Round Trip Part One


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Africa » Ghana » Northern » Mole National Park
August 6th 2010
Published: August 6th 2010
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Accra-KumasiAccra-KumasiAccra-Kumasi

motorway under construction
Accra - Kumasi - Bole - Larabanga - Mole National Park - Tamale

My plan is to do a round trip from Accra, the main destination being Mole National Park. The park is normally accessed from the town of Tamale (to the East of Mole) as there is a bus from there direct to the park, but as that would entail doing that stretch of road twice, I decided to try and approach from the West instead, and go to Tamale afterwards.


Monday 2nd August

Had a lie in because there are plenty of buses from Accra to Kumasi. I packed and caught to tro-tro to the centre of Accra then walked to the bus station buying some food for the journey on the way. As luck would have it a Kumasi bus was just leaving. They sent someone to hold the driver whilst I bought my ticket then I ran for the bus. This journey was uneventful. They are building a new motorway from Accra to Kumasi but at the moment the whole thing is under construction. That meant that we continually had to leave the tarmac road and drive along a dirt road for a
Accra-KumasiAccra-KumasiAccra-Kumasi

a mix of roads
stretch, then back on to the tarmac.

In Kumasi I stayed at the Guestline Lodge, a stone's throw (well, a cricket ball's toss) from the STC bus station. My next destination was to be the town of Bole. The STC bus company do not run a bus along that route on a Tuesday so I had to make a trek to the bus station of the other main bus company, Metro Mass Transport (MMT) which was on the opposite side of the city. There I found out that there was one bus, but that it would leave at 4am. Back to the hotel then I went for a meal at Vic Baboo's cafe - quite a nice place.


Tuesday 3rd August

Up very early (this is to be a pattern for next few days) and caught a taxi back to the MMT bust station. It was still dark but already there was a large group of people standing around the bus which eventually left about 5am. The MMT buses are not as pleasant as the STC buses - they pack more people in - and I was on the back row, not by a window, and
Kumasi-BoleKumasi-BoleKumasi-Bole

the MMT bus at the police stop
behind the only seat on the whole bus that reclined (well, I think it was actually damaged as the MMT seats do not recline). This meant I was very cramped and could not really try and take out a book or sudoku to do on the 6-hour journey. One exciting incident happened on this bus journey - we were stopped by a police road block shortly after leaving a town where the bus had stopped for 5 minutes whilst the passengers bought things - basically whenever a bus stops in a town in Ghana (and probably everywhere else in Africa I would imagine), hordes of traders try to sell stuff to the passengers through the windows. Well apparently one guy had tried to buy a loaf of bread - he had the bread but did not have time to give his 1 cedi (about 50p) to the seller before the bus set off. The seller complained the police who phone ahead to the ones who stopped us. They got the guy of the bus and after much arguing and haggling, eventually he coughed up the 1 cedi and we were allowed to carry on after a half-hour interruption.

I
BoleBoleBole

the mud-and-stick mosque
was dropped off at the town of Bole at about 1:30pm, immediately opposite the only hotel in town - the Eureka Motel! I was a fairly run-down place but the beds looked clean - 10 cedis per night. The mosquito mesh which normally covers all windows in hotels in Ghana looked a bit damaged in parts so I used my mosquito net tonight for the first time. I wondered around the town of Bole, which didn't take too long. Bole has one of the 5 mud-and-stick mosques which are unique to this area of Ghana, although they are more common in other countries to the north. The best known one is at Larabanga which I will see tomorrow. After chatting to a couple who ran a drinks shop, they called over a young lad and asked him to show me the mosque. I needed to make a small donation then I was allowed to look at, and go in, both the old mud-and-stick mosque and the more modern one, and take photographs.

Back to the hotel for a shower then out to eat. According to the guide book there is a bus from Bole to Tamale that passes through
Mole National ParkMole National ParkMole National Park

warning sign for potential game hunters
Larabanga. Larabanga is where I needed to get to next as the entrance to the Mole National Park is 5km down a turn-off from Larabanga. The hotel manager told me that the Tamale bus left at 4am. While I was eating my evening meal I asked the serving girls about the bus - they assured me that it actually left at 3am! In Ghana it is always a good idea to get a second (or even third) opinion on anything like this but now I was in a quandary.


Wednesday 4th August

To cover myself, I got up at 2am! It is usually necessary in Ghana to get to a bus station at least half an hour before a bus leaves so that you can buy a ticket before they are sold out - it is rare that you can buy a ticket in advance (i.e. the day before) so there I was at the bus stop in the pitch black at 2:15am with not anther soul in sight! At about 3:30am a few other people gradually started to congregate at the bus stop. At about 4:15 a guy asked me where I was going. I said
LarabangaLarabangaLarabanga

my "bus" from Sawla
Larabanga and he said the Tamale bus didn't go through Larabanga any more because of the state of the road, but went round a different way that would be of no use to me. He said I should walk back down the road a couple of hundred metres and catch the bus to Wa and get off at a place called Sawla where the turn-off to Larabanga was. I was quite worried by this because the guide book had said specifically "don't wait at the Sawla junction" because all the buses coming past would be full and therefore wouldn't stop. Now, though, I had little choice so I caught the other bus which left at 5:15 and dropped me at Sawla at 6am.

