Last weekend started late because it began raining just as we were about to leave and we don't trust the roads (or the driving) in the wet. So it was Saturday before we headed off to the akosumba dam which is responsible for creating the largest man made lake in the world.
Seeing the dam was not as simple we could have hoped. In order to approach the dam we had to get a pass first from round the back of a bank in a tiny unmarked office, which then had to be stamped by a man in the adjacent room and then return to the same woman to give her our address and phone numbers. Goodness knows why, but it ended up that we then needed to get a lift with a stranger who happened to have some empty spaces in his car up to the dam itself.
The dam was constructed in the 80s I think and seems to provide the entire electricity for Ghana as well as be able to export to 3 of the neighbouring countries. It is as you may imagine a very impressive structure. We were told it is a terraced dam. Whatever that may be, and is constructed from stone cut from the hills either side of the dam. It is only about 20 meters high and I must say I thought it was going to be taller. Our tour guide took us (as well as 2 parties of school kids) onto the dam from where we could appreciate the power house where the turbines are held and the many cables taking away the power to different areas. Unfortunately we were not allowed to go inside the dam, so the tour was quite brief. This was probably a good thing as we were starting to worry that we would not be able to reach aburi that evening. We shared this predicament with the nice Frenchman who had given us a lift to the dam and he said he was heading in our direction so would give us a lift. What a nice chap! We made it to aburi in no time, and discovered that our new French friend was working out in Ghana for john west fishing for tuna. He told us of the politics and corruption of the fishing industry and the racial tension which existed between the Korean and Ghanaian crew members.
Aburi is a town unlike any we had been to before, it is situated ontop of q hill which provided spectacular views out over the capital Accra. It had narrow one way roads and everywhere was green rather than the red dust which seeps through in drier areas. We enjoyed an excellent meal that night and headed to bed early as tomorrow we were going to go mountain biking.
Mountain biking for anyone like me who hasn't done it before is a mixture of great fun, hard work and being absolutely petrified. Thankfully the bikes we hired had good brakes so we were ok going embarrassingly slowly down the hills. We stopped along the way for our guide to point out plants and demonstrate how they were made into food. We also had a look round a local house, which was fascinating. We enjoyed a great morning of exercise and headed to Pete's pizza place for lunch. Pete is a rasta who gave up his job fishing in Italy to create a tiny 4 person restaurant which looks like his living room. It is the kind of restaurant which would be perfectly normal if at glastonburry festival and q real delight to find. After lunch we had a wonder around the botanical gardens which houses a large range of different plants, and then headed home.
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