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Getting to Tamale
I have had an awful morning this morning and nearly went straight back home to our host family to sulk, but I decided to distract myself here!! (Briefly, I took my phone out of my pocket as the children were trying to take it out of my pocket, but when I went to get it from the table the phone had gone. I have now discovered that the orphanage is a bit notorious for a lot of theft!! Kamal , our host has been brilliant, he came straight away, helped to search (its on silent) and then interviewed everyone. On the way out we saw the House Mother who is in charge of all of the houses on the site and she adviced Kamal to send some police friends to scare them! - I know I was stupid, but I was trying to keep it close to me... I can already hear Glenn telling me off!!)
Anyway onto something more positive! I want to try and catch up!
We set off on our 12 hour bus ride on Wednesday afternoon. We arrived at the bus station for 2pm, but funny old thing the bus wasn't there and even when it got there it seemed to take ages to sort everything out. We had to weigh our bags (the maximum must have been very high, as we had over 30kg each), then put our bags in a queue, then keep moving queues. It was all very confusing and we just let Eric & Rose deal with it all. Eventually we set off at 3:30pm. The bus was quite impressive for Ghana, it was clean and looked quite new. It was a bit of a squeeze though and it was one of the most uncomfortable 12 hours I have ever had. We had a couple of toilet stops which are always interesting in small villages. In the first we paid for some loo roll and used a normal toilet, but in the second stop we paid to use a women's urinal... very interesting (Strange interesting, not good!) By the second loo stop my feet had swollen up and I no longer had any ankles, so we have decided to catch a plane back to Accra when we come home.
We were relieved when we finally got to the bus station at 3:30am in Tamale. We couldn't believe how much noise there still was; there were vans with music blaring and people shouting continuously to see if we wanted a taxi. There are more taxis here than in central London! We waited for 1/2 an hour for Kamal (Our new co-ordinator) to pick us up in a taxi. He dropped us off with our host family, and we went straight to our room and was shown the bathroom. There are two double beds, two chairs and a lockable cupboard which is great. There is also a shower and a flushing loo (after talking to some other volunteers today, we are very lucky!)
We went to sleep almost instantly, once we had blocked out the sound of chanting Muslims!
- comments
Leila Blimey mate. Sounds like a bit of an adventure! Have you located your phone yet? Glad to hear you have shower and toilet. It dhould make everything else a bit easier :-) James got his first love letter from Niamh a few days after arriving home. He blushed like you wouldn't believe and was a giggling mess! I was shocked! Bless him. Abigail survived her Pony Camp and even managed to remember to wash her hair (despite not washing anything else all week)........ They are now at my mums and I am working this week. Take care and I'll message again soon. Love you. xxx
terri read wow dawn!!! what an eventful day!! well at least at the end of the day you've got a nice bed and hot water! i'll have a glass of wine for you lol :-) by the sounds of things we're not going to recognise you when you get home!! can't believe its been a week already!!! its been sooooooo quiet!! lol the boys are missing you but we are taking them to the allotment on wednesday with your mum and dad so we can do some weeding, well me and your mum will de-weed and the boys and your dad will prob supervise!! lol well enjoy yourselves, say hi to jenna for us, take care and speak soo, love youXX
Glenn I ain’t saying a word and I certainly wouldn’t say I told you so! It all sound like so much fun; all that luxury travel and mod cons, how I wish I was there. Well at least you will have a lot more holiday stuff to talk about than me. Not sure that people would want to read a blog about how I bodged up the rotten bathroom window in four days. Anyway, keep yourself safe and please be aware that I will accept a couple of goats as they would be jolly useful on the allotment. Glenn XXXX
Bill Read Sorry to hear about your phone, glad your accomodation is reasonable. Took the boys to Melsop farm, Watton today, they were ever so good, and as Terri mentioned we are going to the allotment Wednesday. Get over the phone problem and enjoy your holiiday. Hope the stew and crumble go down well. looking forward to your next blog. All our love to you and Jenna. Mum and Dad XX
Sarah McQuoid Hello you gorgeous jet setter! All sounds v interesting in Ghana though have to say I can't decide whether i am envious or not.... just spent three nights on a boat on the Norfolk Broads and thats about as down and dirty as I'd like to get i think! I know its annoying re your phone and not advocating stealing (obv!) but i'm pretty sure whoever stole it needs to make some cash more than you need to make a phone call...!?? Maybe you can negotiate a phone as part of the Read for goats/camels scheme, send the livestock home to glenn and keep the phone for yourself. Can't wait to hear about the volunteering experience. Big international kiss, Sx btw - have got the wine drinking covered... it is august afterall. x