Lion King Extravaganza without the Lions

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Next stop on our trip was Mole, Ghana’s biggest national Park. It’s shockingly hard to get from Weichau to Mole. Our bible, Ghana 4th edition, lied to us about this. I’ll skip the gory details, but after 2 bus rides (where the seat next to me was filled at different points by 2 deceased chickens, a live goat, several school children, and the occassional adult) and a really bumpy cab ride, we arrived in Larabanga, the village outside Mole. Larabanga also has the 3rd oldest mosque in West Africa, circa 1491. We stayed at the Salia Brothers’ guest house. The Salia brothers are pretty famous around Mole for their general wonderfulness, and my experience with them was no exception. We arrived ate some tezard (pronounced tz, pretty much like fufu, only made with corn and so much better, it’s a northern food staple), and climbed up to the roof where we would be sleeping… until it rained, a lot. So Al Haissan, made sure we got down the ladder safely and into a roofed room. At 4 am there was a call to prayer pretty much outside out window, but I was really interested, and didn’t mind being awake next to it. We got up and out early to get to Mole for the morning walk at 7:30.

Ok, the morning walk. First, as our armed guide DK is telling us about Mole, there is a pack of wart hogs just hanging out behind him. I really wanted to belt out some Timon and Pumba, but thought better of it because of the other 5 people in our group. We then turn to the watering hole that the visitor center and lodge over look… ELEPHAnTS!! (sorry my n key is still not working) There were 4 or 5 elephants bathing, spraying themselves and each other… it felt very Disney movie-esque. We watched the savannah elephants (they are the black ones) for a really long time, they are just so huge and incredible. A few crocodiles also popped-up their heads. When we ventured onward we saw some representatives of the antelope family, including their namesake, bush buck (smaller, with white stripes and dots on their sides… one looked almost like the original American flag. Patriotic little tyke.), water buck (bigger, grayer), kob/p (had some trouble with the accent… DK’s accent, I understood the animal. Ha?). And then… we saw elephants again, this time out of the water. It felt a lot more real to see them out of the water, a lot less like the zoo. They were walking along 5 of them following their lady leader. Their pace was ridiculously fast, as they were moving through the trees. Then Big Mama stopped, and they all stopped. Dah. It was just awesome.

We got some food, hung out, waiting for the afternoon walk to begin and saw a ton of baboons and the occasional, green monkey. The baboons were grooming each other, climbing through the trees, others had fun throwing leaves at the guests by the pool, and still others were even less shy. An example, I went to capture (on camera) the baby baboons in the tree who were learning how to climb, and Caroline stayed by our table which had my second Harry potter book on it. Anyway, a baboon came up to her, took my book, she grabbed it back and then it scratched her. Luckily, someone captured this on film. Search YouTube in a couple months and I’m sure it will be there. I’m sad to have missed it, but also intrigued by the effect Harry Potter has had on my life. Later during lunch, I was eating my jollof and chicken and a wart hog came incredibly close to the table… we may or may not have sang the Lion King that was earlier stifled.

The afternoon walk was less exciting in terms of animals, but we continued to see the antelope and its relatives along with warthogs. We also got to walk a greater distance and we seemed to travel from what seemed like more of a forest area to a savannah like area (Mole is a woodland savannah mixture) which was really cool to see on foot. Our guide also pointed to some “fresh elephant feces” and footsteps, and for a while it seemed like we were in hot pursuit… that or he was pretty lost. Anywho, made it back all in one piece, and went back to Larabanga. We got a tour of the mosque from 1421 at dark which was really cool learning about the history of Islam in Ghana. It was a clear night so the roof seemed like a good option, and since it gets dark at 6:30 on the dot, 8:30 seemed like a perfectly reasonable time to go to bed especially because our bus was at 4:20 to Tamale. The guest house has a really small TV in it where Al Hassain plays movies at night, and I remember looking down from the roof and seeing the “courtyard” filled with people, it was a standing room only showing. I guess that’s what happens when you show the I Swear triology. (no relation to the All-4-One smash hit) I felt prett-y darn old when I had an earlier bed time than 5 year olds, but saw a few shooting stars, and fell asleep regardless. We climbed off the roof at 4:15, grabbed our stuff, said thank you to our friends, and ran after the bus that we thought we had missed. No, no, silly oburouni, it stops a little further down, so our running was more than unnecessary… another bumpy, but beautiful ride though through the mud brick-styled villages at sun rise.

Tamale is one of the biggest cities in Ghana, the entry way to the north, more or less, and we spent a lot of the day sleeping, eating, and shopping. I read about this organization that offers an alternative to women in unhealthy and abusive situations by teaching them sewing, batik, and other skills and employs them at a store that sells their pieces. Always nice to feel good about what you are buying- which I almost always do here. After 13 hours back on the bus, we arrived safely back at ISH.

Preview to the next blog/ what this week may hold:
- Twi final.. wait, what? Really? Saa -> twi?
- possibly hanging out at a catholic girls home
- mountain biking in aburi
- my 2nd baseball game
Until next time, HAKUnA MATATA.

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