Osu beach has been a hangout for me since 2005. It is not the cleanest as it is in the middle of the city but it has been close to where I live for years. It is a nice place to walk down to and get a blast of sea breeze, have a beer and stare off into the horizon. The beach is between the sea and a dirty lagoon that many of the city gutters release into. Overlooking the beach is a colonial era castle first built by the Sweds in the 1500s then taken over by the Danish and then eventually bought by the English. It was the seat of power for the post colonial government until about 10 years ago also. It is ironic that the presidents used to sit up there and look down upon the filth coming from the cities gutters.
The beach is a place of extreme beauty and wonderful sunsets. Also a place where fishermen make their living. But it is also a hard pace to be at times because the plastic waste and township that has grown on it is very sad.
Some years back myself and some friend from the area did a 2 day even with a beach cleaning some beautification of the area with some painting of the shrine that is there, building of some planters, benches and painting.
Sadly this was not sustainable and even was vandalized and not appreciated by some who frequent the beach. But the dream is still always there for some of us to have a nice green area here as an escape form the city.
The Accra waterfront is going through a big urban gentrification project now. In Accra central they have relocated another township on a beach and built a harbor. The Chinese are heading these projects and looks like they are looking at fishing rights as interest in building these harbors and the water front of Accra. A few months ago they started the breakwater at Osu beach also.
I was having a beer at the beach on Tuesday night and decided to explore it as many of the locals have been doing when the work stops for the evening. It is kind of exciting this sort of development but it is also unsettling, what will happen with the local fishermen, if locals will have access to the economic benefits of the harbor or even access to real estate inside? Will the water quality get better or worse?
This is the old outlet of the lagoon which is over 60 years old and decaying. It is often sanded up and the lagoon backs up.
Shot with infinix smart 3 plus phone