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From work to play, everything revolves around the ocean in Ghana. Photo: Greg Ewing
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Besides the mobile phone advertising and possibly makeshift TV antennas, there is vey little to remind us of home of how crazy the world has become. Photo: Greg Ewing
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Ricky Basnett kicks off another African adventure. Photo: Greg Ewing
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The 17th century fort Metal Cross in the village of Dixcove. Photo: Greg Ewing
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Ghanaians, like most Africans, are football crazy and if you look closely, along with the odd Ghanaian flag, every local fishing boat either supports a different national or European football team. Photo: Greg Ewing
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Simple existence. Photo: Greg Ewing
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It's hard to believe the local fishing canoes or pirogues are carved out of those massive trees in the background. It's even harder to believe that's how they have been done by hand for hundreds of years. Photo: Greg Ewing
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Local surfer Kofi floating the beach break at Busua. Photo: Greg Ewing
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John shaking off the thought that he just walked 15 minutes through tall grass and over some dodgy terrain to go surf a spot called Black Mamba… Photo: Greg Ewing
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John popping the fins and Black Mamba, one of the best, if not the best wave in Ghana. Photo: Greg Ewing
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Local groms. Photo: Greg Ewing
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I’m not sure of the history, but there is a fun little bowl with a local crew on the outskirts of Busua. Photo: Greg Ewing
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Ricky Basnett, his single fin and Black Mamba. Photo: Greg Ewing
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Ricky spotting some gold on the reef below. Photo: Greg Ewing
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Though at the time I'm pretty sure we all wanted the three-hour trip on the unstable pirogue to end… looking back it was definitely one of the cooler things I've experienced on the Africa travels. Photo: Greg Ewing
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Ricky boosts at Busua. Photo: Greg Ewing
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No TV games here. Photo: Greg Ewing
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Even the local kids had heard of former WCT surfer Ricky Basnett. Photo: Greg Ewing
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John boosting at an unnamed spot near Cape Three Points. Photo: Greg Ewing
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The further west you go, the more beautiful and untouched it becomes. Photo: Greg Ewing
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Ricky throwing the tail. Photo: Greg Ewing
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Evening sessions. Photo: Greg Ewing
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Friendly locals. Photo: Greg Ewing
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Ricky on his last wave before heading to the local beach bar. Photo: Greg Ewing
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After this session, John, who lives in Lagos Nigeria just a quick 45minute flight away from Accra, was thinking of how he could buy the plot of land in front of this spot. Photo: Greg Ewing
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Got to spin it to win it. Photo: Greg Ewing
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I asked their thoughts on the local brew… Photo: Greg Ewing
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John showing the locals how it’s done. Photo: Greg Ewing
When you think about surfing in Africa, most people automatically picture the dreamy setups of Jbay in South Africa, the many points of Morocco and more recently, that crazy left in Namibia. And this is understandably so, as they are all world-class spots. Perhaps it’s more a visual or photographic thing for me, but after you’ve been there and done that you start to stare at a map and wonder what else is out there on this vast Dark Continent. So a few years ago, I set out and started exploring and documenting my African travels with a few friends and surfers, an open mind, and the objective to simply to experience the culture and enjoy whatever waves we found.
We have been to a few countries now, but late last year we headed to Ghana, a trip that had been two years in the making since scoring all-time brown barrels in Nigeria with the same crew of Ricky Basnett and John Micheletti.
Surfing is no stranger to Ghana. As you may remember, Robert August and Mike Hynson passed through in The Endless Summer, though it has taken many years since to really take off with the first surf camp opening in 2006 and the GSA (Ghana Surfing Association) forming in 2010. The center of surfing in Ghana is at Busua Beach, situated about five hours drive west of Accra. You will find the further west you go the more remote and beautiful the country becomes. We spent ten days exploring the coastline, surfing fun waves every day and were made to feel extremely welcome by the friendly locals.
See more of Greg’s amazing photography at Gregewingphoto.com
