T.I.A - That is Africa

After the long and treacherous journey to Mole National Park in the Northern Region of Ghana last year, I vowed to never go there again. Despite not seeing elephants at the park last year, the 19 hour (or more) journey on Ghana’s worst roads was just not worth it to me. Strange enough, when Poppo propositioned me to join him there as he acted as a tour guide for the Volunteer Abroad January and February groups I decided I would go and I WOULD see the famed elephants.
Our departure from Accra began at 5:00pm sharp. The group, all 11 of us, headed for the OA bus station for our trip to Kumasi. I was once again reminded why I am not fond of traveling with large groups of people: everyone has their own schedule, their own ideas, etc. Some want to eat now, some don’t mind buying food out the bus window, some don’t want to leave till this time, some hate this, some hate that... you get the picture. Finally, at 6:30pm we were on a minibus with just our group, the driver, and the last open seat went to a Ghanaian man also traveling to Kumasi. We drove for just 5 minutes when that man realized he had left his phone with his friend who had dropped him off. Using the drivers phone, he attempted to contact his friend to get him to bring the phone. Finally, at 8:00pm his phone was returned and we were free to cruise down the motor-way. First example of T.I.A. : never leaving at said time.
Just prior to 1:00am we arrived at the guesthouse in Kumasi where 2 other volunteers with VA met us. The rooms were great, despite my bed being directly under the fan. On most occasions this would be welcomed, but when you are afraid to move because the fan will most likely smack you, its a bit of a different scenario. The following morning we were all up and ready for 6:00am when our hired bus for 20 people would be arriving. 4 hours later, our hired bus for 12 arrived. (T.I.A) On most occasions we would make that work but with all our luggage there was no way we would be able to cram. Poppo called around about an hour later a 20 seater tro-tro was at our service. Finally we were free to leave Kumasi for the 9hour (or more) trip to Tamale in the Northern Region of Ghana.
On the way, we stopped at the Boabeng-Fiema monkey sanctuary, about 5 hours from Kumasi. The monkey sanctuary hosts the largest number of colobus and mona monkeys in Ghana. In this area, the villagers believe that the monkeys are sacred, thus, making it illegal to kill any monkey. It is believed that the monkeys are fetish Gods and after the death of any monkey, a funeral service is held with a proper burial. We were able to get extremely close to the mona monkeys and feed them kernels of corn and bananas.
From there we continued our journey north for Tamale and from there to Mole National Park. The stretch from Tamale to Mole is notably the worst road in Ghana. For 3 hours our bus was not able to reach a speed higher than 30km/h. Rocking back and forth over potholes that seemed more like trenches : T.I.A. Some time around midnight we arrived at the park hotel, covered in red dust.
The next morning we ventured out on our safari, all of our hopes pinned on seeing elephants. After the first hour of the tour and seeing nothing more than elephant tracks and a few Kob antelope, we were feeling a tad discouraged. We began to walk back towards the starting point and RIGHT THERE was a group of three male elephants. Alas, they DO exist!!!!! After the safari, the rest of the day was spent lounging around the pool, prepping ourselves for the drive back to Accra the following day.
We left Sunday morning and were able to make it down that bumpy road in a record time of 2.5 hours. We continued south, covered in a fresh coating of red dirt, to Kintampo Falls where we stopped for lunch and to refresh ourselves in the spray from the waterfall. The rest of the journey to back to Kumasi and Accra was pretty easy going and we arrived sometime around midnight starving because there was no option to buy food along the way (the majority of places are closed on Sundays).
And there you have it - I finally saw elephants and I survived the trip to the Northern Region. Now I can say that it will be the last time I travel any further than Kumasi.

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