Today, has been by far the worst day of travel in either of our lives. Hands down.
Category Archives: Africa
Lake Side
This morning, we slept in. Waking up at the late hour of 8am. Not that it mattered, breakfast wasn’t served until then anyway, clearly catering to a primarily volunteer based crowd. We started out the morning with coffee and shared pancakes, the only downside of a remote destination is the 300% mark-up on food, meaning we have to share all our meals to keep on budget, luckily, portions are pretty big. Granted, $7 a plate may seem cheap, but when meals normally cost between $2-3, and you only want to spend $35 usd/day/person including lodging and transportation $7 is a bit much. We’ve been quite proud of our ability to stick to a moderate budget (backpackers can do it for as little as $15/day). Granted, the main reason we’re “roughing it” is so that we can afford a night at one of Ghana’s best private beach resorts later this week. Plus, it sort of becomes a competitive game of how little we can spend, subsequently resulting in a fair number of street food meals (which are delicious) for less than $1. Overall, though we’ve been pleasantly surprised on just how far our money gets us.
Back on the Road: Lake Bosumtwi
Lake Botsumtwi
As soon as I publicly complain about the unfriendly nature of other westerners we meet a couple (an American from outside LA and a Brit) at our lodge, who were easily the nicest people we’ve met so far. We were all leaving, so we were able to share transportation into town. Unfortunately, they were headed to Yengi to grab a ferry down the Volta and we were headed to lake Bosumtwi, they seemed like a perfect couple to travel with. Everyone seemed disappointed we weren’t all heading in the same direction, especially given the advantage of strength in numbers. Either way, it was refreshing to meet friendly and engaging fellow travelers.
Safari
Elephant in Mole National Park
This morning started out with pancakes and nutella and filter brewed coffee. It was a great start, even if emblematic of how much we both miss good food. Our driver and guide picked us up at 8am. The sky was perfect, only a few wisps of clouds, and easily one of the best (and hottest!) days yet. After half an hour the road turned from paved to dirt. For the next two hours, we bounced, literally our whole way there. The road is the worst I’ve ever seen, in part because it’s so long, and even in a 4×4 you could hear the suspension whining in protest. We passed idyllic villages, mud and thatched roof circular huts, children playing on the road side, waving as we passed. We also passed a multitude of public transport vehicles, all stuffed, incredibly dirty, and if moving the passengers were visibly unnerved. Private transport was certainly the right choice.
Colliding With The Earth 