Coconut Boys

The location of KoSa Beach Resort is fairly idyllic. Sandy beach, palm trees and some good strong Gulf of Guinea waves. There is a lovely bay between rocks where it is safe to swim, or, wave jump in lovely water of a reasonable temperature! Also there are people and stray sheep walking past to give it all added interest.

We were rather fascinated by the “Coconut Boys”. These youngsters came along each morning with a cutlass searching to determine the tree with the most likely harvest. Their age tended to gauge how high they could climb to reach the coconut crop at the top. The teenagers could manage about 10 metres! After throwing some down onto the sand they trimmed them and lopped the top off one before presenting it to you for the princely sum of 20p. Delicious and was worth it for the entertainment as well as the refreshment.

A group of young people were having a great time playing volley ball one afternoon as we strolled along the beach. Spotting cameras, they were very keen to have a group photo taken. We discovered these boys were refugees from Cote d’Ivoire staying in a nearby UNICEF camp. They seemed extremely positive about their future and wanted to receive a copy of the photo by email. I’m sure their accommodation was hardly luxurious and their situation at least difficult, but they appeared happy and delighted to talk to us, exchanging email addresses. I am now struggling with my French to translate the messages.