Tamale or Bust via Yutong, Protection Rock, Changing Landscape/Culture and No Police Escort

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Yutong to Tamale, Ghana

Laura and I are off to Tamale then on to Mole National Park to check out some critters.  Once again I am leaving on a Sunday, which means few transportation options.  We end up in a large Yutong without AC for the 5-6 hours to Tamale (20 Cedi).  The Yutong Preacher gets on and does his thing to save us from the evil of the road. I buy a rock from him for 1 Cedi.  I hope this Protection Rock lasts through many rides to come.

 I do know that on the road from Kumasi to Tamale there have been robberies.  In fact they no longer do night buses and, in fact, if yours is running late and still on the road after dark you have to pull off until a police escort is arranged for the bus.  Big time crime is very low in Ghana and I think this police protection thing is to avoid even the chance of an incident.  I have no apprehension about the trip. 

Self Take of Laura and myself on the Yutong

It only took about an hour ½ to see the true changes to the landscape and the culture-scape.  The jungle begins to lose out to the arid savannah like terrain.  Colonial buildings are replaced with mud and thatched huts.  The North of Ghana is mostly Muslin and you can see the change in the cloths wore by the locals reflect this influence.  I am thrilled to be able to cover my face more (for sun protection) without looking out of place.  In fact, we found that women gave us positive looks when they saw us covering our faces with our scarves. 

At the half way-point we pulled into a way station with a couple restaurants, toilets, food vendors and as we where in the North a prayer room.  I noticed a huge professionally made sign with a giant arrow that said ‘Do Not Urinate Here’ (quite to the point).  After Laura came out of the bathroom she was a bit confused as there were people (all men) in this concrete room with mats washing their feet with tea kettles water.  They were washing their feet to enter the prayer room. 

Short break and we were on the road again.  Now the landscape fully embraces the dry savannah terrain covered in beautiful, majestic termite mounds.  The villages are made up of groups of round 3-4 huts with doors pointing to a center area in a circle.  Theses groups of huts are closed in with a thatched fence.  I wonder if these make up the different families within the village.

We arrived in Tamale around 6pm.  The station/market place is hoping especially for a Sunday night.  One of Rashid’s friends met us right off the bus and helped us get to an amazing hotel he had arranged for us.  Very cool to know people I guess. 

The Moon-Light Lodge is about 5 KM heading out of town but that is still very central as Tamale is not that big (even if it is the 3 or 4^th biggest cities in Ghana).  The rooms are large, with en-suite, ac, fan, TV and huge double bed.  We got all this for only 30 Cedi.  

Decided to go to the closest place to eat, which was only five minute by foot.  It is a disco light pizzeria/anything/bar.  Ended up ordering a vegetarian pizza and it was freaking delicious.  My tummy was very happy to be sure.  If you do end up in Tamale one day and are craving pizza, a beer and some serious lighting then go to Tacorammbama Pizza.

Off to Beach Destinations on West Coast, Ghana

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The Beach

Heading to destinations further West toady.  Had to go hit up the ATM before leaving and unfortunately it would only let me take out 400 Cedi, which is about 190 US dollars.  Hate it when I can’t take out the max allowed. 

Going to the Hideout Lodge near the tiny fishing village of Butre.  I get the impression the only reason Butre is even known to tourists is the Hideout Lodge and the nearby town of Busua.  (later on my travels I find that no one I meet has actually heard of Butre).

We took a taxi to the Tro Tro station for points West (end point Takaradi).  Waited about 20 minutes for our tro tro to fill (2.5 cedi).  It took about 1 1/2 hours to get to Takaradi (large town that is an in-between for many destinations…. one of those places you end up in to change buses, tro tros etc).  We jumped off the tro tro a bit before the main station and grabbed a cab (30 cedi total) to Butre, which is about 30 minutes away. A good bit of the drive is a rough, dirt road through the jungle.  The trip was made much easier having Obehi with me as he has done the trip several times before so I didn’t have to go all the way to the main station and what not or ask for direction to the Hideout Lodge which got it’s name for good reason.

Once we turned off the main road and hit the dirt path that leads to Butre I knew why you have to pay a bit extra for the taxi.  Can’t be good on a car and the dust alone would require an inside and out clean out. 

Tro Tro to Butre

We past a couple small settlements along the way.  One thing that I have noticed in these smaller villages is that various aid organizations have come in and build toilet blocks for the community to use.  They are simple mud huts with drop toilet.  Ghana has come along way in the past years especially compared to most of their neighbors but the human waste sanitation is one that is still in the works.  Going to the beach or to a nearby space to take care of business is standard practice here, as most home have no toilet facilities.  The sight of these community toilet blocks has to be improving health here greatly.  The name of the organization that provided the toilets is painted on them. 

I can’t imagine Butre even being found by a traveler.  The town of Busua about 4 km away must be the only reason.  Butre is a very small fishing village with only a couple little makeshift stores that are really just someone’s home.  You can get basic things in these shops like water, snacks, even flip-flops if need be. 

view from Hideout Lodge

As everywhere I have been in Ghana so far goats and skinny dogs roam far and wide here.  Our taxi dropped us down by the rickety old footbridge that leads over a small lagoon to a beautiful, long beach.  Over it we go.  We pass a tiny lodge run by a couple Rastafarian guys with what looks to be three tiny rooms to rent and a wee restaurant.  Obehi says he hangs there often drink coffee or Milo so he can get the phone signal which allows him to use his Internet. 

Less than a half-mile down the beach we come to the Hideout Lodge.  It is a peaceful, palm tree covered space with a lovely ocean breeze.  One of those places you can sit for hours writing or reading a book.  Actually after a day I realized it is the ideal place to sit and stare off into the expanse. 

There are probably 6-8 self-contained huts with private bathroom and fan and several tree house set ups with shared bathroom.  The tree house accommodation looks to be simple rooms with wooden stairs up to the trees house.  Very cool really.

My room is lovely, it is an oblong hut painted a soft orange/pink color.  The fan works perfectly especially with the breeze from the ocean.  I do love falling asleep to the sound of the ocean.  The bungalows have a small deck area too which will be great to chill at when the beach is too much…yeah, that won’t happen. 

The grounds around the Hideout Lodge are full of comfortable chairs and tables for relaxing and the best part is all of them are shaded which thrills me.   I am quite certain I could stay here for a very long time.