The Baboon Stole My Money!!!

I have just returned from the first leg of my holidays spent in the north of Ghana. What a difference the north is from the south or central areas that I spend most of my time in. Agogo is situated in mountainous rainforest and always seems to be slightly cooler and have fewer biting insects than the rest of Ghana. No wonder it is always with a sigh of contentment that I return to my town. (Or could it be the hot water and flushing toilets I am so used to at my accommodations and don’t really realize how much of a luxury that is in Ghana?!?!)

Our trip began by leaving Agogo at 4am to get a taxi to Konongo, from there a tro tro to Kumasi, and then finally a bus to Tamale. Tamale is the largest city in the North of Ghana. As we journeyed farther and farther north, I was struck by how much the landscape changed in such a short time. The land became much flatter and everything was so much drier - seen clearly in the brown vegetation. Although we are only at the beginning of the dry season, excessive amounts of dust were already in the air. (My feet seemed extra tanned - until I realized it was a continuous layer of dirt…) Although one would think that it would get colder as you moved north and further away from the equator. The opposite was in fact true - the climate was much hotter, the air much drier and the sun much more intense. Part of this is due to the fact that we were heading much closer to the desert being in a sub Saharan region.

What I found most fascinating about the drive up north was the different style of housing that was present - and very much apparent. The housing is what I would consider much more stereotypical “African” or what you would think of when hearing about African villages. Every village that we passed was made up entirely of mud houses with either flat mud roofs or pointed thatched roofs. The mud roofs would be considered Ghanaian while the thatched roofs which were very common are considered an influence from Burkina Faso - the country lying directly to the north of Ghana. Many of these mud houses are circular in shape and are part of a compound where one extended family will reside. I wasn’t sure if only poor villagers lived in this type of housing - but was told by a friendly taxi driver that everyone including himself (or I would assume at least the majority of people) lived like this. What an awakening… In central or south Ghana, you don’t find this at all - many people will live in clay brick houses with tin roofs. Only the really poor would have a mud/stick house.

Anyway, we spent the first couple nights in Tamale where we witnessed the increased Muslim influence - especially apparent by the call to prayer we heard five times a day. It was almost a relief to see a different religion in Ghana - other than the excessive Christianity we experience all the time. It is funny how I am so used to such diversity in Canada (culture and religion) that I looked forward to seeing the Muslim influence in Ghana. We then travelled even further north to Paga which is a village on the border of Ghana and Burkina Faso to see the sacred crocodile ponds. Finally, the last part of our trip included a bumpy ride out to Mole National Park - where we spent 4 days and went on safari in the savannah grass lands. I will not bore you with every detail of these trips but will highlight some of my favourite/interesting experiences of the North.

One of the craziest experiences I have had yet in Ghana included the trip to the sacred crocodile ponds in Paga. We were greeted by a little man with no front teeth, a straw hat and bag made out of the fibres of the fruit of a baobab tree. He gave us a tour of the village showing us artifacts that were (apparently??) over 5000 years old. We then headed down to the open ponds that contained over 500 wild crocodiles. Now remember this is Africa - the safety considerations are not quite the same as they would be in Canada - so the crocs are out in the open with no enclosures. Our guide told us not to worry - the village has a deal with the crocodiles - “we don’t eat them and they won’t eat us” - how reassuring. Our guide then waited for some time until he saw a croc in the water and started to call to it waving a live chicken in his hand. Suddenly, the huge croc emerged from the pond and started walking towards us (you don’t say - we had live bait with us!). I then had the chance to get up close and personal with that croc - standing over top of it and lifting its tail. While this was happening - our guide insisted that he wanted to take the pictures as he knew the best shots. This was after he shoved the live chicken in Rabina’s hand (hold it by its feet) so he could “hold the camera better”. We all had a chance to stand with the croc and hold its tail. Then it was time to feed the big guy - at which point we were told to throw the live chicken towards the croc and stand back. It gives new meaning to the camp game “chuck the chicken” that I have played so many times…

