July 2 Final day in Ghana

Not a lot to report today.  I had breakfast about 8:15 or so.  We had agreed to go to the market at 10:00 this morning, so I took my time and have mostly packed and finished by Jeffrey Archer book.  It was very good, but, of course, he left things up in the air for his next book.

About 10:40 or so we headed to the market.  Quite crowded.  Sue, in particular, wanted to do some shopping.  She got some cloth, carvings, baskets, a drum, I think that was all.  We were all over the market area, at least it feels that way.  Quite sunny today, so it made it hot.  Several of our days have been at least partly overcast, but not today.  I had a hard time keeping my glasses on my face.

We caught a taxi back and got back about 2:00 pm.  I think a shower would serve me well in preparation for the flight.  Our flight is at 10:10 pm and we are supposed to leave for the airport at 6:30 pm.

I checked in online and found out that Delta is looking for volunteers to take another flight. I ignored that information.  I am ready to leave.  It has been a great experience, but I have had enough for this time.

July 1 Kumosi to Accra

I have added a couple of photos that I took on the KNUST campus in Kumosi and other places on Sunday, July 1.

My room on the KNUST campus in Kumosi.  It was very nice and everything worked except the Internet!

My little balcony at KNUST, a very pleasant place to read.

An example of housing on KNUST campus, probably for junior faculty.  Senior faculty had individual (detached)  homes with their names out front.

Flowers are not very common, at least not where I have been and at this time of year.  I did find these on side of the road on the KNUST campus.

A little bit of an idea what the market looked like in Kumosi.  We are just coming down a street approaching the market.  It fills a very large open area that you kind of weave your way through.  Since it was Sunday morning it was not very busy.

If you look closely you will see this awning says "Fargo Fashion Shoes."  jJust took a quick shot from the taxi while in Kumosi (I think).

July 1 Back in Accra

A short blog tonight, another day of riding.  We left the hotel about 9:20 or so.  Chuks had secured a taxi that was a station wagon.  Our luggage has expanded a bit.  I still just had my computer case and backpack, but Chuks had acquired a painting and an extra bag of various items.  The Torgusons Jeff and Sue) had acquired at least two paintings plus a few other items.  It was a fairly short ride to the bus station about 30 minutes or so.  There is bus service between Kumasi (I think I have been spelling in wrong) and Accra in large Greyhound buses, as Chuks as said.  The depot was chaos, as normal.  As soon as the taxi gets close, men swarm around it.  Chuks had actually purchased the tickets through the passenger window before we came to a stop.  Large buses are trying to back into narrow slots, others are leaving and taxis are looking for any space available to let out their passengers.  And there are lots of people standing around, passengers with luggage, employees, and others.  The way the system works is as soon as a bus is filled up it leaves.  Our tickets indicated our seat numbers, we were 28-31, the four seats across the back.  So as soon as our luggage was tagged, paid for and loaded we boarded.  We had to pay extra for the luggage, a person just looks at the pile and gives you an amount.  Shortly after we boarded we started to leave, but it took another 5-10 minutes to get the cars out of the way so we could actually pull out.  By the way these were the most spacious seats I have had on any vehicle, arm rest on both sides, headrest, seatbelt, nice cushion, reclining, and I could barely reach the seat in front of me with my feet out straight.

The trip to Accra was about 5 hours.  We made one stop at a rest stop, I suspect owned by the bus company.  For a small fee you could use the bathroom and there was various types of food available.  I passed on the food.  The stop was only about 10 minutes.  At Accra we collected our luggage and after a bit of negotiation with several different young men we got a station wagon taxi to take us back to our original guest house in Accra.  I am not feeling to adventuresome tonight.  I guess I will take a shower and read.  It has been great having access to the Internet again.  I am so glad that Phil and Melissa are back in DC.  I have had several chats with Marcia.  I suspect Melanie is with clients, since I have not heard from her.

I should mention the roads quickly.  After we were outside of Kumasi we were on a four lane divided highway (with speed bumps, of course, but the bus rode better than our car to Mole).  Sometimes it became a two lane highway then back to four.  A short distance after the rest stop it became a dirt road, similar to the road to Mole.  No slick spots, but plenty rough.  Again, we were sometimes driving on the left and sometimes on the right.  Of course with the bus, we seemed to have fewer cars cutting us off. They are still building the road, that is why the middle portion is dirt.  In a couple of places we drove down and around a bridge that was partially constructed.  But the road doesn't go over it yet, it goes around it.

Time for a shower!

