While we were in Accra we had heard of a botanical garden about an hour away called Aburi Botanical Gardens. Many people choose to spend an entire weekend at the gardens, as there is a ‘rest house’ on the property however we are only staying for the day. To start our day off we got room service breakfast so we could spend time getting ready. We each got an omelet, toast, and kielbasa on our plates along with pitchers of hot coffee and hot tea. This breakfast was somewhat expensive, as room service normally is, costing us 87.88 GNC for just one meal.
Once we had eaten this we were ready to catch the trotro at Tema Station in Accra. The whole hour trip there we were looking forward to see what the botanical gardens had to offer. When we arrived we were taken back by the large welcoming palm trees lining the entrance. We paid our fee of 175.80 GNC per person and went to meet our tour guide.
We learned a lot about the gardens within the first few minutes we were there, our tour guide was very knowledgeable and helpful when it came to questions we had about the area. It was over 100 years old, and covered more than 160 acres of land. He then told us about all of the attractions at the site, they have the bush house, a rock garden, lovers lane, the historic ficus tree and a school of horticulture. He also went into detail about the use of plants in medicine in Ghana, most native people create their own medicines using herbs that are native to the area, many of which are found in the botanical gardens.
Of all the features of the botanic garden we looked at, I think my favorite was the bush house. The bush house is just an open shed with stone pillars holding it up, however weekly it is decorated with red clay, a practice done in rural Ghana. The front of the house is beautiful, with bamboo surrounding it and holding up many beautiful flowers. The ficus tree also does not go unnoticed. It has taken over the yard behind the bush house and almost swamps the house itself.
Once we had walked around the garden for a good bit we decided to rent bikes and ride on the trails. We were not particularly hungry for lunch since we had had such a big breakfast, so we thought we could handle the trails, as the guide told us they typically take 2- 3 hours. We each rented bikes for 14 GNC apiece (56 GNC total) and were on our way. We took our time on the trail, stopping often to take pictures or just to look at a pretty plant or watch for animals. Three hours later we returned the bikes and waited for the trotro to arrive to take us back into Accra.
When we arrived in Accra we considered walking to a little restaurant to grab some dinner, however I was dyeing to take a shower after such a long day outside that I convinced the guys the best thing to do was to eat at the hotel after we took showers. This ended up being a great idea! After our showers we met at the cocktail bar for some drinks before dinner once we had worked up an even bigger appetite we transferred our tab to a table in the hotel. I preferred eating at the hotel because they have a wider variety of food that I recognized to choose from. I ended up ordering the “Ghana Flag Salad” which was a combination of tomatoes, cucumbers, and sweet yellow corn in a vinegar based dressing. It is called flag salad due to the red, green, and yellow color of the salad, just like the Ghana flag! After dinner we paid our bill of 147 GNC and were all so tired we retreated to our rooms and went to bed to prepare for our next day.
Total for the day 993.2 GNC
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