My favourite experience in the North would have to be my time at Mole National park. We had great accommodations, good food, and a swimming pool at the edge of a cliff over looking a watering hole to cool off during the heat of the day. Anyone who would have talked to me before going - would know of my excitement to see the wild elephants that are present in the park and can be seen on a safari walk. On the first day during our late afternoon safari walk we were able to see a sleeping elephant in the bushes - but it looked just like a big gray rock from our distance with an occasional flap of the tail or ear. It wasn’t as fulfilling as I had hoped it to be… So I went out the next day for both of the safaris - morn and aft - in hope of seeing one of those big creatures. This time we didn’t see anything beyond the many antelope, birds, wart hogs and monkeys that are everywhere. I was told that it wasn’t really prime viewing for elephants - I should come back in March and April when they will be everywhere… Like that is a possibility! So the next day, I was relaxing and not planning on going on any of the safaris - maybe a bike ride later on in the day. (That was another experience - renting and riding bikes in Ghana…) In the afternoon I was in the pool - where we spent most of our time - and was just swimming around when I overheard a conversation of a German couple. The woman was telling the man that they could see elephants at the edge of the watering hole and that an impromptu safari was being organized. I think this is the first time my German has served me well. For I jumped out of that pool so fast and ran to my room to change into my safari gear and luckily caught the one safari that was going to find those elephants. Well ,we definitely found them - and what an experience! I was probably less than 20 meters from these large animals watching them stroll through the thicket. Definitely cannot compare to the zoo or African Lion Safari back home!

Finally, my last night in the north was spent in a village called Larabanga on the edge of Mole and which is home to the oldest mosque in Ghana and probably West Africa. It too is made of the mud and sticks and is still in use today. That night we threw caution to the wind - not worrying about the mosquitoes and bats - and spent it sleeping on the roof of our guest house (if you can call a mud house with a flat mud roof and a hole in the ground for a toilet a guest house). Our mattresses were dragged to the top of the hut and we watched shooting stars until we fell asleep and were woken by the call to prayer the next morning. - Our indication that we needed to get ready to catch the one bus at 4:30am heading back to Tamale. An interesting experience that I don’t think I could find elsewhere but in Africa. So we headed back to Tamale ready to begin the journey back to Agogo where we will spend a couple days before we head to the coast for over Christmas - which I expect to be an entirely different Ghanaian experience when compared to the north. I can’t wait!

By the way, for anyone who is interested about the election results in Ghana… well there are none yet. The results were too close for the two major parties and no one had received over 50% of the votes. So Ghana will return to the polls once more on Dec 28 to determine their next president. What was encouraging about witnessing the entire election process here was how peaceful everything was - throughout the actual polling and during the counting of votes.

I can say this now - since it is after the fact… (And there is absolutely no need to worry now!) We were told by some people (not everyone of course) that we shouldn’t travel - especially to the north - during election time just in case there was violence. Part of this cautioning we think was due in part to some views people in the south have about those in the north. We were told before we left that we should be careful when travelling to the north because they are “uncivilized” up there. While the living conditions and atmosphere was different, in no way was anyone uncivilized. In fact, just the opposite was the case - we met some of the kindest, most generous people who helped us on our travels and provided us with a wonderful time up North.

Anyway, I will end this blog with a funny little story that is a lesson in common sense for me…. One afternoon, I was once again by the pool enjoying relaxing after a long safari. I was swimming while Rabina was reading under an umbrella. I had left my things at our table which included a ziplock bag with some snacks in it. First lesson - don’t leave food unattended in an area where wild animals frequent. Also in that ziplock bag was 12 cedis (approximately 15 Canadian Dollars) for drinks or whatever. Second Lesson - DO NOT EVER STORE YOUR MONEY WITH FOOD!!! So I am swimming away and all of a sudden out of the corner of my eye I see a baboon charging at the table. When I realized what was happening, I yelled at Rabina to get out of the way - because as our guide was telling us - of course baboons can be dangerous. Then I realized what it was after… the food on the table which also contained my money! Being stupid I jumped out of the pool and started to chase after the baboon which was now at the edge of the bush right by the cliff. At this point a crowd had gathered wanting to see what the commotion was about. The baboon had stopped and was starting to rip into that ziplock. I didn’t care about the food - but I wanted my money back! I knew not to go any further - but some guy who had witnessed what was going on started to throw rocks at the baboon which scared it. It took off with my crackers and by my good fortune left my money in the chewed up ziplock bag. I was lucky… and definitely learned my lesson!

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Part of trip: My African Adventure

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