Copa Cobana in Grand Popo

Sam Cooke Live at the Copa Cobana played on the speaker during dinner singing, "This little light of mine I'm gonna let it shine." I couldn't have selected a better song.

I sat at the table looking out at the long, empty beach. I ordered a Moka soda... Which tasted better than I remembered. Heaven in a glass! Ocean wind blew my hair in every direction. I felt absolutely free. As she brought my salad, the server proudly announced, "because you said no eggs, we added tuna!" Perhaps she was also the one who replaced Sam Cooke with hideous dijeridoo music! When I left the table without eating (tuna oil covered vegetables) the front desk staff apologized and sent me back to my room with a new salad. At least they understood customer service. I was pleasantly surprised. I ate the entire plate while watching The Life Aquatic on my ipod. It felt like a real vacation. For breakfast the next morning I was presented with a huge thermos of coffee all for me along with a basket of bread and coconut confiture. Heavenly!

After three weeks in the village, surrounded by people 24 hours a day, I was looking forward to a quiet weekend alone. I was happy to discover that the only other people staying at the hotel was a German family. They were polite to me but bossy to the hotel staff. They laughed often and kept to themselves.

It was my first time staying at the hotel. The other times I was in Grand Popo I camped on the beach instead. Total cheapskate! This time I was on a bigger budget. However, staying in the rooms was not expensive.

The colonial style guest house has two floors. The reception workers asked me if I would like a first floor, garden level room for 16,000 or a second floor, ocean view room for 18,000. I decided to treat myself to an ocean view. I was a little bit surprised to see that none of the rooms have windows, hence no view.

The slots in the wood door and parallel window in the bathroom created a nice cross-breeze. A large ceiling fan made the room feel well-ventilated. As the only guest on the second floor, I kept the door open except for the times I was sleeping. The other irony was that large trees hid most of the ocean from sight from the balcony. The next time I am there I will definitely go for the cheapest room available.

I hope to go back to Grand Popo again soon... is was a totally perfect escape.