T-minus 5

I haven't been feeling too well these past 2 days. Yesterday in the afternoon I started to get really dizzy, lightheaded and weak-feeling. I took a long nap and when I woke up it was like my whole body was tired. Everything was sore and I barely had enough energy to pick my head up. Somehow I manage to change my clothes and we then went out to dinner at this really good place. In the car ride I passed out and at dinner all I could do was sit. Even the little energy it took to pick up my sandwich was too much. Plus, then I realized I had fever and was getting chills.

Starting to panic (as these are signs of Malaria) I thought about getting myself to the hospital immediately. But, after eating half my sandwich and drinking 3 cups of tea I started to feel a little bit better. After dinner I went straight home and slept from about 10:30 to 8am.

Right now I am still very weak and tired, but I can function. Breakfast gave me some energy and I think I just need to eat and drink more water. Most likely I got bit by a bug and my body reacted to it. I went to the pharmacy this morning to have my temperature checked and my fever was gone. I described my symptoms and the pharmacist did not think I have malaria. He told me to take some Tylenol and get some rest. Unfortunately, this means I do not get to go to my school today. It was my last day working on my project, but luckily I said goodbye to most of the kids last Tuesday.

Recently, I just haven't been feeling very healthy. I think I would recommend that anyone coming here should bring a daily multivitamin and also calcium pills. There is zero dairy here, but I do drink soy milk to get some protein.

5 more days til I leave! The first week was slow, but I knew the pace would speed up. Once I got used to the slower pace I really started to accept Ghanaian life. My favorite is the midday break - anything between noon and 3 because it's just too damn hot. 

Might go to this place called Frankie's in Osu tonight for burgers. Highly dependent on how I feel so we will see...

Winding down...

Returned home yesterday from Kokrobite... you can check out the hotel where we stay here: http://www.bigmilly.com/

I know that I've already written about this beach, but again it is just amazing. Live reggae band on Saturday nights. Friendly people, beautiful beaches, fresh food and the most relaxing 2 days you could ever dream of....

And then snap back to reality when we sat in hour long traffic trying to get back into Accra. Which was just named the second worst city in the world by the Lonely Planet. However, Detroit was named number 1. Starting to wonder if I have an effect on these cities....

Haven't done all that much since the last post. With my remaining week here I am looking for some unique places to visit or new foods to try that I haven't yet. They have these fruit things that are about the size of a golf ball and are deep orange. They call them cherries, but I don't think that is correct. It's next on my list of foods to try. I also want to learn the names of everything so I can tell accurate stories once I return home. The rice we eat here VERY often is called Jollof, and is made with peppers and tomatoes. If made correctly, it is actually really good.

Other than some foods, I have pretty much seen everything there is to see. I've gone East, West, North... and I live in the South. I've met new people, learned a little bit of the language and lived my Ghanain experience. Whether I return to Ghana I'm not sure, but next on my list for Africa is Kenya. 

Living with AIESECers is very interesting since we have all traveled the world so much. Each intern here is interested in culture and experiencing something different. Yes, we all complain occasionally, but at the core is a sense of interest in everything around us. It inspires me to keep traveling. And more importantly, now that I have friends in Taiwan, China, Germany and the Netherlands ... when I visit these places I can meet up with old friends. In the back of my mind I'm already figuring out how to get to Taiwan by the end of the year!

***

At school last Friday my school won the second round! They are heading to the semi-finals and I think they have a very good chance to win! The kids are very smart and so determined. When I start to think everyone here can be a bit lazy, I see these kids and all of their hopes and dreams written on their faces. 

I teach tomorrow and this will be my last day of teaching. I decided that I do not want to teach next Tuesday since it will be the day before I leave for home. Not sure what to teach tomorrow, but I would like to do a game of some sort. Friday will be round 3 of the school competition and I will be a proctor somewhere.

In the mean time I would like to see some more beaches and enjoy what little time I have left...

Goodbye Taiwan

Yesterday my closest friends here in Ghana left to return to Taiwan. I took them to the airport and though I'm mostly ready to go, I'm not quite there.  I still have some unfinished to-do's in this amazing, frustrating and incredible place.  I am enjoying my time here, but I know that in 2 weeks I will be ready to return home to some sense of normal. While at the airport I weighed myself, pretending to be a piece of luggage, and found out I've lost 8 lbs. in the past 8 weeks. That's most likely bad.

I'm starting to wonder if I have changed and if people at home will think I'm different. Or will everyone at home be different and I will feel like a stranger? While I'm here it's like life at home is frozen and I assume nothing changes. But 3 months later I'll walk back into my own life and it's scary to not know what to expect. Reverse cultural shock is very real and I am not looking forward to facing that...

Something is malfunctioning with my camera today so it's the perfect excuse to go on campus and check it out. I'm sure they sell USB drives so I can back-up my photos and then I want to walk around the school and see what it's like. One thing I don't understand is that my program is run from students who go to CUC (Central University College). What is a "university college?" Aren't they the same thing?

