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Opinions of Friday, 10 February 2006

Columnist: Debrah, Richard Kwame

The Romantic Bojo White Sand Beach of Ghana

The Bojo White Sand Beach is the latest addition to the beach party situation arising along Ghana?s 540Km pristine beach line. Situated next to the Densu delta Ramsar site and along the Atlantic Ocean, in its uniqueness and lovely blend of Caribbean and Ghanaian cultural architecture is the inviting Bojo beach.

The beauty and uniqueness of Bojo beach stem from strategic location, concept, architecture and the serene environment. The facilities available for the beach goers come on a tall list that will keep you coming back at the least opportunity to have more of the excitement. Its climate and serenity makes it an ideal place for the stressed that wants relief, the writer who wants solitary, the thinker for reflections and the one looking for beach sports. For those looking for a place to relax and plan the week, it is Bojo beach and nowhere else. The 300 metres stretch of golf driving range will encourage the amateur golfer to the gather some skills. It is an excellent location for bird lovers who will find so much variety of local and exotic birds perching on trees at the Ramsar site, and for the nature lover, the mangrove and the swamp hosting it will boggle your mind. Hei, you lovers of fishing, get packing and start going now. You will definitely love the place.

How to get there

So how do you get to this gem of a beach, it is very easy when you are not driving. Get to Kaneshie, right behind the Tarkoradi station is another station, this time smaller and somehow circular, yes you can pick up a Aplaku village bound trotro and tell the bus conductor or trotro mate as we call them in Ghana, that you wish to alight at the Bojo beach junction, over there, follow the direction as indicated on the imposing yellow sign post and within 10 minutes you will come across a small settlement and just beyond the village is the Bojo beach where unique experience awaits you. If you are driving, just take the Cape Coast road; drive on through Malam junction, the famous and historic Mac Cathy Hill on top of which once lived Sir. Charles Mac Cathy who British governor of the then Gold Coat from 1821 ? 1824. So you drive pass MacCathy Hill and pass Weija junction, then you start looking out for the old police barrier just ahead, on your left-hand side of the barrier is the Apalku or Kokrobite junction. You can only miss this junction deliberately if you wish to do so just for the fun of it. This junction is characterized by vibrant commercial activities and you look out for the Bojo beach yellow signpost. The road can sometimes be lonely but never mind, keep driving and within 5 minutes, you will drive through the Apalku village, start looking out for the imposing yellow Bojo Beach sign post from here that directs you to the left, you toss onto the dusty road and within seconds you will say voila! To Bojo. There is so much car parking space and excellent security at the car park

The Canal Operational Area

At the entrance situated at the foot of a bridge that will take you across the canal, you pay a token for a gate fee, cross over the canal and you are there. Children below age 4 and adults above age 96, accompanied by both parents and grandparents enter free.

Welcome to the Canal operational area to your right is the red brick building a conference room with 200 sitting capacity, the bar and the administration area at the ground floor and the restaurant is upstairs. At the forecourt of the redbrick house is the semi circular dancing area where parties can be held 24 hours. On demand, canopies can be raised for partying patrons. What about a live band in attendance? That will be perfect choice.

To the left is the 300 yards stretch of golfing range just equipping amateur golfers with some whacking skills. The good news is that, there is a professional trainer to help you to learn the new skill and guess what! 18 people can be learning at a go. The canal operational area is an artificial island deliberately created to add to the uniqueness of the landscape, so that on arrival, you cross that canal to the operational area.

The Beach Operational Area

The beach area is another kind of island situated between the canal and the sea right on a stretch of sand bar. The sand bar has so much to offer that will surprise you. To get to the sand bar, you will have to cruise either by the Bojo Cruiser or a canoe over one of the Densu distributaries. On the sand bar is the giant summer hut and the relaxation and playing beachfront area. The white sand beach is very clean so it is not surprising that most patrons prefer to hang around there. There are so many beach chairs and the summer huts presents a bar where drinks can be bought readily. A lot of fishing takes place right at the beach and patrons can have a feel of drawing the nets with the local folks. You can decide to sit under any of the provided smaller huts or umbrellas and relax.

The Unique Experience

The most remarkable experiences come from the cuisine, wide range of assorted and local beverages. For an eventful day, you can take to swimming, water cruising, fishing, and volleyball, sand bathing, oyster trapping and more. Afraid? Wait a minute; there are lifeguards ready to rescue you. The lovely and lively youthful employees are a delight to interact with; their infectious smiles are never to be forgotten.

A few metres behind the giant summer hut is a classical original traditional village. If you want to have the experience, better be there. Situated in between the village and the giant summer hut is a stone shrine. When you get there, get into interaction with the village folk if you want to experience authentic Ghanaian hospitality. There is nothing like playing around the beach with the village children who are always around.

The Ramsar Site

What makes Bojo beach an icon is its strategic location, next to the Densu estuary that is a Ramsar site of Global importance. Ramsar areas are areas of marsh, water, whether natural or artificial, permanent or temporary with water that is static or flowing, fresh or brackish, including areas of marine water and the Densu delta is one of such areas. Ramsar areas enjoy international protection by international convention signed in Iran in 1971 at a place called Ramsar, hence the name Ramsar sites. Ghana rectified this convention on 22nd February 1988. Remarkably, over 90 countries had rectified the convention by 2002. There are 657 Ramsar sites worldwide and 6 of them are in Ghana. For bird lovers, the good news is that the Densu Ramsar site is one of the coastal areas identified by Save The Sea Shore Birds Project, as roosting and nestling site for thousands of migratory and resident birds seashore birds. During winter in Europe, birds dodge the harsh weather and fly all the way here and return when the weather improves. It is also a breeding site for turtles including the green turtle, leatherback, and the loggerheads that are all highly endangered species protected by international convention. Luckily Bojo beach is build on the support zone of this site that allows some form of development. I must commend the management of Bojo beach for choosing to follow the principle that govern Ecotourism development such as using materials from the environment and also being environmentally conscious as well as being friendly to the community in which the facility is located. Majority of the 30 employees are from the community within which the facility is located.

I recommend Bojo beach to you as your next weekend or holiday destination for the wonderful place it is.

For your beach bashes, Conferences, family parties, etc. it is rejuvenating, inexpensive, nearby, and can give you your money?s worth. For reservation call 024 232 5169 now.

Richard Kwame DEBRAH
(Tourism Analyst & Travel Writer)


Views expressed by the author(s) do not necessarily reflect those of GhanaHomePage.