The Great Dry North

Dusty roads, peaceful landscapes, strong dry winds and warm hearts. Nothing can describe the northern parts of Ghana more than these words. I suppose I could add that in my experience the north was also highlighted by hundreds of watermelons, dirty feet, broke down buses and close encounters with God’s creatures. On the 6^th of January, my colleague, Jody and I took a bus to Tamale, the capital of the northern region. One week later we arrived back in Accra exhausted, dirty, lathered in shea butter but ultimately happy. Apart from my dry skin and sore bottom from many uncomfortable bus rides, the north was good to us. We had an ambitious itinerary and by the grace of God were able to see everything we wanted to and more. Our adventure went as follows:

On Monday, we set out for Mole National Park. Our bus was supposed to leave at noon and so we arrived at the station at 11:30 am. Little did we know that the bus was completely unreliable and we didn’t end up leaving Tamale until 4:30 pm! The bus was packed with goods, mothers with babies on their backs, chickens and God only knows what else. So what should happen to us when we’re driving at full speed down the dirt road towards Larabanga? Yes, the driver hits a bump and we break the axle on the front wheel! Now we are stuck on a dirt road in the middle of Nowhere, Ghana. Everyone piles off the bus and we begin the long wait and hope for another bus to come save us. We happened to be traveling with two other Canadians that we met on the bus to Tamale the night before. We passed the time making peanut butter sandwiches and reading chapters from Things Fall Apart (a classic West African novel and an appropriate title under the circumstances). Some two hours later a second bus comes, after thinking that we would be spending the night there. We get to Larabanga and then take the village’s only taxi into the park. Of course, this couldn’t be a smooth ride either, the driver has to drive over a rock and pop a hole in his gas tank. When we arrived we tried to help him siphon what little gas he had left and then he took a bar of soap and shoved it up the hole. We arrived 12 hours after our journey at the station began and we were exhausted.

Tuesday morning we woke up for the 7:30 am safari walk and the rough trip into the park was definitely worth it once we began our early morning stroll. About five minutes in we had already seen our first of many elephants. The park was beautiful and mostly because it was extremely peaceful and being able to watch elephants bathe gracefully in the watering holes while others gathered around to drink was Creation at its best. The afternoon wasn’t entirely peaceful however, because our lookout was invaded by a group of olive baboons, one of which tried to slap me in the face. We spent the rest of the day relaxing in the peace and paid a short visit to one of the first mosques in Ghana in Larabanga, dated to 1421. Our trip to the village also brought us natural shea butter which our thirsty skin gladly accepted. We left Mole the next morning on a very early and uncomfortable 4 am bus. We spent most of Wednesday on the road, as we continued on to Bolgatanga after arriving back in Tamale.

On Thursday, we traveled even further north to Paga, along the Burkina Faso border where we experienced our own Crocodile Hunter adventure. If you can believe it, yours truly, straddled a crocodile and was petting its back! The crocodiles in Paga are said to be spiritual and can hear human voices. They even venture into people’s homes and are said to bring blessings. We also visited a slave camp on the outskirts of Paga, named Pikworo, that served as a stop for slaves coming from northern Ghana and Burkina Faso before heading to the slave market in Salaga. The rocky outcrop left eerie signs of habitation from slaves and their raiders. There were impressions made in the rocks where slaves were forced to carve out bowls to eat. There was even a rock that the slaves would play like a drum with smaller stones and we were able to listen to some men playing the natural instrument while singing songs from the days of the slave trade. Before leaving Paga, we drove to the Burkina Faso border to give Ghana’s neighbour a wave and then we headed back to Tamale.

Friday and Saturday were spent in less of a tourist fashion but ultimately rewarding and also confusing experience. I will share what we did on those days at a later date as I think they will need and deserve their own blog entry. For now you can enjoy the pictures and know that I am back safely in Accra from my northern Ghana experience.

Photos: Jody and the broke down bus; elephant!; standing in elephant tracks; getting friendly with a croc at Paga; bowls carved in rocks used by slaves at Pikworo