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.
