Mile 16

Sundays we would head west along the coast to our beach plot at Mile 16, which is sixteen miles from Accra, original name! The beach plot was rented from the local village chief and he provided and maintained table, bench and barbecue covered with a palm leaf roof as well as ensuring supplies of fruit and seafood were available for purchase - a boost to the local economy that otherwise survived on fishing and crops.

Preparation involved visiting the Lebanese bakery on Cantonments Road on Saturday morning and ordering pitta bread to be collected around 5pm, taking the bottles back to the store and buying more Star and Club beer, buying vegetables from our regular lady and her street-side stall - and then sterlising them as she would rinse them for us in the storm drain that also served as a sewer!

We would arrive at the beach around 11am and break out beer, pitta bread and homous; local seafood for the barbecue would be selected ; papers would be read; other beach plots visited; drinks and news shared with friends of all nationalities along the beach; and then lunch, surfing and those bananas.

The sea off the coast of Ghana is treacherous - I once had to rescue a young lad in difficulties at Labadi beach (our Saturday afternoon haunt in Accra). Sadly, my one time boss and good friend David Brookes was lost after falling overboard from his boat at Ada on the mouth of the River Volta and his body has never been recovered. Mile 16 is reasonably safe and good for body surfing with waves rolling in from the Atlantic.

Mile 16 Bananas

Place fresh bananas on bbq until the skin is blackened and the flesh soft. Slit open with a sharp knife. Lace with Bacardi or Malibu.