Yes Lord Guest House and Moving On
Good day. December 6th. The place I stayed at was Yes Lord Guest House.
After looking at several places and then having something like that show up and get recommended, you don’t say no. So Yes Lord Guest House it was. As I mentioned before, very nice people and a very nice lady running the place.
It was time to move more toward Accra, but I wanted to make one more overnight stop before getting there, even though I could have done it in one day. I wanted to get a few more flavors going.
Road Construction and Slow Progress
The road was somewhat challenging again because they’re expanding it, turning two lanes into four. That’s going to take years, but at least they’re working on it.
I was aiming for Cape Coast and also hoping to find a place with Wi-Fi, since Yes Lord Guest House didn’t have any.
An Unexpected Stop in Elmina
Before reaching my intended destination, I came across a place called Elmina. I figured I’d check out what was around and ended up finding Elmina Beach Resort.
It’s a fairly big place, but they were offering a reasonable rate with a Christmas package. A little early for that, but it worked for me.
It had a swimming pool and was close to the beach—or so I thought.
The Reality of the Beach
The beach here is basically non-existent. The entire town is lined with heavy rock walls. If you want a real beach to swim, you have to go somewhere else.
That’ll be for another time. Still, it seemed like a good place to stay, so I made it work.
Discovering Elmina’s History
I went out to take a look around town without really knowing what I’d find. It turned out Elmina has both a castle and a fort.
The history here goes way back. The Dutch controlled one of the forts for 274 years and even built one themselves. The Portuguese were involved at some point, and eventually the Dutch sold it to the British in the 1800s.
There’s a lot of Dutch history here, including items made in the Netherlands. I knew the Dutch had been in Ghana—I just didn’t expect it to be right where I was standing.
Food, Football, and a Cold Beer
After walking through the old town, I looked for some food and maybe something to drink.
There was a football match on, and I found a place that wasn’t very obvious from the outside but turned out to be somewhere you could watch the game.
I went in and got myself a cold beer. Chelsea was playing Leeds—not something I’m deeply invested in—but the beer was motivation enough.
Meeting Prince
At some point, I started talking with the person sitting next to me. His name was Prince.
Prince owns two fishing boats, which makes sense because there are fishing boats everywhere in this town. He also lived in Spain for about ten years and spent time sailing.
Now he owns two large wooden fishing boats, and it turned out they were parked just around the corner.
Touring the Fishing Boats
We walked over to take a look. On the first boat, I met some of the crew. When they’re fishing, there are 32 people working on that single boat. Thirty-two people. Incredible.
The second boat was nearby, but to get on it we had to climb over three or four other boats. That was part of the fun.
I learned that the captain and second-in-command can sleep in the top cabin, with six more sleeping spaces below deck. A few others sleep on top near where the captain steers.
Life at Sea
The amount of fish they can catch depends entirely on how much ice they can bring. Most of the time they’re not out much more than two days.
They also sort the fish carefully, since selling one type at a time brings in more money.
Prince was very attentive and generous with his time, explaining everything and showing me around.
Pepper Fish Soup and Local Hospitality
We ended up at a second-story place where some of his crew was hanging out. Both boats were in, so nobody was working at the time.
I was offered pepper fish soup—chunks of fish in a hot, flavorful sauce—and it was absolutely delicious.
It was a great experience being shown around by someone who lives and works here.
Small Moments That Stick
Earlier at the castle, a few busloads of kids came through. Some of them insisted on having their picture taken with me.
Sure—easy enough.
Ending the Day
I went back to the hotel expecting the nightclub to be open, but it wasn’t. Not that I’m much of a nightclub person anyway, so that worked out just fine.
Once again, it was a totally exciting day. Whatever I describe here is far more interesting when you experience it in person—especially when someone local shows you around and answers all your questions.
Thanks for being along. I’ll see you tomorrow.
