After the Accra International Marathon: Ada Foah

The Route: Accra → Ada Foah → Accra Logistics: Ada Foah is about 71 km east of Accra off the Accra to Aflao road. Book a car and driver through your hotel, and allow longer than the map suggests on a Monday morning. Marathon Month: October Duration: 1 night

Accra ──(about 1 to 1.5 hours by road)──> Ada Foah ──(boat trips on the Volta estuary)──> Ada Foah ──(about 1 to 1.5 hours)──> Accra

Ada Foah sits where the Volta River finishes its journey and slides into the Atlantic. On the water side, boats ferry people to estuary islands. On the sea side, a strip of beach runs east. Few places near Accra ask so little of tired legs, because the main activity is sitting in a boat.

October in Ada Foah. October is still rainy season on this coast, so cloud and short showers are possible. Turtle watching is possible from September to February, which puts the race weekend inside the season. Birding is best from November to March, so late October catches only the start of the migrant arrivals.

Getting there and back

Leave Accra after the morning traffic has thinned, because the first leg gets you on the road east out of the city. A private car for the round trip is the best value for two or more people. Public minibuses run, but changes and waits do not suit the day after a marathon. Confirm the return time with the driver before you set off. The Foreign Office advises prearranged transport and care on the roads after dark.

Night one: Ada Foah

The town is a small harbour with a ferry landing, fishing boats and lines of holiday chalets along the river shore. The remains of Fort Kongenstein, a Danish-built fort that the sea has partly eaten away, stand nearby, and a Presbyterian church and an old missionary cemetery lie close to it.

The recovery asset is the boat. A local tourism office lists an estuary and Azizakpe Island tour of about 1 hour 40 minutes, with a coconut-oil-making stop, at GHS 100 per person for a group of five or GHS 75 for ten. A Crocodile Island tour, which passes through mangrove forest, takes about two hours and is listed at GHS 120 per person for five or GHS 85 for ten. These prices come from a tourism office listing, so confirm them when you book. Both are seated, and you can do either on the afternoon of arrival.

After dark, a seasonal turtle-watching tour runs nightly from 9pm for about two hours, listed at GHS 50. The organisers describe turtle encounters as increasingly rare, so go for the night on the beach, not for a guaranteed sighting. Walking on soft sand at night is harder than it looks, so take a torch and ask your guide about the surface.

The next morning, a dawn canoe or boat trip is the best birding of the stay. Fishermen and clam divers work the estuary early, and the light on the water is soft.

Where to stay and eat

Accommodation ranges from river-bank hotels to beach camps and hostels, spread between Ada Foah, Big Ada and the beaches. The Ada tourism office publishes an accommodation map of Big Ada and Ada Foah, which is the best way to choose by location. Ask your hotel about food, since menus are short and often based on fish and rice. Book ahead, because Accra residents also use the area as a weekend retreat.

Getting home

Leave Ada by late morning, so you reach Accra before the afternoon traffic. If you fly out the same day, leave a generous gap, because the road can be slow.

Practical notes