Mole National Park

 We have just arrived back from Mole National Park.  We left on Friday afternoon, and after a long, dusty and cramped journey we finally got there at night, were charged too much to get in (they wouldn't accept our student ID) and way too much for dinner.  The next morning, refreshed we set off on a guided walk to find elephants.  We came across one near the staff quarters, and outside a very smelly toilet.  We also saw baboons and patas monkeys, warthogs, and several types of antelope, but unfortunately we had been placed with a family of Koreans who asked A LOT of questions (like do you have a hospital to treat the animals that get malaria?) VERY loudly (hence I'm pretty sure we scared off quite a few antelopes) and because they had two kids, we had to walk slowly.  We spent the afternoon relaxing about and had a nosey baboon and patas monkey try to get in and nick our food.  I took a picture of the patas monkey but was probably a little too close and got a real fright when it screamed at me!

 

The next morning I was awoken by lots of people running past our window. Five elephants were just outside our block eating grass (natural lawnmowers) and they came really close to us.  Myself and Sheena hid behind a wall as it walked right up to us.  They then walked down the valley and just looked so silly from behind - so unsteady that you thought they were going to roll down the hill - imagine a very fat person crawling down a steep hill.  Later in the morning baboons ran havoc around the camp raiding all the bins and nicking clothes from tents looking for food.  They nearly broke into somebody's room - the baboon was crashing against the door whilst somebody inside desperately tried to lock it.

 

That afternoon we cycled to Larabanga.  We were told the road was flat.  It was not.  The last hill was a killer - until a young boy offered to push my bike up the hill (which I happily accepted). We visited the mosque - very white, very small, and the 'mystic stone' - which apparently every time it's moved, returns the next day, which is why the road curves round it.  We also saw how they make shea nuts into butter and bought some to use as moisturiser (MUCH, MUCH cheaper than that you'll find in Body Shop!).

 

The journey too and from Larabanga has been quite an experience.  Arguments broke out in both directions.  On the first journey, the conductor got off to buy food which left the rest of the bus in uproar as it was so hot inside - there was a chorus of 'Are we animals??!' whilst one single man argued in her favour that we all eat at diffferent times and this was hers (?!), then at the police barrier somebody was arrested from the bus, and the same man who was so vocal in favour of having our time wasted, insisted that the police were going too slowly.  On our return journey this morning, one grumpy man shouted at everybody throughout, to everybody's amusement, and a fight broke out between the bus conductor again and a policeman on board.  Buses are the place to be if you like drama!

 

We have heard of the London bombings.  The lines were blocked between Ghana and London that night.  We are praying that all our friends and family are safe back in London, and that life can return to normal soon, as well as for all those affected by it.  All the best.

 

Siobhan