It has been awhile but since my last blog I have had a series of adventures.
I traveled to Mole National Park with some awesome ladies, joined my friends on their epic bicycle tour of Ghana, showed some family (Dad, Candace, and Ashley) my current home J, played in a volleyball tournament with the university team, and then proceeded to be successfully lazy for the past few weeks….well sort of.
The Mole adventure started in a way that I don’t have a word for, only a laugh. There were many events that preceded our moment of sitting on the bus laughing hysterically as it drove out of Accra headed north in the sunset. Vanika, Sarah, Marcela and I decided to take the weekend and enjoy Mole National Park before they left at the end of the semester. Well, in trying to buy tickets and get the group together on Wednesday, we end up only 3 of us on the bus as it is ready to depart….The fourth person, Marcela, was finishing up some exams and rushing through traffic to try and catch the bus. SO, this meant that Vanika, Sarah, and I had to stall the bus. I was yelled at by the bus driver to “Sit Down!”, and then as the driver asked where is your friend---I had just talked to Marcela on the phone---I say “Oh, she’ll be here in 2 minutes. She’s very close, just walking along that road”, as I point to the main road next to the station. Meanwhile, Marcela reports to me on the phone “I am 10 minutes away.” When the bus driver moved the bus out of it’s parking position and to the gate of the bus station, I started making enough noise to get every Ghanaian on the bus on our side to insure that the bus waits. Well she made it! And we could nothing but laugh because of the scene we had created and our nerves of concern that she would not make it.
20 hours later, after the bus ride, a tro-tro ride and an expensive taxi ride, me made it to Mole. Our plans for the weekend in terms of accommodations and prices often times resulted in us yelling and complaining and kvetching, but ultimately, we had an amazing experience. We slept in a tree hide, saw elephants in the day and at night, heard hyenas, and experienced just a beautiful African eco-system with laughter. The trip, fortunately, ended with a very generous Ghanaian giving us a ride back to Kumasi in his personal car. This saved us at least 10 hours of travel by bus or tro-tro and we were exhausted. He showed us this stone that is believed to have incredible spiritual powers (when they were building the road, they moved the stone. The next day, it was in its original place. They moved it again and the next day, it had returned. The road is built with a big curve in it to avoid this stone and leave it resting in its place. Horses are also not allowed in the town because the belief is that the stone does not allow it. A horse once tried to enter on the road near the stone and the horse died on the road). This was my last trip of the semester with my travel buddies, Vanika and Marcela—it was a good one!
The bike trip is definitely worth mentioning. It was this epic journey that, as far as internet and word-of-mouth research shows, no one had ever done before. The plan was to take about 5 weeks and bicycle around Ghana, heading West then North then South near the border of Togo, then take the boat up the Volta River, and bike South back to Accra. Frazer came up with the original idea, then Armando, Margarita, and I completed the team that planned and did this trip. I, however, did only about 15 days of the 35 day trip because of Dad, Candace, and Ashley visiting, as well as the volleyball tournament. It was really great seeing family and showing them Ghana!! I am very happy to have done some of this bike trip and been able to do these other adventures. I also want to say that our friend Andrew kicked butt and after his motorbike tour of the North, traded in his wheels for Frazer’s old bike, Wild Thing, and he joined us for the last few days of the trip.
The group will be writing a blog, so I won’t go into details about the trip—and honestly, there is too much to say so I don’t really want to go into details. I will say though that I was able to see and love Ghana, especially Ghanaians, in a more enriching way. One of my favorite parts of the whole trip was in the mornings. Around 6:30 or 7am, we would be riding and feeling warmed up, cruising on empty roads, and through the hamatan (the hazy, dry season) you could stare at the orange sun resting above the mist and green landscape of the fields or jungle.
The volleyball tournament was also an adventure. We traveled to Kumasi with the guys and the other sports teams to compete with different universities in Ghana and took home second place. We went with the intention and capability of gold. I had to miss playing in the first match that we won! The second match was the determiner for getting gold. It was the hardest team there, and I thought we had it! Sometimes, I guess it’s just not meant to be. Ultimately, I love playing with this team. They have fight and passion and freakin’ awesome women! We would pray every night before the match and then everyday before each match, which something I am not accustomed to. The team also usually speaks Twi, which leaves me staring kindly dumbly sometimes. Every once in a while I know what is going on.
The trip with Dad, Candace, and Ashley was really cool for me to be able to show them where and how I have been living. I think I through a lot at them for their 8 day trip. We spent some time in Accra, went to the beach at Kokrobite. We traveled to Cape Coast and I dragged them to Kumasi for the volleyball tournament. Part of their trip, we looked at the Last Bathe, a place along the slave trade route where the people captured would be bathed for the last time and sold. We then saw the Cape Coast castle where these people were sent across the ocean and it is a really eye opening experience.
I am currently spending my time hanging out with people and figuring out my next semester’s classes. Living life simply and often times lazily, planning out my next few adventures for the following months. Also, I owe Rita a bike ride ;-). She helps her family sell fruit at the Night Market near the hostel. She is a young woman, aged 12?, and has a giggle that spreads joy like fire. One day, I offered her a ride on the back of the bike, she was doing something with pineapples. She took one look at me, then one look at the pineapples and said, “Not today, I’m busy.” The children here astound me because this behavior is normal, expected, and I’ve seen it throughout Ghana.
Mole National Park, view from the restaurant
I’m sending my love! I hope you are well!
