theme for the day.After passing off the main Accra-Aflao highway
(that stretch of dirt pictured is the main highway connecting Ghana and Togo) our tro tro blew it's tire.
Our driver managed to get us to the side of the road okay, after about 10 minutes (the driver had no jack), we managed to get the spare on and be on our way.Maybe 5 minutes later the spare tire blew out.With no more tires, our tro tro was finished.We had to wait on the side of the road and get on passing tro tros.
Me and my buddy managed to snag a ride in a flatbed truck to take us the remaining 20 or so kms.
Once in Keta, we met up with my friends family and enjoyed some awesome banku and a different dish which is generally only eaten in Togoland.(ie Togo and Volta region).It was somewhat like a vegetable pie, but more solid.
It was good, but has a subtle flavour.It was mostly made with yams, carrots, onions and fish.From there we drove around Keta a bit, and went to the beach. Keta beach was awesome.It was huge, sandy, relatively clean, and no tourist hustlers around (since Keta sees no tourists).
Families come to the beach in the evening generally.During the afternoon the beach was mostly filled with fishermen, but at evening it seems as if the entire town converges on it.It was pretty awesome, we played football barefoot in the sand with some fishermen kids.Then we made our way home, I got home around 9 pm.
In my pictures, unfortunately I didn't take pictures of Keta's beach or the ocean.That leaves you wondering what that huge body of water is that all those pictures are of.
That's Keta Lagoon….which gives Keta it's uniqueness.
Keta is built on a sandbar of epic proportions, 8km wide at one point and 30 km long, it terminates not far beyond Keta, which is the last town on the sandbar peninsula.
There are old 4X4's which drive you to the otherside of the sandbar at low tide.Keta is precariously situated between the lagoon and the ocean, and indeed, erosion of the sandbar was a concern for a long time in Keta, leading to the gradual movement of the town from "Old Keta" to "new Keta".New Keta is on a wider part of the sandbar.The erosion of the sandbar came to a head in 1980 when Fort Prizenstein (pictured) was ruined in the waves, during a storm, which prompted the government (who had been using the old Danish fort as a prison) to embark on a land reclamation project, and take back some Lagoon land.
The barren sandy land in my pictures is all reclaimed land.It was the largest land reclamation project in Ghanaian history.
Pictured: Old town Keta
Unfortunately I couldn't get more or better pictures of Fort Prizenstein as we were just passing by in a car.So that's Keta, situated in between the ocean, and a massive lagoon, a neat place, where the old section of town is slowly coming back to life after being left to die by residents due to erosion.The fort was "supposed" to be restored by 2001.All I can say to that, is "I guess not" cause it's still in ruins but maybe one day….
CalzoneGolem
> thebigbossyboss
02/26/2014 at 11:05 |
|
Uh, what's the sandbar?
|
thebigbossyboss
> CalzoneGolem
02/26/2014 at 11:10 |
|
It was built on a sandbar.
slomaro
> thebigbossyboss
02/26/2014 at 12:32 |
|
Travel stories are cool
Simon-Jester
> CalzoneGolem
02/27/2014 at 08:09 |
|
Oh, it's this place that lets sixteen year-old kids drink.
|
CalzoneGolem
> Simon-Jester
02/27/2014 at 08:17 |
|
Oh, cool.
Stef Schrader
> Simon-Jester
03/03/2014 at 00:02 |
|
All the proceeds go towards getting their lead singer out of jail!