48 | The Lion King
Experience
“Royal Treatment” in
Accra for Africa Day’s
Best Dressed
Collins Ugwu of Settlement Operations unit was one of the winners of the 2014
Africa Day's “Best Dressed” staff in Head Office, Lagos, Nigeria. His reward was
an all-expense-paid holiday to Accra, Ghana. He shares his experience.
F
or days, I dreamt about this trip,
after emerging the “Best Dressed”
male in the UBA “Africa Day” cele-
bration. So, when the day of departure
for Accra, Ghana arrived, I could not
wait to get on the flight. It was my first
trip to Ghana. Having heard so much
about Ghana’s legendary peaceful
and organised environment, I was ea-
ger to experience it.
Incidentally, my colleague, the winner
of the “Best Dressed” female, who was
making the trip with me, was also a
first-timer and could hardly contain her
excitement as we boarded the plane.
Our flight left Murtala Mohammed
International Airport, Lagos by 7:20 a.m.
Saturday, June 14, 2014 and arrived
Kotoka International Airport Accra,
Ghana just about 45 minutes after
takeoff. The flight was uneventful and a
bit quicker than I imagined. Ghana was
that close.
We were welcomed on arrival at the
Kotoka International Airport by a team
representing the African Regent Hotel,
the hotel where we were going to
lodge. After an exchange of pleasant-
ries, we were ushered into an air-con-
ditioned, fitted airport shuttle which
conveyed us to the Hotel. “This is the
royal treatment”, we discussed, as we
drove on the neat and not too busy
roads of Accra to the hotel.
We soon found out that the hotel was
strategically located. It was not very far
from the Kotoka International Airport
and the Accra Mall. We could not
help but admire the beautiful water-
falls at the entrance of the hotel as we
drove in. Not far away was a beautiful
outdoor pool by the side of the main
entrance of the building. The hotel staff
were also quite pleasant, all smiles and
showed genuine warmth that imme-
diately made us feel relaxed despite
being in a very unfamiliar environment.
With check-in formalities done, we were
ushered into our reserved rooms, which
were carefully selected because their
strategic positions revealed great views
of the Accra skyline. The accommo-
dation was simply exquisite; from the
gigantic bed to the Jacuzzi in the bath-
room, complemented by the serene
environment.
Breakfast was equally impressive. It was
a mouth-watering buffet of local and
continental cuisines.
Later, we went on a tour of beautiful
Accra. We visited the popular Makola
market in Accra, the Accra Mall, which
warehouses various shopping outlets
and the Santoku restaurant and bar.
Every moment was a memorable one.
We had so much fun reaping the full
benefit of the all-expense-paid holiday
that when it was time to depart, the
following day, I wished we could turn
back the hands of time to start the
holiday afresh.
Duty called back home, so we reluc-
tantly left, departing Accra 2:00 a.m.
on Monday morning. As if sensing our
reluctance to leave, our flight had
been delayed so we landed at Lagos
later that morning. However, I was glad
to be home and thankful to UBA for the
memorable trip!
“Akwaba” ...At
the Kotoka
International
Airport
At my
hotel, The
African
Regent