I was heartened by the fact that about 20 Africans were waiting at the junction for a bus as well. By 6:30 no buses had passed but am open-backed truck stopped and the 20 Africans all piled into the back. I took this as a sign that either they thought that they might not get on a bus either, or that maybe this was a cheaper way to travel! Either way was OK by me too
LarabangaLarabangaLarabanga

The most famous of Ghana's mud-and-stick mosques
so I climbed into the back of the truck as well. The river charged me 4 cedis to Larabanga which I thought was probably about the same price the bus would have been, but at least this way I was sure of a ride so I was happy. The ride was extremely bumpy - it was a dirt road an the truck driver drove quite fast so we were all bouncing around quite a bit in the back. It took 2 hours to reach Larabanga which included dropping off and picking up various passengers at odd villages we passed and we reached Larabanga at 8:30am. I was immediately accosted by a "guide" who claimed he was a tourist board employee and when I asked where the tourist office was, he showed me to an unmarked building and claimed that the original one had been damaged and this was a new one! I didn't believe him for a moment and I noticed that the Salia brothers' guest house was at the road junction. They had been recommended as the people to contact for accommodation and help at Larabanga. I walked into the guest house and immediately Al Hassan Salia met me,
Salia Brothers Guest HouseSalia Brothers Guest HouseSalia Brothers Guest House

the stairs to the roof sleeping area
invited me to sit down and rest and let me wash off some of the dust of the journey, as well as booting out the false "guide". He explained what he and his brother are trying to do in the locality and he also showed me to the mud-and-stick mosque. Finally he also operates one of the motorbike taxis that transport visitors from Larabanga to the National Park offices so he took me there and dropped me off.

Immediately I felt the peacefulness of the place after weeks of loud noise, sitting in buses (and tricks) and fending off hawkers. Although I would do some walking safaris, this was going to be two days of very pleasnt relaxation. I booked in at the motel and found out that walking safaris take place at 6:30am and 3:30pm for 2 hours each. It was still only 10:00am so I relaxed and wondered around a bit, sitting at the observation point that allows you to watch a nearby watering hole where elephants and other animals come to drink and bathe. At 3:30 I joined the walking safari. Earlier I had chatted to 3 Irish guys who had done the morning safari that
WarthogsWarthogsWarthogs

from my first walking safari
day and said they had been really close to elephants. We didn't see any elephants in the afternoon safari but it is common for them to wander off to a different part of the park in the afternoon heat. However we did see the 3 species of antelope, 2 species of primates and the warthogs which are the most mammals to be seen in this area.

The Mole Motel has an outside restaurant that overlooks a swimming pool which in turn overlooks the watering holes. The menu looked quite wide-ranging but, in true Ghanaian style, when I enquired many of the items listed were "not available". Despite this I had a pleasant evening.


Thursday 5th August

I was up at 5:30am to ensure I didn't miss the 6:30 walking safari and it proved to be everything (almost - I didn't manage to see any crocodiles) that I had hoped for. About two thirds of the way through the walk we came across a group of 8 to 10 elephants and spent about 40 minutes just standing amazed at how close (20 metres) we were able to get to these magnificent beast. Apparantly this is the only
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Elephants near the watering hole from the hotel\'s observation point
only place in the world where you can get this close to elephants in the wild. Even though it was now only 9am I felt my day was complete. However I still enjoyed relaxing reading, sudoku-ing, watching the animals from the observation point and swimming in the pool.


Friday 6th August

We (that is all the guests who were leaving today) had a wake-up call at about 3:45 and by 4am I was at the bus for Tamale outside the park offices. It left about 4:15am with about 20 visitors on board. It was another MMT bus. At Larabanga the bus quickly filled with locals but it also stopped another couple of times to take on more passengers. I estimate that there were almost 100 people on board with standing in the aisle packed like sardines. Just after Domango the bus broke down. After half an hour the engine started up again and sw set off. 200 yards later it broke down again! Another half an hour and we set off again, this time without further hold ups. The road was a continuation of the dirt road I had travelled on in the truck on Wednesday until
Cob deerCob deerCob deer

from my first walking safari
we eventually joined the tarmac road from Kumasi to Tamale. We arrived in Tamale at 10:15am.


Additional photos below
Photos: 21, Displayed: 21


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ElephantsElephants
Elephants

from my second walking safari
Me and an ElephantMe and an Elephant
Me and an Elephant

which is which?
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Warthogs

by the Mole Motel car park
Mole MotelMole Motel
Mole Motel

the swimming pool
BaboonsBaboons
Baboons

playing near the motel bedrooms
Elephants bathingElephants bathing
Elephants bathing

from the motel observation point
Traditional VillageTraditional Village
Traditional Village

from the Larabanga-Tamale road
TamaleTamale
Tamale

one of the many mosques in this northern town


11th August 2010

Good pictures
Hi Mike Sorry not been in touch - just come back from Greece. My holiday, although very enjoyable, seems tame in comparison with your travels. Received your card - thanks. I find reading your blogs very interesting - I think I've said it before but you'd make a good travel writer! Hope the rest of your trip goes well. I presume you're coming home within the next couple of weeks. Sue

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