The Volta Trip: The Nice Keta Sand, Going Fishing and How I Got Lost

Travelling and sightseeing are two of the best things that could ever happen to anyone, most especially when you are growing up and have less significant things to worry about. Apart from treating your eyes with the best views in life, travelling also gives you exposure and insight into things. For me, it also gives me business ideas and other ways of doubling the few dollars I have.

Many times, we complain about not having enough money but travelling is not always expensive, especially when it is within the country. With a minimum amount of money, you can travel and enjoy every bit of the journey. I greatly recommend the countryside. I have been to 8 out of the 10 regions in Ghana and I look forward to visiting the Upper East and Upper West regions soon.

Recently, I took the longest road trip ever. I drove to Takoradi for a few days and drove all the way to Tamale. That’s like 10 hours behind the wheels. It was tiring and fun at the same especially since I got to drive my all-time favourite car; a Mercedes Benz.

On 21st September which was a holiday and a Friday, started off a long weekend, so three of my friends and I decided to leave Accra and travel to the Volta Region to rest and to go sightseeing. As part of the trip, we planned to visit Togo and I haven’t been there before.

We set off from Accra around 5:30am on Friday morning and first headed towards Aflao, then Togo. We made a few stops on the way and the one I remember most vividly is the stop at Nogokpo. The Nogokpo township is a small town built mostly under long coconut trees. The township is a very popular one due to the fact that it is believed to have one of the most powerful shrines in the country.

By 8:30am, we were at Aflao. The first thing we did was to find a safe place to park and prepare to enter Togo. We changed some CFA at the border. We were advised to dress like ‘normal’ people because it would help us pass through without ‘worry’. We crossed the border successfully and we walked down the road for almost 2 kilometers towards the Lome township as we admired their nice beach.

Togo is indeed a nice place. We visited their port and market places. We did little window shopping at the car ports and we saw very nice cars which were relatively cheap at prices that could be compared to online or abroad prices. I now understood why people settle on ‘Togo cars’ even though they aren’t the best. Their markets are quite similar to the Ghanaian ones. We went to buy sneakers and we got them at cheap prices. I am very sure that their ‘Free port’ is a major reason why things are very cheap there as compared to Ghana. The okada we took from the border to the port charged us 250CFA each even though we got lost. To me, that was very cheap considering the distance we covered, as opposed to the charges in Ghana. We couldn’t have left Togo without taking anything in so we went to the beach to have some drinks and also to enjoy the scenery. Two of us took in malt and the other two took Orijin beer as we relaxed and i must say Malt in Togo is very light.

We left Togo for Keta where we spent the night. The weather in Keta is usually great and the skies are so clear. The long stretch of clear white sand coupled with the weather and the whole atmosphere in general could be a match for Dubai or even Las Vegas. Keta, which means ‘sand top’ when translated, is indeed a settlement built on sand. There is literally sand everywhere you pass and your car can easily get stuck in the sand if you happen to drive through it.

Columnist: Kofi Cephas