Ada Foah

I have spent the past three days in Ada Foah – a town on the eastern South Coast where the Volta River meets the sea. I was there on a fact finding visit on Monday, but decided to head there on Saturday to get to be a bit of a tourist over the weekend and enjoy some quality free time.

Getting to Ada Foah from Accra is easy – a straightforward tro-tro ride from Tudu Station all the way there, which costs only 9 cedi (£1.80), and takes around 2 hours. Coming home it is best to take a tro-tro from Ada Foah to Ada Junction (2 cedi / £0.40) and then a tro-tro from there back to Accra. 

The town itself is sleepy and pleasant, but there’s not much to see or do. I ambled around the small market for a little while, but apparently it only really comes to life on Wednesdays. If you are heading to Ada, head out of town to the beaches in the surrounding villages.

I stayed at the Maranatha Beach Camp: a little piece of tropical paradise. It’s best accessed by boat and on arrival in Ada Foah I called the camp who promptly arranged a canoe to pick me up from the Volta bank and whisk me a few kilometres downstream to the estuary.

Maranatha Beach Camp is located on a very narrow strip of golden sand, lined with colourfully painted coconut trees. The narrow peninsular – probably only around 200 meters across, cuts through the Volta on one side and the ocean on the other. Accommodation is made up of simple reed huts, with sand floors, and containing just a bed, mosquito net and table. There is no electricity in the huts, which cost only 25 cedi (around £5) per night. Simple local meals are available at the restaurant for around 10 cedis (£2), and there is a reasonably stocked bar.  Toilets are compost toilets and showers are bucket showers only. There are bonfires and music on Saturday nights, which was great fun and a great way of getting to know everyone in the village.

One of the best reasons to stay at Maranatha (other than the idyllic location and the cheap price) is that profits are ploughed back into the local community. The beach camp helps to fund a school in the village (directly behind the camp), as well as turtle conservation projects.

The best thing to do at Maranatha is just soak in the natural beauty. It really is a spectacular location, and well observed from a comfy hammock. I was not in season for turtle viewing (best August to December). Other things to do include swimming, strolling and boating.

I took a stroll through the tiny fishing village of Kewunor, directly behind the camp. It’s a remarkably friendly village and the kids are always up for playing football or being swung in the hammocks (and if you are in a hammock you may have no choice other than to find yourself being swung – likely with a whole host of children piling in on top of you).

It’s also a great place to observe village life. The vast majority of the villagers make their livings from fishing and their colourful boats line the river bank. The houses are all made of thatch and palm reeds, and most are without electricity. Water comes directly from the Volta or from a well in the middle of the village. Some electricity comes from a small windmill and a generator.

I also took a boat trip out to visit some neighbouring islands, including “Rum Island” – home to a sugar cane farm which produces awfully strong tasting white and red rum. I’d never heard of red rum until this weekend. It’s coloured by mahogany wood.