Mole National Park

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I wrote this blog entry after my trip to Mole the first weekend in March. Sorry it's so late!

This past weekend, my program took us tot the northern region to Kumasi, the second largest city in Ghana (after Accra) and the center of the Asante kingdom and to Mole National Park. It took about 5 hours to get to Kumasi and then another 7 to reach Mole, which is about 2/3 of the way north. Ghana is about the size of Oregon, which gives you an idea about the traffic and conditions of the road. The road to Mole from the main highway was 81km of the bumpiest dirt road I have ever experienced. That portion of the drive took us 2 hours and twice my head hit the top of the van due to the bumps. Aside from the driving, the trip was amazing.

In Kumasi on the way to Mole we took a tour of the old Asante king’s palace. The Asante claim to be a peaceful tribe, but it seemed apparent to me that they loved to fight and valued good warriors. They are the most powerful tribe in this area of Western Africa because of their aggression and they controlled the gold industry. The Asante also took slaves from tribes they conquered before colonialism and when the Europeans arrived, they provided most of the slaves for the slave trade. One of my professors said that Ghanaians were relieved when the Europeans came because it ended the Asante warfare against other tribes (except, of course, the kidnapping of slaves).

When we arrived in Mole, there was a troop of baboons to greet us hanging out around the back of the motel. We were able to go on our back porch and see them playing, grooming, and fighting each other from about 20 yards away. It was a bit scary to stand so close to wild animals, and one small scuffle sent all of us running back into our rooms to avoid any involvement. And when we finally grew tired of watching the baboons, we decided to go swimming. While we were getting ready, a young baboon came right up to our window and put his hand on the screen peeking in like a curious little kid. It startled us at first, but it was cool to see a wild animal acting so human.

That night, our dinner conversation a little lesson in Ghanaian politics from our program director. There are two main parties here in Ghana, with a few small minority parties (just like in the states). They are the New Patriotic Party (NPP) and the National Democratic Congress (NDC). Apparently there is no difference between the platforms of the two parties, but the NPP is the party of the working class and the NDC is the party of the upper class and voter loyalty is very strong by region. For example, the Asante region voted over 95% for the NPP in the last election. Voter participation is very high here, I believe our director said about 72% voted in this past election. They put us to shame. I think it’s ironic though that people get so involved when there isn’t much of a difference between the two parties.

Another interesting tid bit that I learned from our director is mothers do not talk about anything that has to do with reproduction with their daughters. There is no mention about puberty, pregnancy, AIDS or anything of the sort. Our director said she was actually glad she didn’t have daughters specifically for that reason. I found this strange because Ghanaians are very comfortable in their bodies and not embarrassed to be exposed in front of members of the same sex, but they can’t talk about important issues regarding sexual health.

In the morning, we woke up early for a two-hour morning walking safari with an armed guide. We spent the two hours struggling to see any animals, never mind the elephants that we all desperately wanted to see. Of the eight mammal species within walking distance of the hotel, we only saw two: antelope and red monkeys. Of course while we were eating breakfast, two elephants decided it was time for a swim and came out from wherever they were hiding. Our guide was nice enough to take us back down to the watering hole and we watched the elephants for about half an hour before heading back up the hill to the hotel. Later in the afternoon we took a Jeep safari and took turns riding on the roof. We didn’t see any elephants on this safari either, but we saw a lot more of the other animals. There were hundreds of antelope, a few water buck, warthogs, baboons, and more red monkeys. There were also a huge diversity of birds, but I didn’t catch any of their names except guinea fowl. The day was really enjoyable and the whole time I couldn’t stop thinking “wow, I’m really in Africa.”

On the way back from Kumasi we actually got a chance to see the present Asante king briefly. There was a festival going on outside the palace and we stopped in for a few minutes. He was wearing so much gold jewelry on his wrists, hands, and ankles that he could not move his own hands or feet because the weight was too much. To actually meet him, we would have had to bring a gift. Hennessy seemed to be the gift of choice, as we saw several men carrying large boxes to him. We weren’t inclined to be so generous, so we headed for the largest open market in West Africa for a little shopping.

The open market in Kumasi was the most overwhelming experience of my time in Ghana so far. There aisles were so jam packed with people if you weren’t careful when you stopped to look at a stall you would get pushed away by the heavy stream of traffic. There was no place to stand around and get your bearings or decide where to go next, you just had to keep moving and hope you happened upon what you were looking for. It’s hard to pay attention to the traffic patterns and look in the stalls at the same time, so I think I missed a lot of what people were selling. There is a bit of method to the madness, however. As you get deeper into the market it is divided into sections, like the Ghanaian equivalent departments in a large store at home. There were a few rows of stalls where everyone was selling fabrics, and next to that it was the same thing but with shoes, then it became the household items, then kitchen supplies, then food.

The food section is my least favorite by far. The smells that emanate alone are enough to drive any Westerner away. It’s a strange combination of fish, meat, spices, and the sewage in the gutters. Then you add in the fact that there are live animals, like chickens, crabs, and snails looking at you when you walk by, and there are mounds of whole fish that although no longer living seem to stare at you, too. Needless to say I usually pass through this section as quickly as possible.

After the market, we did even more shopping at three local villages. The first was a woodcarving village, which was more like a long line of shops than an actual village where people live. Next we got to see how they make black dye from tree bark for creating prints on fabrics and we took turns stamping a piece of scrap cloth. Finally, we went to a Kente weaving village. Kente is the traditional Ghanaian cloth and it is woven in different geometrical patterns. It’s hard to explain what it looks like because I haven’t seen anything like it before.

Even our ride home was a bit eventful. For part of the way, we were stuck behind a pickup truck with serious road rage. He darted in and out of lanes so no one could pass him. Thankfully, he turned left and we continued straight before anyone ended up getting hurt. It was nice to finally be home after such a long trip. It’s comforting to know more or less what to expect on a daily basis, but when you’re travelling, you never know what will happen.

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