mole national park.

this last weekend i traveled north to mole national park, the largest national park in ghana. i went with my roommate, and two other volunteers who work at the orphanage with me. our journey began friday morning at 2:00 am, and quickly became quite an african adventure.

we woke at 2, on the sound advice of our projects abroad leader, gabby. he guessed that the bus from kumasi to tamale left around 3:30am (no one ever knows the exact bus schedules in ghana. there is no posted schedule, no website, no phone number. nothing. you just guess, go early, and hope you're lucky).

he was wrong. the bus didn't actually leave until 6:00am. and so we were very, very early, to a dark and shady bus depot in kumasi. four white tourists, with bags... looking very sleepy and un-alert. we sat together, and tried to stay awake, for 2 hours. finally we bought our tickets, and boarded the metro mass bus, direct to tamale. the bus ride is about 7 hours, stopping half-way in kintampo for bathrooms and snacks. the goal was to sleep the entire way there, but due to the extreme heat from the rising sun to my right, and the uncomfortably close quarters i shared with some man who smelled, it was difficult. smelly man did offer me a banana though, which improved matters immensely.

we finally arrived in tamale around 1:00, to 104 degree temperatures beating us down. the station was extremely chaotic, and we were immediately bombarded by locals demanding to know where we were going, and by a profound aroma of salted fish baking in the sun mixed with toilet. we quickly walked to the ticket booth, and asked for tickets to larabanga (the closest village to mole national park). they were sold out. all three buses for the day were already sold out. we did not plan for this.

we started to ask for help from locals, and were directed to the taxi station. there, i asked a driver how much it would cost to drive us to larabanga. he told me 100 cedi ($100). i laughed, and told him "debi debi debi!" (no no no!). he was impressed by my twi, and asked me how much i would pay. my friends and i quickly discussed our bargaining limits, and i started at 25 cedi. this went on and on for about 20 minutes, and eventually the driver said, "ah sista, fuel is 45 cedi, i have to make money!" i gave in a bit, because he called me sista, and settled on a price of 85 cedi, to take us all the way into mole national park, to our hotel. split four ways, it wasn't terrible... but it was much much more than we bargained for.

we get in the taxi, we leave the station. our driver stops a mile down the road to get a spare tire. not a good sign. we leave again. we stop again, this time to get water to cool the engine. again, not a good sign. we have already paid the driver, in hopes that he wouldn't try to ask for more at the end of the journey. in retrospect, not a good plan. but, we start to leave tamale, and hit the road to larabanga. we pass a junction, about half-way, and turn onto a very bumpy, very dusty road. we ride along on this road for an hour or so, literally dripping sweat, and getting coated by red dust, when slowly the car rolls to a stop. not a good sign. the driver asks for some water to cool the engine again, we comply. he comes back and tries to start the engine, no luck. i ask "should we get out and push?" in jest... he says "yes". so... i get out, and cecilia get out, and we try to push the heavy heavy taxi, along a bumpy dusty road. it barely budges. alexa and erin get out to, and we all push, the car moves, but it won't start. we try again and again, but nothing.

we are now broken-down, in the middle of a deserted dusty road, somewhere between tamale and larabanga, surrounded solely by acacia trees and emptiness. this is the point where i should have demanded some of our money back. however, i didn't think of that until much later, when it was too late.

down the road, we see a large, yellow, rv-type vehicle, blazzing down the road towards us. the taxi driver tells us to make it stop. we face it, and start to wave, but it doesn't seem to slow down, at all. finally, about 10 yards before hitting us, they brake. we quickly see fellow "brunis", and smile because we are sure they'll help us. they stop, and a dad, mom and son get out to greet us. they are from austria, and are driving from ghana to austria. they try to charge the battery, but have no luck, so they offer us a ride into the park. we abandon our driver, he wishes us well, and we board the massive camper that resembles one from jurassic park 2. its another hour before we finally arrive to mole national park, and then to mole motel.

we check in, and meet the absolute worst customer service representative, ever. after a verbal battle with her, we get to our room. we change into swimsuits, and have a quick dip before eating dinner by the poolside, overlooking the beautiful african savanna, showcased by the slow setting african sun. we crash, early.

we awake, early, and had planned to go on the morning safari walk, but due to extreme hunger, we headed to breakfast instead. complimentary coffee, egg and toast. perfect. we sit at the lookout, and watch as the other tourists walk down into the savanna. then, out of nowhere, i spot an elephant. a single elephant, started to walk from the north, towards the water hole. i bust out my binocs, and we all start snapping photos, of the large grey mass, moving across the grass. we watch, from above, as it gets into the water, and starts to bathe. the tourists catch on, and we watch as they get amazing photographs of the elephant from the shoreline. the guides let the people get close, very close. its very different from safari in tanzania, where a respectful distance was maintained.

a while later some fellow volunteers showed up, and we pooled until lunch. during lunch a swarm of hungry baboons showed up, and began stealing toast, crackers, and eventually a box of sangria from the tables. highly entertaining, a bit terrifying, and hilarious to watch, as they actually drank the sangria.

we joined the afternoon safari walk, hoping to see the elephants that were still by the water hole. our guide took a look at my shoes (new keen's i got for the trip), and said "you need closed toe shoes," to which i said "no, these are closed toe. look, my toes are closed. they're fine." i was absolutely not going to miss my safari walk, due to shoe dress code. i think he heard the conviction in my voice, because he said "ok". and that was that.

we headed down the rocky hill towards the water hole, following our trusty guide. he was really old, and carried a riffle "in case of aggressive animals". when we got down, the elephants were gone. our guide led us on a wild chase, to track them. finally we spotted the group, and we headed toward them. i think the guide wanted us to get close enough to snap photos, but it felt like chasing to me. we got fairly close, but they never turned around, so we only saw their backside. eventually we gave up, and headed back toward the water hole. the hike was so so so hot, but so so so awesome. just to walk around, on savanna ground, and feel the african feel all around, it was incredible.

that evening we ate dinner with our large group, and mingled a bit before an early night, for an early rise. our bus leaving mole left sunday morning at 4:00am, and delivered us to tamale around 9:00. we successfully bought tickets from tamale to kumasi, and had an hour to enjoy a cheap breakfast of scrambled eggs on buttered bread, with nescafe for 1.50. the ride south was longer, 8 hours, and hotter than the ride north. but we got home to kumasi, in the afternoon, and immediately showered, ate, and looked at our pictures from mole.

it was a fabulous weekend, and seeing the animals made all of the sweat and exhaustion worth it.