Day 66-70
4th - 8th Febuary 2007, Ghana	previous entry next entry

Day Sixty Six 4/2. Bush Camp, road from Tumu to Han, Ghana

10°47.98'N 2°05.63'W. Miles today 156, Total Miles 7101

What a contrast in border posts. No more miserable officials, just a bunch of cheerful locals dressed in jeans and t-shirts watching football. They were all very envious of our car and said it was a good thing that Landrovers are so strong, as we would need it for the road ahead. Great. It was getting dark so we opted to bushcamp for the night, which was not as easy as it sounds. There are a lot of fires here in Ghana, whether they were purposeful or accidental, we weren't sure but it does make finding a camp very hard. In the midst of a fly frenzy and with our head nets on, we tried desperately to keep our spirits up. Made a bbq, which dispersed some of the flies and cooked some yummy steaks we bought in Burkina.

Day Sixty Seven 5/2. Wecchiau Hippo Sanctuary Lodge, Nr Wa, Ghana

9°44.23'N 2°46.22'W. Miles today 109, Total Miles 7210

Awoke to sounds of about fifty cows being herded past us and a young boy staring at us, as though some alien ship had landed on his route. Drove south on a very nasty road towards the town of Wa, as we wanted to see some hippos on the Black Volta River nearby. We stopped at the Ghana Commercial Bank to change some money (they only change travellers cheques, which suited us just fine, as we need to save our cash) For the first time, I really feel like this is Africa. The thermometer is reading 39 Celsius. The bank was tiny and heaving and with the aircon full blast, it was still boiling. We were faced with another dilemma. The largest note here is 20 000 cedis, which is only worth about €1.80. Change anything over €50 and you need a small donkey cart to carry your wad of notes home. We changed just enough for the hippos and went in search of some Coca-Cola. After numerous unsuccessful attempts, we soon realised that we have now entered "No Coke, only Fanta" land. We drove on to the village of Wechiau in the hope of seeing some hippos. The sanctuary is a remote ecotourism project and Joshua who runs the place is great. All the proceeds go to help the locals in the village. There are very basic rooms and bucket showers but we opted to camp by the river, which turned out to be a stupid idea and we were soon invaded a thousand flies and mozzies. Rob took the plunge and cut all his hair off. Bye bye Brad Pitt or Obe one Konobi, (depends on how you look at it). We gave up the insect infestation and returned to camp outside the lodge and arranged with Joshua to take a pirogue up the river early tomorrow morning. Spent the rest of the afternoon entertaining the small children. Rob is so good with them and his juggling act goes down a treat.

