Dance floor for dancing at Republic Bar and Grill

How lucky is it to have a summer programme that starts on a Wednesday, so just two days after starting, we got to enjoy the nightlife of Ghana. Republic Bar is a semi-outdoor bar in Accra, famous for its self-distilled liquor and music. Republic might have plastic chairs instead of comfy armchairs; the outdoor situation is the side of a street, facing two very simple food vendors instead of a garden; but it offers a lively, Afrobeat-sy atmosphere that gets you up on your feet. The drinks are tasty, well, some of them are, but they won’t be familiar (besides a Mojito) and mocktails are also available. They cost around four quid and they have yam chips instead of the usual fries. They have their own house liquors, which are…strong.

The dance floor is probably a 5x5metres square in front of the DJ stage, which is a few steps behind our tables; in other words, it’s out in the open, inviting passersby to join in. The people dancing on the floor are not your typical group; I would say they were in their 30s and they dance better (or at least more vigorously) than most people in Sugarhouse. They make way for the most energetic singer to dance in the middle of this automatically formed circle (the usual kind), but it was so amazing to see how welcoming they are to other people who would like to bust a move/let off some steam. I guess their small dance floor managed to select for people who actually want to dance and people who want to be creepy on the side (which was probably how my tiny dance circle on the side got approached by a guy with a questionable motive). Also, guess who got to dance in the centre? (I did and my friend, too, but we’re not very proud of it so let’s not bring this up ever again).

All in all, I hope this was a good introduction to Ghana. Some of the next posts might not be as touristy and more about the harsh reality of staying somewhere unfamiliar for six weeks, but I hope you’ll look forward to more Ghana in this blog

(This trip is sponsored by Santander)