Riding from Takoradi on December 21st to Busua (Green Turtle Lodge) was by far one of the most memorable and challenging days for me. As I was running through the 5am morning drill of strategically strapping down my bag onto the rack with budgie cords, while scarfing down a banana, bread and preparing my 3-series water concoctions (1st- water with chia seeds, 2nd-water with Moringa powder and 3rd-water with Grapefruit Seed Extract (GSE) for preventative care), I took the time to jot down a few notes on Takoradi in my journal. Closing statement of the journal entry was: “Off to Busua, it is supposed to be gorgeous and only about 40-45km, so it should take no more than two and a half hours, practically an off day.”
I could not have been more mistaken! Sure it was only a 50 km ride, but the last 10-15 km were along an extremely rough road. According to Frazer it was intermediate level mountain biking. I mention this as an intro to the next statement, which is that I fell twice. Yes, twice. I’m really clumsy when it comes to intense out-doors activities, such as snowboarding, skating, or any other activity involving going down a hill at a really fast pace. Frazer, Evelyn, and Armando on the other hand, were flying down and back up the hills, having the time of their lives strategically “picking lines” to trek through, while I couldn’t help and think to myself “what in the world have I gotten myself into?!”
Although I hadn’t expected us to bike through such rugged terrain when committing to the bike tour, I quickly had to remind myself that in a sense, that was exactly what I had signed up for. I had committed to an adventure full of circumstances where I’d be forced to take on the unexpected and push my limits in all ways. These thoughts gave me a burst of energy and next thing you know, I’m zipping right down the hill feeling fearless, when suddenly I was defeated by an unexpected rock, large enough to throw me off balance and into the dirt, with my bike following closely behind and toppling right over me. The fall managed to pop my tire and gash up my right knee pretty bad, but luckily we had Evelyn on board to quickly mobilize the group and do some quick damage control. Within an hour we were all checked into the Green Turtle Lodge, where we decided to stay for two nights and recover from the mayhem.
Despite the fall, it was one of the most amazing rides we had. The terrain was extremely rugged and surrounded by lush palm trees, fields of cassava and other tropical vegetation. The air was crisp; hardly any cars in sight and for the first 30 km, the smoothly paved roads were winding through the thick of the forest. Although we had technically crossed into the Western Region the previous day, when riding from Cape Coast (Central Region) to Takoradi, it was not until the ride to Busua that I was able to experience the change in terrain and capture the tropical beauty of the Western Region.
The Green Turtle Lodge is located 5-10 km West of Busua beach and is by far the nicest beach I have been to in Ghana. Given its distant location, there were only about 10-15 other people (tourist) there, making it possible to keep the beach-front in pristine shape. They have bungalows, but we stayed in the tents on the beach front, which actually had mattresses inside and cost only 5 cedis a night. There was also a restaurant/bar, a ping-pong table, an uneven pool table, and boogie boards, all of which we took full advantage of during our stay, knowing it would be the last of such extreme relaxation.
By
Margarita Gonzalez
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