FOCUS ON TOURISM - Electrified tourism in Akosombo

Suspension bridge at Atimpoku

By Lisa Bogler

The hydroelectric dam at Akosombo in the Volta Region cuts through a wonderful landscape and still fits in. Visitors can approach the dam both from the water and from the road.

Akosombo lies just off the road connecting Accra and Ho, some kilometres from Atimpoku at the big suspension bridge across the Volta River. Atimpoku is the town to look for accommodation but there are options all along the road to Akosombo, from budget choices to top end like the Volta Hotel. Aylos Bay for example is nicely situated not far from the Atimpoku roundabout, directly at the riverside, with pavilions looking across the water and to the suspension bridge. The hotel and restaurant also offers river tours in canoes for 25 cedis. That is where we are heading for.

The sound of the motor that pushes our small wooden boat along the river is a little bit annoying and it takes a while for me to push it to the back of my mind. We could have gone with paddles, but this is a slow option. The landscape is beautiful. On the riverside, some fishermen see to their nets and children play in the water. Some are washing clothes or themselves. From one village, we can hear trumpets playing. The river is wide and has smaller branches that our guide steers the boat through. I lost my sense of orientation as we round a bend and suddenly see the huge hydro-electric dam in front of us. It is an enormous construction. The big steel constructions cut through the landscape but somehow they still mend with the environment. 

Along the Volta River

In Akosombo the Volta River Authority organises tours of the dam. When we arrive at the station, a taxi driver tells us that the office is not open today because it is Sunday. He would take us to the dam. I don’t believe him so we go looking for the visitor centre and find the office. It is open and other people are already waiting for the tour. Unfortunately, we do not have a private car, but we are lucky enough to be taken by one of the other tourists in his air-conditioned car after having gone through the formalities necessary to visit the dam. All the cars are big 4WDs and in a caravan, somehow detached from our surroundings, we pass the security post to enter the dam. 

The Akosombo dam

The hydroelectric dam, perched in the Akosombo gorge, was built from 1961 to 1965. The construction flooded part of the Volta River Basin and thus created the world’s largest man-made lake. The lake now covers 8.502 square kilometres, which is 3,6% of Ghana’s land area. The gigantic turbines produce electricity that is sent to all regions in Ghana and distributed to the neighbouring countries Togo, Côte d’Ivoire and Burkina Faso.

More impressive than the facts we learn about the dam and how it works, is the view. Standing on the dam, we can see were only a few hours ago we were floating with our canoe, looking up to the construction. One 180° turn and we look across Lake Volta, stretching far and calmly between the mountains. Opposite of where we are standing, on the far side of the dam, on the top of one mountain is a building. This is where all the important persons reside when they have meetings and discuss the nations issues. It can only be reached by crossing the dam or by helicopter. 

After the tour, we go back to Akosombo in our comfortable cars. There is not much else to do here, so we settle down for a drink at Aylos Bay. However, the weather changes very quickly and we soon have to hide from heavy rain and sit in the dark as the power is cut off. Some things you can never predict in this region.