The Adventure Continues

April 24 

50 Shades of Green

Mole National Park is gorgeous. So many shades of green! I went on a walking safari at 7 am with about 12 other Germans from various volunteer programs. Our guide was an armed ranger, just in case. We saw our first group of elephants within 15 minutes and got right up close. Awesome! From that point, we “tracked” the elephants, and the guided “walking” safari turned into a guided “run-hike-climb-sit-and-wait” safari. We caught another group of elephants stampeding into the watering hole. On land they seem so graceful but they are excited about taking a bath, they sound just like….. a herd of elephants. It was cool to watch them splash around. We saw a group of elephants hanging out in the dry savannah and I kept thinking, “Wow, I feel like I’m in Africa right now.” It’s so funny how I forget that yes, I actually am in Africa.

Other animals we spotted: wart hogs (Pumba!) baboons, white birds, antelope, and bush backs. No, there were no lions or tigers, but since we were on a walking tour I was quite alright with that.

Hello, Moto

Shani picked me up from the park after breakfast and we rode into Laribanga, his village. Our options for the day: “Do you want to visit the oldest mosque in Ghana, or sit under a tree?” Since it was in the heat of the day, we opted to sit under a tree for a few hours. The local tree in the middle of the village, two canopies intertwined offering a great relief to whoever passes beneath the branches. I hung out with many different people, ages 0-60, all passing to sit on a bench beneath these trees. How simple. How peaceful.

One of Shani’s friends offered to teach me how to ride his motorbike, and at first I thought he was kidding. But he wasn’t! I totally missed the first couple turns I was supposed to make, due to my inability to lean with it, rock with it, but I go the hang of it pretty quickly. It was so funny to see all the kids line up along the street to watch the white girl drive a moto. The were chanting “Go faster!” in their language, but I didn’t want to get too crazy.
For dinner we had fufu and groundnut soup, my favorite! In the North they make fufu with yam instead of cassava and plantain, and I prefer it. They also have 3 fufu pounders instead of one, and I was so nervous for the girl whose job it was to flip the fufu over and over with her hand, while three people are holding sticks and pounding so hard.

At night, some village girls put on a cultural dance program for me and the 4 German girls I was hanging out with. Apparently these Ghanaian girls don’t have the means to an education; many of them sell items during the day, and learn at night by the light of a single light bulb. I was really sad to hear that. There were about 20 girls, ages 10-15 who performed songs and dances for us in their traditional wear, and then they all grabbed the obrunis and we joined in. Of course, the white people look utterly ridiculous when we try to dance traditional African dance, but it was so much fun. We had a good laugh.

Around 11pm we took a walk to find the “mystic stone” to make a wish. It was cool. Again, the stars continued to amaze me.

Traveling in Ghana

The Germans stayed up all night to catch the 3am bus, but I took a little nap before I joined them. I stayed in Tamale the rest of the day with Shani’s friend, then caught the night bus to Accra. Arrived in Accra at 3:30am, sat on a bench until the sun came up so I wouldn’t have to walk in the dark, found a tro tro (15+ passenger van) to Kasoa and fell asleep as soon as I sat down. The mate (driver’s first mate) woke me up when we got to Kasoa, and I looked around in the empty tro tro. I slept the entire way, and the mate and driver laughed at me as I tried to orientate myself. Between waiting for a bus 3 hours late, to peeing on the side of the road, to sitting on a bench until the sun rises, traveling in Ghana can be an adventure in itself.

Another Goodbye.

Monica left on Saturday (April 26) for the states, due to an internship in NYC that starts sooner rather than later. Another trip to the airport. Another farewell. I am not prepared for that to be this coming Thursday. Yikes.

And then there was one.