We headed to Accra just as the weekend was beginning in need of a good dance! The Date Palm Hotel, the cheapest room in town and a throwback from the 70s, was our base for exploring the city’s nightlife. Friday night saw us set out innocently to Jokers which we had been advised was where the party was at. As soon as we arrived we remembered why a good night out can be a challenge in Africa.
The dimly lit club was full of older western men grinding with young Ghanaian girls to Tinchy Strider and the ever present Rhianna. It was not really what we had been looking for but the free G&T’s from the owner did mean we stayed till the early hours anyway!
Saturday night we promised ourselves would be better, we started the evening with three potential plans but ended up home with a bag of sweets by 11! We had been told about a reggae bonfire however when we turned up the sound system had ‘failed’ and the only alternative was sitting in a darkened bar with a strange man on the coast. The great view kept us for one drink but the lunges towards my/Harry’s face meant we did not stay for long!
We did eventually manage to (sort of) find the reggae party we had been looking for, at Lombadi Beach on Wednesday night. Although it was everything we wanted on paper, reggae music on the beach, it did not quite live up to its expectations. Five drunk old rastas on a giant stage sang Bob Marley songs to a crowd of crazies dotted along the beach singing along (us included!). It was an excellent evening of jammin’ but we are still searching for our reggae satisfaction.
In search of Arsenal games we discovered the Lexington, a bar owned by ex-pats which was like stepping into Shoreditch, burgers on wooden platters and all. It felt like being in London watching football here, especially with cider in hand and it was good to think of our friends back home doing the same.
As it turned out our favourite way to spend an evening in the city was in it’s roadside bars. The One Love Pub, the width of a doorway near our hotel spilled onto the street with a sound system that played reggae and 70’s disco. This was street-life at it’s best, a fantastic place to soak up the atmosphere of the city with a cider (yes Ghana!). A tasty grill next door meant we sat here for hours chatting with the locals. Republic in Osu was another bar we really liked, a roadside option with live music that serves up a mean fermented sugar cane and lemonade and is popular with tourists and locals alike.
We may not have got a chance to properly hit the dance floor but we still enjoyed discovering Accra at night, finding our first ciders in Africa and chatting away with the people of the city.
