Wanting to see the north of Ghana, and especially wanting to visit Mole National Park, had been a priority of mine before I arrived in the country. So when a hired car and driver was coordinated by another volunteer, we soon realized that six of us desired the five spots in the vehicle. Not wanting to take someone’s spot, but still hoping to go, I suggested to my roommate in Cape Coast, Jen, that we follow along via public transportation, being “only a couple hours behind” the others.
We left on a 9:30 bus from the STC bus station in Cape Coast, and surprisingly it was running only 15 minutes late. The bus ride to Tamale took about 12 hours, and we arrived at the Catholic Guesthouse about four hours after the others. Jen was surprised by my excitement with our living quarters. After having spent the last weekend in tents, I was overjoyed to have a bathroom with soap and toilet paper and a TV – with two channels - in the room!
The receptionist had told us to get to the Metro Mass station at 7am the next day in order to buy tickets for the bus to the Mole National Park. But when we got there at 6am, we were told that all tickets had been sold out within a half hour of opening. Only slightly deterred by the setback, we eventually found a taxi driver who offered to drive us the 4-6 hours to the park for $100 cedi, or roughly $60 dollars.
Our hired car was unique, to say the least. I was shocked that we made it to Mole in one piece, without any breakdowns. Luckily, I was able to sleep for about half an hour at the beginning of the trip with a makeshift headrest I had fastened out of my traveler’s pillow. When we asked our interpreter, the co-pilot who translated for our driver, how long it would take to get to Mole he said, “An hour – until the junction. Then the road is bad.” Words cannot describe the drive that ensued along the unpaved, hole-ridden dirt road to Mole. I can roughly assimilate it to riding in an old, wooden rollercoaster – except instead of a 5 minute ride, it was 5 hours.
We got to the Mole Motel, sneakily darted into the room after Christina had told reception that there were 3 in the room instead of 5, and immediately hopped into the pool. Without a doubt, I have never enjoyed a dip in a pool more than I did last weekend! And the view from the hotel is superb. The bar, restaurant, and pool at Mole overlook the game park. It wasn’t long until we saw warthogs walking by and baboons attempting to steal someone’s evening snack.
That night, after a filling dinner, Christina, Bethany, Jane, Jen, and I overlooked the game park as we shared a bottle of wine. It was a perfect ending to a tiring day.
The next morning, we woke up early for our foot safari. Although we were excited to see more warthogs and baboons as we headed into the game park, I think we were all patiently awaiting the elephants. However, we did not want to jinx ourselves: We had heard that some have not seen elephants when they went to Mole. Of course, the whole time I was dearly hoping that the 17 hours we had already spent in transit would not be in vain!
Nearing the end of our two-hour hike through dense brush and grass, I was starting to feel a bit disappointed. Having seen gazelles, warthogs, and multiple types of monkeys, I was dejected at the thought of failing at our primary mission – seeing elephants! But soon, I looked up to see a huge grin stretch across Jen’s face. Not far from us was a beautiful, huge African elephant bull.
Undoubtedly, our group became snap-happy with our cameras. Getting a bit lost in the moment, a few of us must have gotten too close for comfort for our new four-legged friend. After seeing the bull make a few threatening steps in our direction, our armed ranger had to tell us “Back up, he’s coming! Elephants are the 2nd fastest animals.”
After more photos, we made our ways around the watering hole, where we saw more bulls roaming about. After a short hike up a nearby hill, I looked over the game park from the top; and the view was simply breathtaking.
We happily returned back to the hotel, and we enjoyed one last swim and hearty meal before Jen and I headed back to Tamale. Luckily, our driver from the night before was waiting for us, and both he and our interpreter were overjoyed to see an elephant on the road as we were driving out. Seems like by the end of the trip, it was impossible not to see them!
The road was worse this time – compounding the bumpiness was the fact that it had not rained the night before, causing an inch of dust to cover everything in the cab, ourselves included. And aside from a less-than-comfortable visit to the mosque in Larabanga on the way out (built in 1421, it’s the oldest in Ghana and one of the oldest in West Africa) and a couple of stops to check that the engine wasn’t overheating, Jen and I arrived safely back to the guesthouse.
We went on a short walk around Tamale, and we each took a long-awaited shower before going down the street for dinner. Relaxing over Cokes and a fantastic meal (I had a falafel hummus wrap, yam chips, and spring rolls) was the perfect way to prepare for the next day of travel. In short, Monday was characterized by a pattern of 3 hours driving and then a 15 minute rest break and use of somewhat-frightening “urinals.” This continued for 15 hours until we arrived in Accra, where we were able to catch a fastcar to Elmina. By the time we walked into the volunteer house at about 12:30am, we were both ready to collapse!
But all in all, I had a fantastic, unforgettable weekend; and I’m so blessed to have these opportunities!
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