Axim Beach Hotel.

I've stayed in countless hostels. From the best to the worst, in Europe and in Africa. Now I'm at Axim Beach Hotel - http://www.aximbeach.com/default.html - enjoying my ocean view in my last two weeks in Ghana.

I didn't want this post to just be me bragging about staying in a gorgeous chalet with a straw thatched roof, beautiful winding beach and a dolphin look-out gazebo...I wanted to talk about the owner, J. He's an artist, he built the entire hotel complex (its a collection of small quaint red houses all with the same straw roof and intricate rock and shell detailing in the cement). It was his vision, one that he keeps perpetuating. Today I got to walk around the facilities with him and ask him about his inspirations...it was touching and creative...he is a Ghanaian. That shouldn't come as too much of a shock considering where I am. But many of the hotel owners are foreigners with money who are using the former Gold Coast to make fortunes off a land that is not there own. Have you ever considered such a thing as evil ecotourism? So its nice to see a man who is from here pull himself out of the surrounding poverty and make something so beautiful.

I might have to always stay in places like this. Don't get me wrong...I think 5 star hotels are great. You can't beat the services, the luxury...but there is something about a hotel built by a spiritual man that roams the grounds and tells you his dreams that makes me want to stay in hostels and budget joints forever. This isn't technically a hostel, but it has that upbeat traveling spirit. It's in these small home made corners of Ghana that I find the heart of a people and a country.