See Ya Mole, Water Shortage, and Heading West

The only bus out of Mole National Park leaves at 4am.  Not thrilled about it but it is what it is.  Five of us walked in the dark to the pick up spot with sleep still in our eyes.  So the story is that the bus leaves at 4am if the driver wakes up at 4am.  We did get lucky and he woke up by 4:15 and we were off. 

It was dark out, raining and cool.  Actually managed to get a wee bit of sleep.  The ride back to town was uneventful and we were lucky to be the first stop.  The bus to Tamale was full and standing room only by the second stop. 

Chill day in Tamale.  We were back in town about 10am; I bought my ticket back to Kumasi for the next day and headed back to our hotel.  It was a catch up on writing and photos kind of day for me.  Sorry no baboon attacks or crazy Swedes to mention.

Did dinner at a chop bar a block from the hotel and our ‘hotel cat’ was there waiting for us.  Met a Ghanaian woman who had been living in DC suburbs for past 11 years.  She was there to introduce her children to the rest of the family.  It was apparent that her 7 and 10 year old were American (well at least Westerners).  They were freaked by the fact they had to jump over a drain ditch to get to the chop bar and they were sick of chicken and rice.  The woman on the other hand was desperate to move back to Ghana after her two-week visit.  She shad that for the past nine years she has been on high blood pressure medicine and within 10 days in Ghana she was off it.  Us Westerners tend to think those in the third world and developing world want to move our way…. not true.

Chicken and Rice at that joint were only 3Cedi and wicked good.

NEXT DAY

Got up early to get my 7 am bus to Kumasi.  STC buses are always nice; ac, big seats and safe.  We did have a blow out but the bus made it to a rest area so everyone could eat and pee while it was getting fixed. 

Got to Kumasi only an hour late and checked back in to Treasureland for one more night before heading back to The Coast. 

The ride back was on a STC again so very comfortable and uneventful.  I check back into The Prospect to find out that the whole of Cape Coast was out of water and had been for days.  No rain so the river was empty and there is no back up plane for things like that in Ghana.  Turns out that the edges of Cape Coast had been out of water for weeks and it had finally hit the city center.

Daily water supply

Thankfully The Prospect brings a bucket and a huge container of water each day, which is enough to bath and flush the toilet once maybe twice a day.  Someone on the staff has to gather all these huge containers and go somewhere for hours each day to get us water.  I have no clue how far or how much they pay to get the water but they are gone a good half day.

I was back in room 116 with the bed bugs again and yes, I was eaten alive again.   This time I spoke up and they sprayed my room and Obehi’s room as they were next door to each other.  I spent the next couple days in comfort without a single bed bug bite…. Nice.

So, Obehi and I took bets on when the last time people had showered.  We based this not only on odor but on the level of scratching people were doing.  Oh, what becomes entertainment when the water drys up in Ghana. 

I am heading further west tomorrow…Far West.