Some photos of the safari in Mole National Park

A view of part of the Mole National Park compound.  Through the gate are overnight accommodations (not mine).

This block is where I slept.  Each opening is a room with three beds and a bathroom.  I realized I never took a photo inside, but there was not a lot of time.  

The only source of running water is if they keep these tanks full.  They didn't.  There are tanks associated with every building and they fill them once or twice a day.  When you run out in your bathroom, you use a bucket of water to dump over your head or to flush the toilet, your choice!

Our vehicle for the safari.  Eight people could ride on top. Great views

Another Range Rover ahead of us in search of animals.  The road was washed in places and filled in with rocks.  Made the Range Rover rock from side to side at times.

I actually saw this guy on the compound before the safari started, as you can tell from the power lines and towers.  He was about 500 feet from my room.  The guide told us he is about 60 years old and the reason he has a shorter tusk is that they break off as they get older.

As you can see my 300 mm camera lens worked great!

Later on the safari we saw these two at a water hole.  The one closest is older, closer to 70 and has lost both tusks.  We were told we would only see males.  The females and young are deep in the park.

A wart hog in the compound.  They were plentiful

This monkey was right out back of my room.  I suspect it is a mother and baby.  This was as close as she let me get.

Lots of antelope of various types

The guide called this a kingfisher

These are also plentiful, and not just at Mole.  I have seen variations in every place we have been.

June 30, Kumosi, Part II

It was lightly misting for a few minutes, but nothing serious.  I walked down the road a little ways and took a few pictures. I walked by some of the housing for the junior faculty, at least that is what Chuks later told me they were.  As seems to be the case with most universities in Ghana, the faculty and staff live on campus.  We did see some of the faculty have signs in front of their places indicating who lives there.  There is also a large impressive building that Chuks says is only available to senior faculty as a type of lounge or perhaps club.

About 11:00 am the four of us headed out.  Jeff is feeling much better.  Sue thought she was getting a touch of the stomach thing so took a pill this morning.  We walked a little ways and then caught a cab.  Our destination was a museum adjacent to the palace of the King of the Asantis, the major tribe of much of Ghana and beyond.  We watch a short video that was well done about the history of the Asanti kings then toured the museum.  No pictures allowed.  The museum used to be the palace but now the king lives next door.  Naturally there was gift shop but nothing of particular interest.  

Next we walked to  the major market of the city. I have been trying to think of a way to describe what the markets are like.  The closest I have come up with so far is to think about the State Fair except it is not as well organized, there are people driving everywhere in addition to thousands on foot and it doesn't end after 10 days.  There also seems to be limited garbage cleanup.  We were lucky it was Sunday because the market was not as full of people as during the week.Our major goal was an artist colony called the Cultural Center.  We just had to get through the market to get there.  Chuks estimated it to be a 10 to 15 minute walk so it took us about 30 minutes.  

The Cultural Center was much less crowded.  Most of the buildings were closed.  Chuks found an artist he knows and his shop was open.  He is a painter.  Sue's was interested in buying some of his paintings.  We arrived at the  shop about 12:30.  I looked around for a few minutes at the paintings and the carvings next door, then had a seat.  Jeff was sitting on the sidewalk already.  Chuks had wandered off a bit and was sitting in the shade.  Jeff and I talked for a bit, then Sue called to him so I joined Chuks.  Fortunately, I had brought my new Jeffrey Archer book so I started to read.  It had been very warm and muggy when we were walking so the shade felt good.  About 2:30 a young man came by to survey me.  I am afraid I wasn't a very good subject.  The survey was about music, especially Ghana music.  I told him I had not listened to enough to form an opinion.  I was able to ask four or five of his questions, but I don't buy much music and really only listen to Western music on the radio.  By this time Chuks had joined Sue and Jeff and bought a painting so I ended the survey and joined them.  Sue had bought a couple of paintings I believe and was haggling about a couple of rugs from the shop that I thought was carvings.  Anyway she didn't buy the rugs and we were off.

We caught a taxi back to the guest house without incident, just the normal weaving from lane to lane and cutting off other cars and in turn being cut off by others and avoiding motorcycles and pedestrians.  I think traffic is worse here in Kumosi then in the parts of Accra or Cape Coast that we have seen.  We often sit stalled in traffic for several minutes.  Meanwhile, sellers walk by the cars selling anything portable.  It is not uncommon for several cars or large trucks (lorries) to be simply stopped in the right driving lane.  They may have broken down, have a flat tire or who knows.  You just suddenly lose a lane of the  road.  Occasionally the stalled vehicle will be in the middle of the road or even in an intersection.  Sometimes there are people working on or under it, sometimes no one appears to be around who has anything to do with the vehicle.  Sue, Jeff and I had a late lunch/dinner and sat around until about 5:30.  Just after we walked out of the restaurant we met Chuks.  He was just coming in to eat.  I have no idea what he had been doing, perhaps resting in his room.

