The driver's brother and his friend piled in with us. At first, the road to Biriwa Beach featured remnants of what may have been pavement and potholes brimming with brown water. We tackled it like a game of Pole Position, winding a serpentine helix, sometimes veering off into the brush to avoid fissures that could have swallowed us whole. But the scenery was stunning. Ghana's landscape bristles with life.
Lush palms jostle for space, and green growth pushes toward the road in continuous renewal.
One doesn't slow down, it seems, when one comes to a pedestrian-packed town in Ghana. And everywhere we looked, Ghanaians' vans were decorated with decals of Christ and religious iconography. One of the great treats of the trip east is Takoradi, a coastal market and maritime town that bustles like a casbah and even has, off the cracked road, a tiny Chinese restaurant. The serendipity of the trip to the beach rivaled the beach itself. Procuring us another cab to the Ivorian border, he got out, spoke to someone, looked around and hurried back into the car.