We began on thursday afternoon, planning to catch the 3pm MMT bus to Kumasi. We waited for 2 hours and then got on a tro. The bus arrived and we were going to get out and get on it, when we were informed that this was the bus for tomorrow. NOT tonight, even though there was a scheduled 3pm bus...
Our tro was fine and in 4 hours we were in Kumasi. It was dark so we took a drop taxi to the STC station since we knew our hostel was nearby that and he had never heard of it. Luckily, it is about 20 feet away and we saw the sign as we drove in. The hostel was amazingly nice and we meet a few other obrunis eating dinner. Ironically, we would meet again.
We woke up at 5:45 and went to the STC station at 6am to buy our tickets to Tamale. It was deserted and we should have slept longer... So we went back, showered, ate breakfast, and reported back to the station at 9 since our bus was leaving at 10. At 10 to 10 we were informed via announcement that the bus was not coming. There was an issue somewhere and it would be here at 2pm. HUGE TIME DIFFERENCE! So we talked with the peace corp members who were headed to Tamale for and HIV/AIDS conference and the obrunis from the hostel the night before. The consensus was to wait for the bus since the tros are not direct and you can have issues finding a tro for the next leg of the journey. The bus finally left at 2:45pm and then we needed gas, which was on the opposite side of the city from where we were and needed to leave from. This added another 45 minutes due to the traffic.
The ride however was beautiful and we managed to observe an stunning sunset as well as a lighting storm over the open plains. It was amazing!
In addition the obrunis from the night before were also going to MOLE NP and the one guy, Cameron, had done it before, so he knew what to do. Ironically, we had also booked the same hostel again that evening, so we decided to travel together! Our team was now 3 americans, 3 austrailans, and 1 brazilian. Yeah team! Our new found friends were Cameron (been in Ghana 3x), Nicole and Ryan (who are dating and it is Ryan's 21st birthday on sunday), and Maraina (Cameron's girlfriend from brazil). They are all amazingly nice people and a good deal of fun to hang out with.
We had a filling breakfast at the hostel and it was pretty cheap which we appreciated. We then ended up exploring Tamale in order to find a way to get to Damongo (two towns away from Mole). We tried MMT without luck, the tro station had no one going, and then the boys found the Zongo station which is clear on the other side of town. So we got to see a bunch of the city and all the beautiful Mosques. The north is mainly muslim, since they are near the Sahara and that was how islam spread into Africa, through the trans-Saharan trade routes.
Our bus/tro was a good deal of fun. We made it to Damongo in 3 hours and the ride was bumpy but not unbearable. We also saw a good deal of termite mounds and traditional round houses which was rather neat. Once in Damongo we chartered a tro to Mole. Everyone piled in for Larabanga, which resulted in the boys sitting on the roof.
Once in Mole we checked into the hotel and then explored a little. It was beautiful!
Our first taste of the wildlife was the warthogs that ate dinner with us. The ran around the table and chased each other while the 7 of us were eating...
The next morning was our walking safari. Our guide, Telly, was amazing. We literally tracked and elephant following scat and foot prints (which are huge!) and found the elephant within a half hour. We were 15 feet from it and were there for nearly an hour following him through the bush. At one point he seemed to be annoyed with us and turned to us an grumbled. Our guide immediately told us to run past him and over to the next set of trees, which we did and thankfully the elephant did not follow! It was a little scary at that point... It was amazing though. We watched him eat (he ripped off half a trees) and drink and ford the river. It was amazing!
We did not just see an elephant though. We saw reedbuck and antelope. We saw a troop of baboons, a herd of warthogs, and some reptiles.
We also saw a Patas (aka red) monkey. He can to visit us at the tables in the restaurant at the Mole Motel. This seemly innocent little guy quickly became a thief. He stole Danielle's loaf of bread, which was incredibly funny when you think about it. They apparently are also incredibly fond of ketchup... :)
Our final stop on our trip was Larabanga. We road on the back of motorcycles to get there. We were staying with the Salia brothers. They are 4 brothers who run a compound of huts or you can do a homestay with the family and sleep on the roof. We choose the latter which was awesome! They were the ones to come and get us with the motorbikes (which were 2 cedi/ ride vs 20 cedi/ride for a jeep that the mole national park provides to take you to larabanga). The eldest brother's wife made us fried yam and vegetable stew for dinner, which was the first real food we had eaten other than eggs in the mornings. It was wonderful. We ate on the roof with the youngest brother and watched a lighting storm roll in over the park. It eventually rained and they had a room prepared for us just-in-case so we were fine. It was awesome seeing that many stars though. Where there is 1 or 2 in the USA there are 20-30 here. Small faint stars in the background that look like glitter. It was wonderful.
We also saw the Larabanga Mosque. It is the oldest in West Africa and has an interesting history. Brother #3 took us to see it and told the history to us. The imam had been traveling to find a place away from the fighting of the Christians and Muslims to build a mosque. He had stopped at a large stone and was inspired to through his spear. Where it landed he would build. Upon finding the spear the next morning it was in a location that already had a foundation, but no signs of human habitation. After praying for guidance, he was shown that the sight was blessed and intended for him to build upon. As he laid each branch to build the frame another would fall into place, allowing him to complete the work in less than a month. The imam then lived out his life using the mosque and teaching Islam. When he died he asked to be buried nearby. After 3 months out of his burial sight sprung a great baobab tree. It stands today and is cared for in times of need, supporting the mosque to this day. (Cool story right?) The mosque is quite beautiful and is a stick and mud construction which is amazing.
We also got to see quite the sunset before we went to bed and made friends with many of the local children who escorted us everywhere!
We then traveled home in one day. (not recommended) We awoke at 3:30am and caught the MMT bus to Tamale. From there we caught a noon bus to Kumasi. We arrived in Kumasi at 7:30pm and caught a Ford Van back to Cape arriving at 12 midnight. I then walked the rest of the way home from Kotokraba (10min). The walking was the best part since i was not crammed into a small space with my backpack and could stretch my legs! In addition everyone that i ran into inquired as to where i was coming from and if i needed help getting home. So nice! Americans would try and mug you...
My mom, Matilda, also was awake and waiting up for me to get home so she knew i was safe! She is wonderful!!!! She checked in on us throughout the trip, which is so cute and wonderful of her! (See parents, i am fine here since my family here would be just as up-in-arms as you would be if anything happened!)
The whole thing was just an amazing experience. I loved the animals and the people and am thankful i was able to experience it all!
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