Day Sixty Eight 6/2. Mole National Park Hotel Lodge, Nr Larabanga, Ghana

0°15.61'N 1°51.33'W. Miles today 68, Total Miles 7278

Up and dawn and on the Black Volta by seven in, I might add, a very small and particularly wobbly pirogue. We made a pact last night that should one of us get eaten by a hippo, then the other has full permission to carry on. After half and hour or so, we spotted two hippos up ahead. Wow, wow and more wow! Hippos can only hold their breath underwater for a max of five minutes but we couldn't help wondering where they were going to suddenly re-appear. We both nearly crapped ourselves when a ring of bubbles appeared right next the boat. But they were very aware of us and kept their distance. I could have stayed there for hours. We were on the river for 2 hours, although they only charged us for one, as we spent ten minutes checking the fishing nets of our boatman. That's only €2.70 each. I wonder what they charge in the safari lodges in Botswana? With huge smiles on our faces and Rob delighted that his mutant Nikon lens has paid off, we headed back to Wa to take the plunge and change some more money. With our small trailer of cash, we joined the (thankfully) tarred road south to Sawla, where it then deteriorates again. Not too bad, just awful corrugations, which are not great in a landy. You can't even go fast to minimise the bouncing, as there are a number of nasty surprises along the way. Still, we pushed on through and arrived at the Mole National Park, where we heard that the camping was cheap and good and there are loads of elephants. They sure know how to make money here, as they charge you park entrance fee, a fee for each camera and video camera and for accommodation. They asked if we had a dog and of course, I replied, " No, why, are you gonna charge me for that as well." At least he had a sense of humour. We very faced with the bad news that they no longer allow camping. They also had no rooms as the German Ambassador was hosting a very important dinner for some Ghanaian officials, so we had to take a dorm room. They are nice enough but there is always a water problem here and the loos don't flush. Everything is done with a bucket. Still, there is a lovely pool and the view over the watering hole was spectacular, with elephants bathing in the mid afternoon sun. We chilled out by the pool and watched the wildlife. Stunning. There are a number of very naughty monkeys wandering about, which makes self-catering a little difficult, so we had a meal in the painfully slow restaurant. Halfway though the Ambassadors dinner, I noticed that the only guests remaining at his long table of thirty, was the handful of whites. All the Ghanaian officials had migrated to the bar to watch the Ghana-Nigeria football match, which they won 4-1 by the way! On return to our dorm, a busload of backpackers had arrived and they were packing them in like sardines and we had both lost our beds. People were even sleeping in the bathrooms. We decided to put our tent up and see what happens. Fell asleep to the sounds of elephants playing in the water. How awesome is this?

Day Sixty Nine 7/2. Bush camp, Engen fuel station 5km N of Techiman

7°37.07'N 1°55.24'W. Miles today 180, Total Miles 7458

Up at dawn again and we went on a guided walk through the park. Incredibly beautiful and we saw heaps of elephants pretty close up. Imagine opening scenes from the Lion King with the sun rising over the escarpment. Got the idea? Chilled out for the rest of the morning at the pool, watching and photographing more elephants, with Rob doing his national geographic photographer impersonation…tri-pod and all. Good news was that I complained to the manager about the dorm situation (well, come on, me coming from a Hotel Management back ground, it had to be done) and we got our money back. We decided it was time to head south again and so after another 140km or so on that very nasty road, we joined the tar road towards Kumasi in search of a bush camp. Everything suddenly turns very lush and tropical with bananas and pineapples everywhere and it is also extremely populated. This makes bushcamping virtually impossible. We spotted a sign for some waterfalls and stopped for a look. Wow, what a find! Kentampo waterfalls and in particular, Albert, who takes you there are amazing. The rocks are pretty slippery but he helps you over them and you can have a shower. He was so informative and loved playing with Rob's camera. We printed out a picture for him, which he was naturally over the moon about. Unfortunately, you can't camp there so the search continued. We ended up at the Engen fuel station in the dark. They were delighted and honoured to let us stay the night and spent ages questioning Rob about the car and watched in awe as we put the tent up. The security guard really made us laugh with a classic comment, " You know, you white people, I like you! Can I have your email address"

Day Seventy 8/2. Presbytarian Guest House, Kumasi, Ghana

6°41.28'N 1°37.26'W. Miles today 178, Total Miles 7636

Up early and as requested handed out our email address to all the staff of this fuel station. Back on the road of hell….well, it is so good in some places and so, so bad in others. The police stopped us for a chat and wished us a safe journey with a departing comment of " Well, my friends, safe travels and well, the road, yes, um…its not so good." We arrived in Kumasi in the midst of market chaos around 10am and thanks to the GPS, eventually found the recommended Presbyterian Guest House. They do allow camping but he encouraged us to take a room (only €1.80 more) which was a fab idea, as we could use the electricity for our laptop, so I can write this now very overdue update. Also, it absolutely poured with rain, though still not enough to clean poor Dino. Ghana is great. It really makes a difference that everyone speaks English, as we can talk to the locals so much more. We will stay here in Kumasi for a day or so to catch up on internet stuff and then head off towards the sea in search of white sands, palm trees and turtles.

Day 66-70

4th - 8th Febuary 2007, Ghana