Every time I walk through the guest house lobby I ask if the Internet is likely to come back up.  Last night I was told maybe this morning.  This morning I was told maybe this afternoon.  Later I was told it comes up and down.  Tonight I was told it might be up in the morning.  You get the picture.

After we ate I came back to my room and sat on my little balcony and read.  It was quite relaxing.  I came in when it got too dark to read and turned on the air conditioning.  Everything works well at this guest house except the Internet.  The plan for tomorrow is to have breakfast and be packed ready to leave at 9:00 am.  Chuks says it is a 5 hour drive back to Accra.  Of course with traffic we can easily add an hour or two to that.  I believe we are taking a taxi to some type of bus station (I use that term loosely) and take a bus back to Accra.  Chuks describes the bus as a like a Greyhound.  He has already told Jeff and Sue that they will have to pay extra for their luggage.

Today was a lower key day, which I was OK with. Chuks has mentioned that he has only been able to make contact with one person from the university about the project.  I am unclear if he has had contact with her in the past several months or since we have been here.  He said she might call him after she went to church, but I correctly predicted that there would be no contact with the KNUST university faculty for us.  I just don't think they are interested.

One other quick thought that I have not commented on.  Religion  is very prevalent here.  Accra was almost entirely Christian with most of the religions being Protestant.  I have seen Baptist, Methodist, Episcopal, Seven Day Advent and Mormon Churches.  Religious signs and mottos are everywhere, billboards, written on buildings, taxis, private cars, road signs, any flat surface.  I saw Dr. Jesus Fast Food, Sis Mary Food among others.  Cape Coast was largely Christian but a few muslims.  The women have there hair covered but not a lot of burkkas (spelling?).  As we traveled north, the Muslims increased and the Christians decreased.  Kumasi seems to be a real mix.  One section of town will be Christian and another will be Muslim.  It does not seem to be as strict Muslim as in the Middle East, judging from the clothing.  The Somalis in St. Cloud dress more traditionally than the Muslims appear to do here.  

Second quick note, domesticated animals.  Chickens and goats are everywhere.  I have yet to see a place with people that did not have chickens and goats running around freely.  Talk about free range chicken! The only time I have seen chickens in any type of containment is in cages for sale on side of the road/street in the cities.   I have seen cats once or twice and a few dogs, sometimes in the villages and sometimes in the cities.  We have seen a few herds of cattle especially on the trip to Mole and back.  The only time we have seen pigs is in areas that looked to be heavily Muslim, which I do not understand.

Third quick note, villages.  On the road to and from Mole we passed innumerable villages.  Towards the south they are usually made out of concrete blocks sometimes with corrugated steel roofs and sometimes thatched. Further north they were more likely made out of mud with thatched roofs, sometimes round and sometimes square.  In the south, people on side of the roads and in the roads are carrying things to sell on top of their heads, fresh fruit, baked goods, bread, toilet paper, water to sell, etc.  In the north people are carrying things they need on top of their heads, firewood, food, water, laundry, etc.

June 30 Kumosi, Part I

I just went down to breakfast.  No sign of Chuks, Jeff or Sue.  The standard breakfast here is an omelet, toast with jam and butter and coffee.  Most places also have some type of sausage and beans.  The sausage in some places was a hot dog.  The beans are typically served at room temperature.  This place actually had a breakfast menu so I a fried egg for variation.  I have eaten more eggs in the past week than in the past year.  We are supposed to meet up at 10:30 this morning.  Chuks is taking us to tour somewhere.  He has had a hard time making contact with any faculty at this university to work with.  Since this is Sunday and we are leaving tomorrow morning, I doubt that we see anyone from the university.  

Chuks is not traveling back with us, he is staying here and then to Nigeria.  I don't know if I mentioned but he is actually Nigerian, not Ghanian.  He has led several short term study abroad programs here to Ghana.  He typically comes in May right after the semester is out and stays for 3 weeks.  He follows the same basic path that we have taken, but he told us he does not take the students from Cape Coast to Mole in one day.  He stops in Kumasi at least overnight.  So the students do not get the 13 1/2 one day journey.  He will spend some time in Nigeria and return to Ghana.  He plans to come back to the university in Komasi to see if he can make contact with any faculty about the project.

