In the Western region, there are a few main stops on the tourist trail…there’s Busua beach, just a 40-minute trotro and shared taxi from Takoradi. Lovely beach to lie on and lots of backpacker restaurants as well as a motley collection of other volunteers, oil workers, and Rastafarians.
Just 20 miles further West from Busua, (but a two-hour drive due to bad roads) lies Cape Three Points, the closest terra firma point to 0’ longitude, 0’ latitude in the world. (The real point lies offshore, amidst the creatively named Cape Three Points Offshore block, Ghana’s first major oil development in the Jubilee field). Apparently, map websites will send you to ‘Null Island’ if you type in the directions, but in actual fact, 0’, 0’ is just sea.
Cape Three points, the part on land, is interesting more for the idea of what it represents and less for what’s actually there, although there are two lighthouses (one ruined, one still standing). You can get great views from the point, especially if you are willing to block all thoughts of a likely lack of health and safety inspections to clamber up the metal stairs of the more recent lighthouse. From there, two curved beaches stretch backward, and everything is lush green, sand, and sea. Down on solid ground, it’s some run-down buildings, ruins, goats, and the occasional palm tree on a rocky cliff. An hour spent circling the area and taking some photos, and you’re probably done.
If you want to stay in the area, a 30-minute walk away is Escape 3 Points, an eco-lodge run by a group of expat-Ghanaian eco-enthusiasts. I’m not sure what the lodging is actually like, but it seems similar to any other volunteer sort of hub in Ghana. The interesting stuff is hearing about how the managers are really living what they’re preaching – they’re entirely solar powered, collect water by building gutters out of reused water bottles, and grow most of their own food. They also have a massive plumbing and composting system that means they’re reusing all the waste and water (including personal) that comes from the lodging. It’s super cool stuff.
So after being in Busua and then Cape Three Points for the week with my coworkers last week, on Friday night, I hustled home, unpacked, and repacked while I waited for Nicky to arrive. The last of my fellow VSO volunteers, Nicky left Ghana on Wednesday, but wanted to see some of the Western Region before she went.