3 very grown women and a cockroach in the shower

If the title of this blog sounds like the start of a bad joke, well you won't be far wrong! This weekend is a public holiday here in Ghana to celebrate Independence Day. But rather than stick around in the city swealtering, 18 VSO volunteers headed up to the coast to party, swim and enjoy a sea breeze.  The place we went to is in Krokobite on the coast - Big Milly's Backyard - if you google it you will find plenty of pictures and details of the place but it is even better than it looks on line! Every Saturday night there is a reggae party night and the place fills with a mixture of locals and NGOs making the great escape.  There is a live band and it is just so chilled out, some very stoned but harmless people. We danced under the palm trees, various huts and stars until late and then headed onto the beach with some local African Drummers who entertained us until 4am, right by the ocean. It was so idyllic.  Some of us stayed in a lovely place called the Italian Garden only a short stroll from Milly's.  The food was fantastic and the people that run it are really lovely people.  They have created a beautiful oasis of calm  and relaxation in a stunning location only an hour or two, depending on traffic, from Accra. 

The incident with the cockroach will haunt our future escapades for sure.  I think my friend Jacky, the official photographer managed to capture some of the antics so I will try and get hold of some that are not too revealing, to upload. I had just got into the shower when this rather large cockroach decided to make an appearance  in the shower. If you haven't had the displeasure of meeting with these insects, trust me they are revolting looking creatures that scuttle around looking like some historic trillobite. Unfortunately I screamed like a girl, grabbed my rather skimpy towel and ran out of the shower room. My 3 new friends with whom I was sharing the accommodation, came running in to see what had happened. Of course they thought it was all very amusing until they saw the size of the thing! Elizabeth through her shoe at it, but missed and then did a jig on the spot as the 'roach' started scuttling around in an even more erratic manner.  So in came Adele who rescued the shoe and  allowed Elizabeth to throw it again at the 'roach' this time managing a direct hit. However, none of us wanted to get close to it to check that it was dead ...just in case it wasn't. Meanwhile I am trying to hold on to my skimpy travel towel and not reveal all when I realised that I was baring all my rear assets to the compound, at which point enter Jacky the official photographer to find 3 grown women shrieking and a squashed roach about 3 inches long laying very dead on the shower room floor.  After some debate Elizabeth bravely grabbed some toilet paper and scooped up the very dead roach and threw it outside. Needless to say we were all more than a wee bit anxious stepping in to the shower afterwards. I am now back in my air conditoned hotel room in Accra, it's nearly 5pm and it's still too hot to sit outside. I have managed to burn my shins over the weekend which I am quite sure won't go unnoticed by my colleages at work tomorrow. But what a great weekend away. Enjoy the photos :-)