It is about 9:00 am.  I guess I will go for a walk around the area.

June 29 Safari and trip to Kumosi

The safari started at 7:00 am so we were told to gather at the guides station about 6:50 am.  We decided that since we wanted to make sure we were able to go we should be there at 6:30 am.  I  got up at 5:30 and discovered that the generator had been  turned off, so no electricity at all. Also, the  water was no longer trickling, it was completely gone.  I washed up with some  of the bottled water I had, dressed in whatever was on top of my backpack and went outside to look around.  It was beginning to get light so I  could see where I was for the first time.  I wandered around the camp for a few minutes and saw some warthogs wandering through.  I got a couple of shots.  Then I saw a monkey and  baby from  a distance, so got a poor shot of them.  I couldn't get too close.  A few others were up and around and then I heard someone say there was an elephant in the compound so I was able to photograph it from about 200 feet or less.  My new lens worked great.

Around 6:30 Chuks showed up and  a few minutes later I knocked on Jeff and Sue's door.  They said they were up.  More and more people were gathering by the guide station so I went back over.  There were two types of safari, walking and Jeep.  Chuks always does the walking safari, but I decided that my image of a safari was in a Jeep, actually a Land Rover.  They build seats on top of the 4 Land Rovers and there was room for 8 up there.  We were to arrange ourselves in groups of 8 because the group as a whole paid the  cost of the vehicle.  

Jeff and Sue came over a couple of minutes before 7:00 am and missed most of the orientation.  Jeff was not feeling well.  His knees bother him and the walk  to the rope bridges, up a very steep climb and steps took its tole on him.  In addition, he had been up several times in the night with stomach issues.  Anyway, there was a group of 6 that Sue and I joined on top and Jeff rode inside.  He didn't feel like climbing up.

We headed off and within 500 feet we encountered the elephant I had seen earlier.  We all climbed down off the Land Rover and got within 50 yards of less of the  elephant.  I got a few pictures.  We found out later that sometimes the safaris do not see any elephants.  We met up with Chuks on  the walking tour, his group walked around one side of a building and we drove around the other side when we saw the elephant.  After about 15 minutes we climbed back aboard and headed off looking for other animals.

We saw lots of warthogs, they are all over the place.  The  other common thing we saw were a couple of different types of antelopes.  We saw adult and some young several times.  Mole is a savanna, so it is open grassland and some small trees and bushes.  Much of the time it is quite easy to see the animals.  

We saw a large bird with  blue on its back  that the  guide called a Kingfisher and another colorful bird that I did not understand the name of.  Near the end we saw two more elephants heading to a waterhole, so we were able to follow them on foot and  see them very clearly.  Once they got to the waterhole, they mostly stood in the water and stared at us.  We were told we were very lucky to see so many elephants.  There are about 400 in the park and it is extremely large.  Most are not near where the  people  go.  

After about 2 hours we headed back to camp and had breakfast.  Still no water or electricity,  but seeing was no longer an issues since it was bright out now.  I realized that I never took a photograph of my room, but that is probably because I hardly saw it.  We discovered that there were pails of water in each room for bathing whenever the  water was out, a common occurance.  So we cleaned up a bit and headed out about 11:00 am.  It would have been nice to have a bit more time in Mole, especially after how long it took as to get there.  There are safaris several times a day:  one mid morning, one early afternoon, one in the evening and one after dark.  You can also sleep out in the savanna overnight.  They give you a sleeping mattress and mosquito netting and a guide, of course.  I would have gone on a walking safari at least.

There are three roads that lead to Mole National Park and Chuks and the driver, after some discussion, decided to take a different one than we came on.  The road did not have the deep ruts, slick spots, or speed bumps, but was very rough.  At times we were traveling at 10 kmh, about 6 mph.  So it took us 2 1/2 hours to get to the paved road again.  The first section of paved road was excellent, I would assume it have recently been completed.  After another couple of hours we were back to the rougher paved roads and speed bumps.  We arrived  at our guest house on the university campus in Kamosi (KNUST, I haven't found out what it stands for) at 8:30 pm.  The last two hours in the dark, but a lot of it was in the city.  We also drove through a thundershower.  It rained pretty hard for a while.  We were just pleased we were not on the dirt road.

The guest house is very nice, all the lights work, the refrigerator, fan and ac all work, and there is plenty of water and hot water.  The only thing that does not work is the Internet.  I did get the password, but it is down.  They said to check it in the morning, but it is still down.  I did find a plug in the room that I could recharge all of my equipment, so my computer, iPad and phone all have full charges.