After Christmas lazing around Kokrobite we decided that if we were ever going to escape we would need to find a bank in order to pay the bill. This meant that a day trip to Accra would be necessary. We had heard all the horror stories about how busy and gridlocked the city was, and so decided to take a tro-tro bus in to avoid the hassle of driving. We jumped on the bus and before we knew it (literally) we were at our stop in the north of the city. This also put us in good position to check out the Champs Bar, mentioned in the chat section while we were in Nerja, and local of a guy called Rick, also from Macc, who got in touch after seeing the newspaper article.
We killed a couple of hours in the internet cafe first however as it was only about ten in the morning and too much beer in the morning can be bad for you! Afterwards however we headed to the bar. A great place, owned by Patrick the Canadian. A real hangout for Ex-Pats, and people with a lot more money than ourselves. Quite a culture shock after three months through West Africa but we did our best to get settled in and so ordered a beer. (On tap may i add, normally only bottles in Africa, plastic ones at that!) After lunch we arranged to come back later in order to meet the mysterious Rick, who from his message to us on the website had made us think he worked behind the bar! Infact a regular who supplies alcohol to most of the bars and clubs of West Africa along with plenty of other business ventures including bakeries and record producing. We booked into the cheapest hotel we could find and spent the next couple of hours watching MTV on the hotel TV before heading back off to the bar. Aswell as changes in diet and stomach capacity for food, the ability to drink huge quantities of beer decreases slightly on trips like this. Learning that Rick was an ex Kings School Rugby captain and tonight was his big drinking night was enough to make us a little worried, although after seeing my pint pot (yes a real glass one) refill itself mysteriously for the sixth, seventh, eighth time………………. it was like a dream come true. Needless to say most of the night was a bit of a blur although do remember Liverpool embarrasing Everton at one point!
Thanks again to Rick and Patrick for the immense hospitality and I hope we can repay you some day?! Sure we will catch up again further on down the line.