Tomorrow will be round 2 of the school competition. I will be cheering for my school to win! Which reminds me about my teaching experience last Tuesday....

Each child is supposed to pay 5 Ghana Cedis each month for the computer class. Some kids have paid in full and most paid, 1, 2, 3 or 4. Well, I guess the teacher didn't want to track them down any more so he went and got the headmistress. She shows up with her bamboo cane and a scoul. She called upon the people who had paid in full. They were sent aside. Next were those who paid 4. If they didn't have the 1 cedi on them, then they got 3 lashes and were yelled at to bring the money the next day. Next were the kids who paid just 3 Cedis. More yelling, and stronger lashes. As I watched each kids' face tighten as each lash came across their back I felt something inside me just fall. Completely helpless to save them from what I view as torture. The kids are 13 years old -- they should not know pain like that.

According to one kid: "the butt is OK, but my back... it's doing some work right now." The one's who had not paid at all got the worst beating. I could feel the sting that they must have felt. It just seems wrong. And I know it happened in the US not too long ago, but we got rid of that. How does it help a child learn if you beat him? I think it just teaches them to lie and avoid getting lashed.

What's worse is I talked to one girl later and she explained that (just like at home) the kids ask their parents at money. In her words, "it's not our money, it's our parents money. If they don't have the money, why should I get beaten?? It's not right."

The teacher explained to me that he will not cane the children because a parent could take him to court and win should the child get hurt. Yet, for some reason, headmasters have immunity. It doesn't make any sense, but then again I'm trying to use logic.

Just 2 weeks left...

Pretty lazy day today... slept in til about 10am. It was one of the first mornings in a long time that no one barged into my room shouting in some language from Nigeria. That's the typical morning wake up in my room. Although, having been here so long now, I can sleep through bright lights, intense heat and even loud noises. I once fell asleep in my room when there were 5 others talking with the lights on and one person was sitting at the head of my bed!

***

I just spent the last few hours prepping for my lesson tomorrow. I am still teaching science on Tuesdays and tomorrow is the respiratory system. Last week we talked about each part of the system and this week we are going a bit deeper. Diagramming the lungs, talking about repiratory diseases and then I will shift into general hygiene.

I'm bringing up a special topic too: sinus infections. It will be easy to discuss since I have one right now. At home when I get sick it often turns into a sinus infection... and I get it atleast twice per year. Anyway, I felt the symptoms approaching the past few days. Constant sinus headache, intense pain in my eyes and cheeks. I went to the pharmacy today (or the ''chemist'' as they call it) and expected to just get some ibuprofen and relieve some inflammation but I did much better than that! Walked out with amoxicilin! Nothing like self-medicating, eh? Awesome that you don't need a prescription here. The guy just goes ''here take this for 1 week. GHc 12.'' ($10) I'm already feeling better and the pain in my face has reduced.

Not much else to say for today. My closest friends Roy and Kate from Taiwan leave on Wednesday. Really bummed about them leaving since we literally spend 18 hours a day together.

Part 3: The Finale

Before I begin part 3 I thought I should update you on life here... We had no running water again. Only four days this time before it came back. I made it a point to ask people why they put up with it, and their responses were basically ''what can we do?''

Demanding something from a government that is 1) corrupt and 2) unable to help its people is not something any of us have experienced. If there was a water shortage in the States, there would be riots and angry people heading for the water company. I get the feeling that people here are completely struggle to have their voices heard. One place we sometimes eat dinner has a nice lady that I have befriended. She told me that she had to go past Kaneshie Market to get water. That's almost 2 km or over 1.5 miles!

Second piece of news, our interschools competition finally began! After studying HIV/AIDS for 4 months, we decided to test the children's knowledge. With 17-schools in the program, we designed a 4 round bracket competition. Round 1 was this past Friday so we are now down to just 8 schools. The school I teach won the first round and I am excited to see if they continue to advance to the final.

Back to the story.....

Chapter 6: Elephants and the Journey Home

We had just left Wechiau and were now arriving into Wa. Wa is a fairly big city with a decently sized bus station. The station had signs indicating where the buses were going, which is rare here in Ghana. Before we boarded a bus we decided to take out some money from the bank and eat a real meal. Full and back on track we headed to the station.

We quickly found a sign that read Wa to Tamale. On that route to Tamale is Larabanga and 1km outside of Larabanga is Mole Park. It is very common to drop at Larabanga on the way to Tamale, especially since there are a very limited number of direct buses to Mole. We entered the bus and triple checked that it was the right bus. Kate even clarified by saying ''first this bus goes to Sawla and the next stop is Tamale. We can exit at Mole, which is on the way to Tamale, correct??'' We got the affirmative from 2 people and felt relaxed. This was the first time we would arrive to our destination in the daytime and have a chance to relax at the lodging before sleep.

