Canoe Trip in Bortianor

One night we had beers with Damian, the Australian owner of Bahdoosh, the new hotel next door. He was a funny, sarcastic chap that had a lot of great stories about life, travels, and living in Ghana. The next day we walked over to his place and had delicious burgers (lacking only a real burger bun) and fries in his restaurant situated right smack on the beach.

His business partner, nicknamed Small, offered guided canoe trips in a nearby village. The details of the arrangement were severely strained due the fact we could barely understand his heavily accented English. At times I didn’t know if we were making any headway as the same question would yield wildly different responses, but somehow we managed to agree on something and the next day headed out.

It was a lovely sunny day that wasn’t too hot and we walked through his village nodding to the incoherent tidbits of information he told us. We rented a canoe for a couple cedi and carefully yet clumsily climbed aboard without tipping everything over. We passed by many types of fish and crab traps, their wooden frames poking out of the water. Overhead birds hunted, spotting a fish through the clear water and dive bombing down for a quick snack.

We landed on an island that housed a fishing village that was “on vacation” this month. The work ethic of most Ghanaians is astounding, as they work some twelve hour days with no days off to rest. This is especially true of the small-time market sellers but we even noticed our hotel staff worked from sunrise to well into the night. So it was nice to hear these fisherman taking a month off every year, more vacation than some people get back home!

Meandering along the narrow stretch of beach, a new resort is being constructed adding a stark contrast to the fishing village next door.

We headed back to the village, picking up a couple passengers that needed a lift along the way, which is the proper thing to do. The sense of community is very tangibly realized here as you soon learn when someone digs their hand into your bowl for a taste of what you‘re eating. Sharing is expected. We visited Small’s family home and more facts to which we dutifully smiled and nodded. Altogether a pleasant way to spend an afternoon.