I’ve been back home in Takoradi for a fortnight since my travels, but have been so busy at school, and the visit of Jenny, Emily, Euan and Mike, that I haven’t had really had chance to write up my journey north to Mole. Anyway, here it is finally! There are a load of photos in my photo album from Mole & Lake Bosumpti. My descriptions in words are insufficient to convey the beauty and expansiveness of these places, so do take a look!

THE LONG JOURNEY NORTH

As I have already said, tourism is still relatively low-key in Ghana, but Mole National Park is undoubtedly one of the ‘must see’ places, highly recommended by most travelers I’ve met here. I put aside a week for this trip, as it is in the Northern Region of Ghana, near the northern border, and so my journey there took over 2 days, with overnight stops in Kumasi and Tamale. The journey was in some respects as rewarding as arriving at my destination, as I watched the lush, humid, green, tropical rainforested south quickly turn into the flat, dry, dusty savannah of the north. The Northern Region is one of the poorest and least developed in Ghana, and in many ways, shares more similarities with other countries of Western Africa (Mali, Burkina Faso, etc) than Ghana, in both in landscape and culture (the north is fervently Muslim, compared to the deeply Christian south). Indeed, in the north, many people still live in traditional round mud houses in rural villages, which felt a little jarring, as I whizzed past in the comfort of a luxury air conditioned coach.

THE (BUMPY) ROAD TO MOLE

The bus to Mole, however, was not quite so pleasant. Having got up at 5.30am to ensure a seat on the bus, and then narrowly escaping a riot in Tamale town centre (which was scary at the time, although I was never in any danger), the dilapidated veichle eventually arrived 3 hours late at 5pm. Then, there seemed to be a world record attempt to see how many people they could squash into a bus (I think they won). As is often the case in Ghana, the concept of personal space was pretty much absent. Then, after a four hour drive down a bumpy mud track, we eventually arrived at Mole. I now knew exactly what people had meant when they said you have to be committed to get there!

TWO DAYS AT MOLE

The next morning, I woke to find a friendly warthog snorting around outside my dormitory room, a highly amusing start to the day. Looking up, I saw the huge expanse of sky and savannah that surrounded me, and then the two waterholes where I could clearly see dozens of elephants taking their morning bath. Just for that moment alone, I knew the travel had been well worth it.

Over the two full days (and three nights) I stayed at Mole, I took four walking safaris with the park rangers (costing less than a pound each), which took place just after sunrise, or just before sunset. The light at this time was magical, and it also avoided walking in the midday sun, which was unbearably hot. Each day I saw, at close range, elephant, warthog, antelope, baboon, crocodiles and many beautiful birds, all peacefully co-existing, living in their natural setting. I felt that being on foot is a great way to explore such a place, as it’s completely quiet and serene, with no sound or evidence of human activity and intervention. It was hard not to feel humbled by the whole experience. We then returned to the hotel, to people, to noise, to television, to concrete and plastic; but thankfully, also returning to a nice cold beer to accompany the sunset, a truly unforgettable sight. As happens here, day turned to night in less than an hour. Then, on cue, the stars came out. It had been a good day.

LAKE BOSUMPTI

On my journey back south, I stopped over for a night at Lake Bosumpti, just outside of Kumasi. If I’d not been meeting friends at the airport the following day, I think would have stayed for much longer! Formed by a huge meteor impact thousands of years ago (eek!), the lake is surrounded by pretty little mountains, and my immediate impression was that of Lake Garda (without the snow) – a truly beautiful spot!

That night we had a campfire on the lakeside, with the three other guests at our Bob Marley-themed lodge. To my delight, they handed me an acoustic guitar, to play with an old guy with a djembe, simply called ‘Rasta’. We started off by singing all the Bob Marley songs I could remember (Marley is hugely popular in Ghana), which is actually quite a lot, with me cheating by recycling the same 3 chords for each song. We then had some very funky reggae versions of Beatles and Oasis songs, followed by my complete Marley back-catalogue all over again. Rasta was very happy indeed. In between each song, he would cheer and grin, a say ‘Mr guitar man….. I like you!! Now strike for me!’ and so we would start another song. With the fire, the music, the stars, the beer and the fellowship of that evening, it felt just like my summer nights on St. Agnes. All I needed was Kate by my side and it really would have been perfect.

AND SO….

Another week of travels and exploring had come to an end. Without doubt, this had been the most exhausting and challenging trip so far, with over 40 hours on the road in less than a week. It has to be said that traveling from A to B is invariably tiring in Ghana, with the delays, the (albeit mild) hassle you get waiting around at bus stations, the often cramped conditions, and the roads. But, in many ways it was also the most rewarding trip- experiencing some incredible and unforgettable places, observing African wildlife on foot, meeting some really interesting and colourful people, and finding places of real peace and serenity. And of course, waking up with a warthog outside your bedroom, and jamming with a Rasta called Rasta.

Thus confirming my belief that life is both beautiful and absurd in equal measure.