The Golden Tulip, Mamma Mia and the Alliance Français

By Saturday I was in need of some rest so decided to spend the day at a pool where I could swim safely (La Beach is not recommended for swimming owing to strong currents and rip tides). Most of Accra’s hotel swimming pools are open for day use for a fee. I headed to the Golden Tulip, not far from 37 tro-tro station.

The Golden Tulip’s pool is calm, uncrowded and very clean, and the changing rooms are immaculate. At 40 cedis (£8) for day use, it is a bit on the pricey side but worth it if you are spending the whole day there. There is a menu with plenty of choice of food and drink for those who spend all day (prices range from 20 – 70 cedis). There are also sunloungers to relax in with a book, and towels are available free of charge.

Next I headed into Osu to meet some colleagues for dinner. Needing a break from red red and plantain, we headed to Mamma Mia, Accra’s best Italian restaurant, for delicious thin-crust pizza (around 30 cedis / £6) and mouth watering fresh lobster, prawns and calamari (70 cedis / £14).

Afterwards, as the Alliance Français had been such a success on Friday night (see previous post), we headed back there for a hip-hop concert, featuring artists from all over Africa. It blew away all expectations.

Friday night’s entertainment had been upbeat and fun, but pretty mellow and not too crowded. I had been expecting the same thing on Saturday, but was hugely mistaken. The place was packed out. You could barely move for people bouncing up and down with excitement. We had been expecting a showcase of relatively little known artists. It turned out that the line up featured some of Ghana’s, and indeed Africa’s, biggest contemporary rappers. Everyone knew the words. Girls were screaming with excitement.

We could soon see why. The quality of the hip-hop on offer was great. I will definitely be looking up some of the artists on Spotify when I get home. E.L., Gemini, Shaker, M.anifest, Sarkodie, Sargo, Kojo Cue, PK and C-Real are a few names I will definitely be taking away with me.