Gorgeous Akosombo

The searing heat slips into a sweet and crisp coolness, as you approach her from the City of Accra, and a brisk breeze sweeps along with the car. The road is well-kept and lushly lined with tall trees with fresh, green leaves.

She is curled up at the foot of running hills, and sleeps silently on the banks of the Volta River; the lake unfolds itself upriver. Her plains and hills are spotted with many well-fed woods of humongous trees, saplings, shrubs and bushes watered by little spill-over pools from the occupying river. Never too hot or too glaringly bright, it looks like a 3-D postcard picture; crystal clear with muted colour tones.

Multi-storeys are very rare. Flat box-houses crawl in ornate order over the hobbling landscape and equatorial plains, allowing splurges of comfortable space everywhere.

Her many fine hotels and spick guesthouses welcome holidaymakers who want an easy-peasy drive through the clusters of copses, a tranquil cruise on the many boats, or some rapid, reckless and raw-nerve water sport. The best by far is the Volta Hotel; luxurious for the rooms, cuisine and service; built like a ship, a submarine and a citadel (have you seen it?).

She’s quiescent and picturesque, laidback and breathtakingly beautiful, but she is not Accra. After three days and two nights you want to descend into the furnace, clangour and stuffiness that is the City of Accra. Gorgeous Akosombo!