Phobia and 'Irie'

On Tuesday after fully recovering we decided we needed a day of rest and relaxation so headed to one of the poshest hotels in Accra, The Shangri La to chill out by the pool. We arrived relatively early and it was quite so just soaked up the rays enjoying the luxuries we hadn't had since we arrived...flushing toilets, running water, pizza and cocktails.
As it got busier a girl asked us if we knew where the showers were. Jonathan later tried to chat her up but got seriously blown out. It went something like this:
Jon 'Hi, did you find the showers'
Girl 'Yes thank you'
Jon 'Do you live here then?'
Girl 'Yes, in Accra'
Jon 'So you go to school out hear as well?'
Girl 'NO, HOW OLD DO YOU THINK I AM 14!!! I'M 21 YEARS OLD' (promptly turned round and swam off as fast as she could. Ha Ha, blown out!

The next day we had a few things planned. After morning training we headed home and got ready to head out to the see the local team, Accra Hearts of Oak play their rivals from another region. Outside the stadium we bought our flags and armbands and became 'Phobia' fans (the teams nickname). We entered the stadium which was pretty impressive with a capacity of around 50,000 however was only about a fifth full. The game kicked off and was a tense affair with the Phobia going 1-0 up before Ash Gold equalized just before half time. Second half was tight...like a tiger! with few chances and the ref was having a mare, it looked like it was heading for a draw until the 89th minute when Phobia had a corner, it got swung in and the big lad up front got his head to it and glanced the ball into the back of the net.... GOOOOOOOAAAAAAAL!! Even though the stadium wasn't that full it was amazing how much noise the fans made and this definitely made the rest of the night much more fun than if it had been a draw.

Above the stadium the sky was going all sorts of different shades of red and orange which really created an amazing atmosphere.




Patrick and Edmond at the match drinking their 10% lager!





After the match we headed into Osu for a few drinks, before we made our way to 'Rasta Night' on Labardi beach. Drinks in Osu was funny Patrick and Edmond were talking themselves up about who was a real man and who was going to be on their feet the longest, was great banter even talking about who was the better footballer....talk of breaking legs and scoring goals! After drinks we jumped in the taxi and made our way to the beach. Upon arrival we walked through the bar and saw a live rasta band playing reggae on stage, there was tables and chairs setup all over the beach and a big turnout. We grabbed a beer and table, sat down and got in the 'groove', chatted to the rastas and started to feel Irie.

As the night wore on so did Edmond especially, he had been at work since 6am but that is no excuse!! As the beers flowed we all became more 'Irie' and Edmond started to flop. Eyes closed heads bopping who would have thought we would be sat in Africa, south Ghana on a beach listening to some really good reggae until 3am! At this point we tried to wake Edmond up, to no avail so had to carry him across the dance floor to the taxi. An hour long ride back to the house we all stumbled in after having to wake Seth up to let us in. We had to be quiet obviously as most people go to bed around 9pm... but guess who let the door slam shut..... yes it was George!!! who's the goose!

It was all IRIE!