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Published: July 10th 2007
On Monday the 2nd we set off for our 3 weeks of travels, with our hair braided so we dont have to wash it, a 25l backpack for 3 weeks and a daily food budget of $4 Australian. Pretty much we are going to arrive in the u.k filthy. Sars, Gabs, Meg and Chels and i were meeting at the Shell station at 7am except we were delayed an hour as the taxi which Meg chose had a detour to the hospital as the drivers pregnant sister fainted.
So far we have witnessed a goat hit and killed by our tro tro, almost had to pawn our few valuables to pay for our tro tro, broken down in a taxi on a deserted road at night, escaped from a stampede of elephants and been chased by baboons.
Our first stop was Green Turtle Lodge in Akwidaa. We reached it on 3 tro tros. A 4 hour tro tro to Takoradi on which we had a minor stop after we hit and killed a goat. Our tro tro made a large bang and started to slow down. We looked behin and tthere was a trail of blood and a goat was then scraped off the bottom of our van. Another tro tro from Takoradi to Agona and then a final Tro Tro from Agona to Green Turtle Lodge. The tro tros and the roads went progressivley downhill and the way our final tro tro was spluttering i wasnt sure wether we would make it. Green Turtle is a resort of huts and tents on a secluded palm fringed, white sanded beach. The restraunt, bar and tables and chairs are all made of wicker and are pretty much outside. We spent 3 nights here.
Our first night in a beach front tent. The other 2 in a hut. Most of our time was spent relaxing and 'recharging our batteries'. We went on walks to nearby villages and swam at the beach. We also went on a day trip to the Nzulu stilt village. A village reached only by a 2 hour canoe trip constucted upon a lake. The villagers descended from Mali 500 years ago and consider themselves their own race. We had some minor issues when leaving as we were only meant to stay 2 nights we only managed to scrape together enough cedis to pay for our accomodation. As we were on the tro tro on our way out we were gathering possesions which we could pawn - sunnies, phones etc. Luckily Meg found a forgotten stash of money and saved the day.
We then caught a bus north to Kumasi, which is in the Ashanti Region and used to be the capital. We arrived as the bus was leaving and it was a mad rush to make it on, luckily as the next one wasnt for 2 days. The trip took 7 hours but it was luxury. We were shocked that the bus was not only air conditioned but had fold down flat screen tvs. Quite a step up from tro tros. When we reached Kumasi we were meant to get another bus to our next destination except the buses were booked out for 2 days. We had to stay the night. Kumasi's population has a reputation for being rude, intimidating and arrogant. We were all pretty nervous but it turned out to be fine. The people in the south are overly friendly and as lovely as it is sometimes its nice to be able to walk down the street annymously. The people in Kumasi are slightly stand off ish yet its refreshing. We feel like we are more annonymous though we clearly still stand out in a crowd.
We went to the markets, which were 12ha. Unlike in the south where everyone wants you to come into your stall and grabs and calls out to you only the occasional person did these. It seems like they are shy. There are many less obrunis as you get further up north. It did seem however that there were many more people carrying loads on their heads and the loads are alot heavier. It was quite a task at times cutting through the crowd.
On our 2nd night in Kumasi we went on a 'pub crawl' with some of the American 'Peace corps'. Unfortunatley it was lights out (Ghana is having a power crisis so every 2nd day there is no power). We met them at hotel nearby ours. When it was time to move onto the next pub we all headed up to the main road to get a cab. As we got in a cab one of the guys said ' im glad you girls are in a taxi this is probly the most likely place to get rolled in Kumasi'. Firstly the driver pulled over and picked up his wife. We now had 7 passengers squished into the taxi. The driver then took a sharp turn off the highway down a dirt road. We were all silently freaking out but we kept checking our destination and the driver kept saying yes. We proceeded further and further down this dirt road and all of a sudden the taxi made grinding noises and stopped. We had broken down.
Within 20 seconds the taxi was surrounded by men telling us to get out and not to be scared. We figured the safest bet was staying in the taxi and locking the doors. They told us they were getting another taxi. We waited for about 45 minutes, petrified but trying to convinve ourselves the situation wasnt so bad. Finally taxi lights flashed but as we tried to get in the men told it to leave. When the next taxi drove past we ran and jumped in it. Our original driver was then shouting at our new driver and it turned into a massive argument and alot of the men outside became involved and there was plenty of pushing and shoving and a few punches swung. We just kept shouting at the driver 'mepaacho co', please go. When we finally got away we all breathed a sigh of relief but didnt relax till we reached our destination.
Our next stop was Mole national park. We caught a bus further North to Tamale. It is very dry and hot. The houses are circular and made of mud with straw roofs. There are also lots of donkeys pulling heavy loads, lots of traffic from bikes and the main form of transportation is stock trucks. Yes people are stacked in like animals. One truck we saw was full of bulls and hanging from the top were hammocks with sleeping men. A slight slip would end in tears.
From Tamale we caught a 5 hour bus, We were told to buy our tickets at 6am, the man didnt show till 7.30. We were then told that the bus would leave at 1.30pm yet it wasnt until 4 that we hit the road. packed to the rafters with villagers on a dirt roads. Very hot, bumpy and crowded. We arrived in the dark and were met by grunting warthogs, alot like pumbah. Many things in Ghana relate to the Lion King, we often feel like Mufassa looking upon his pride land. Luckily the group of Pumbahs were scared away by a man with a sling shot.
The next morning we went on a tour. We walked around for 2 hours and saw antelopes, bocks, baboons, and elephants. We spotted the elephants in their waterhole. We sat on the edge observing them. It was so surreal. Suddenly a gun shot went off somewhere in the park and the elephants got a shock and all 8 of them stampeded out of the waterhole. Our guide then told us to run and we narrowly avoided being squished. As we progressed on our route home we also saw Baboons mating about 1/2 a m away. When we all burst into hysterics the Baboon looked pretty embarassed.
Later that afternoon we squished 9 into a car and went to a nearby village to see a mosque. This mosque was built in the 15th century and apparently initiated islam in Ghana. When we got back we were going to go on a walk. The place was streaming with Baboons, yet we didnt see this a problem as they hadnt come near us this morning. Gab and i were waiting for Meg and there was a Baboon in front of us we were taking pics of. When Meg ran towards us the Baboon ran towards her. She then turned and started screaming and a whole heap of Baboons started chasing the rest of the group. They chased them into our room and we had to lock the doors. They were knocking at the doors and peeking through the windows for the rest of the day. We walked to dinner with sticks in our hand just in case.
To be continued....
Hope everyone is welll. Keep up the emails. xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
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Thomas Alexander Davis, ur brother who is amazingly superb, and
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awesome fun ness
ohhhh yeh first comment for this one, how are we my dear sister, wow this is all fairly hectic, like to be honest if i was in these situations id probs crawl into the foetal position and sob. but u sreem to be coping alright. were the peace corps guys hot? man sounds like ur having a fully sick time, ill ttyl xxxxxxxxx dizz dogg u8r brother