Rain, Rain, Go Away!

We got up at 5:30am to leave Avenida Hotel for the STC bus station by 6am. It was raining lightly but steadily when we left. I hoped the rain would only last for the journey at most, and the sun would come out when we got to Cape Coast. We waited at the station for what seemed like forever. Apparently our bus has broken down and was being worked on at a shop… or something. While we sat, I stared at an old boxy television that was sitting in a cage, literally, attached the wall above the ticket window. The television showed really old dubbed telemundo, really bad Ghallywood and Nollywood (Ghana and Nigeria film industries) Movie of the Week trailers, low budget music videos with women dancing in the corner of a room, and a Discovery Channel-wanna be, which was particularly entertaining.

Our bus was air conditioned, and we got our own seats, which made the three hour journey to Cape Coast much nicer than the usual tro-tro jaunt. We got to Cape Coast, and took a quick taxi to Oasis. The service leaves something to be desired, particularly friendliness. The woman I spoke with when we arrived about my reservation seemed disgusted and annoyed that I had addressed her at all. The room was cute—bungalow style with a tiny sink and mirror in the room. The floor was tiled with broken pieces that made the floor look mosaic like. There were three twin beds with mattresses situated inside cement frames that were also cemented to the floor. Green mosquito nets hung above the beds, which at first glance looks like you’re supposed to sleep in those as hammocks. The outhouse was well lit and clean, and just a short 30 feet from the room. The outdoor shower was a cylinder shaped structure, painted red, yellow, and green on the outside. The inside was tiled, instead of the usual cement as décor. The spout had running runner, as did our sink. I can’t tell you how glorious it was to brush my teeth with running water, and to stand under a showerhead and let the water actually get all the shampoo out of my hair. Though, we couldn’t shower yet since it was raining. I mean, I guess we could have, but it was cold.

The rain continued throughout the day and evening, leaving us with nothing to do since our goal was to walk around the castle. Because of the rain, we didn’t see any other tourists out. I was wondering if we were the only ones staying at Oasis. The day was pretty boring since we couldn’t do anything. We ate lunch, sat by ourselves under a covering while the rain poured down heavily. A good thing about Oasis was that they had dogs. One mama dog with two pups, they looked like shepherd mixes. One pup was all white, so I named him Bruno (for obruni, which means white). The other was black with tan markings, like the “black tri” markings of some Australian shepherds. The pups were really sweet, and lay by our feet under the table. The ocean surf was really loud, and every now and then there was an explosion of forceful waters doubling back over rocks and colliding with each other into an eruption of waves. The rain made it cold, so we were shivering, including the pups. I hadn’t prepared for chilly weather. We took a nap.

We woke up at 8pm to go have dinner. At that point, it was more crowded in the restaurant area. There were white people everywhere—I wondered where they all came from. But similar to Ryan’s Irish Pub, when there’s a popular ex-pat spot, usually most yavoos are there. We sat with a nice Finnish couple who had been backpacking and staying in hostels throughout Europe, Asia, and Africa since October. She was a part time journalist, sending in a story every now and then. The money could be stretched for a month’s living expenses in hostels, and he seemed to be along for the ride. There was a drumming performance going on that we listened to. We were all too cold to get up and try to see the performance. Between sets, the bull frogs continued with their own loud rendition of music. I never knew how loud bull frogs were, but good lord they are loud. It was almost 11pm (we were up late!) and we went back to the bungalow to sleep. I turned off my alarm :) and fell asleep as the drumming outside turned to hip-hop club music until about 1am.