The bus waited until it was full and we took off. We arrived to Sawla in about one hour and a half, and that meant about another hour to Mole. The bus continued driving to the next city, stopped and the driver called out ''last stop'' meaning end of the line. Well, we looked around at the extremely small city and then I noticed a sign that read ''Bole.''

Bole. A tiny city 30 minutes south of Sawla. Not even remotely in the right direction of Mole or Tamale. Not even close. Not a side track or short cut. Complete the wrong direction. According to the driver, he thought we wanted to go to Bole first and spend the night and then leave for Tamale in the morning. This is the sort of assumptions many people made during the trip. Either they didn't listen to you or they just assumed. They never ask to clarify further and as a result we received constant false information.

Now stuck in Bole we had to figure out how to leave. Luckily we were only 30 minutes from the bigger city of Sawla and there was a TroTro heading there. It was waiting to be full and that took about an hour before we could leave. It was now about 4pm. Around 4:30 we arrived to Sawla and had to find the next available bus to Tamale.

In the north, anything past 4pm is late. Because the roads are so bad and it gets dark early, most TroTros end around 4, meaning the only available transport is maybe a truck or hitchhiking with someone. The locals all know, if you are later than 4pm, just wait til morning.

Well, we didn't know that and more importantly we were going to Mole on the last day of our trip - the same day we had to head back to Accra. Our time was running out and we needed to get to Mole asap. In Sawla we happened to run into 2 Spanish people from Barcelona. They were interns teaching kids just like us and were in Ghana for about a month. More accustomed to life in the north, they helped us procure means of getting to Mole. One option was getting in the back of a truck and heading to Larabanga. As we got out of the TroTro when we first arrived I heard a man in a truck yell Larabanga. Not knowing that was our only chance, I ignored him. Mistake number 234843542309 of this trip.

The next option was hiring a taxi to take us. The first guy wanted 150 Cedis. The second wanted 100. After a lot of negotiating, which would not have been possible without the Spanish and their connections, we agreed on 80 Cedis. That's about 60 USD. A ridiculous price, but the only option. It had since become dark and we needed to leave. We were told the ride would take about an hour -- which I guess really means 4 hours because that is what is actually took! 4 hours downs a busted, dusty road. At least we had a private TroTro to ourselves and not a truck bed.

We didn't arrive to the gates of Mole until 11pm. We paid the entrance fee of 5 cedis (Kate meanwhile had an issue getting the student price since her ID is in Chinese... even though it says Shingua University right at the top. Mole Motel was actually pretty nice. Our room had 3 beds and a decent bathroom. Exhausted from the day, we all showered and then passed out.

The safari the next day began at 7am and we hired a Safari Jeep to drive us around the park. I stood about 50 feet away from this elephant and then watched a few others play in a lake. It was really pretty cool... definitely a highlight of the trip. Our safari lasted about 2 hours and other than the elephants we saw some monkeys and birds. It's not the type of safari you are probably picturing, but this is West Africa. Northern Ghana is wide open, dry, barren. It is not a vast open land space with lions and hyenas and zebra. Nonetheless, it is still beautiful in its own right.

After the safari we planned to swim in the pool and relax for a while. Noticing it was already 9am and considering it would take 4 hours to get back to Tamale just counting the driving time and nothing else, we decided that we'd better leave. We needed to leave for Accra on that day and we could not afford to miss a bus.... again.

Without shower or pool, we shared a taxi with a German Ghanaian woman and her German husband to Damongo where we could catch the bus to Tamale. Interesting conversation with the lady about her experience returning to Ghana. In one word she said ''difficult.''

With all the transfers and waiting time, we didn't get to Tamale until 3:30pm. We purchased our tickets for the 5:30pm bus and went for dinner in the meantime. At dinner I think we were all reflecting on the past 6 days. I had started to get sick so my head was spinning and my body was aching. Roy just looked sort of lost. Kate looked tired and ready to be home. The only thing stopping us was the 11 hour bus ride.

The ride home was uneventful. Mostly just driving through the dark all night. The road was very bumpy making it nearly impossible to sleep. On the bright side, I don't think I will ever complain about a long car ride again. Also, in Ghana I have learned to sleep through bright lights, loud noise, constant fan overhead and maybe now bumpy roads. Summer's in Cleveland will be easy...

We arrived back to Accra at 5:30am and as I entered my room, all of the lights were on and someone was sleeping in my bed on my sheets. Too tired to be angry, I showered, kicked the person out of my bed, threw a clean sheet down and then passed out.

So, ''how was your trip?'' I'm still not sure how I should respond.

The End.

Part 2: Hippos, TroTros and Safari

Chapter 4: Burkina Faso and the trip to Wa

5:30am, time to wake up. We were told the bus from Paga to Wa left around 7:30 am, so we woke up early in order to get to the border and then to the bus in time. We packed up our duffel bags and headed for the exit as fast as possible. Nothing like traveling all day, then sleeping on a rooftop with no shower and getting up early the next day to do it all over again!

The walk to the border was about .5 kilometers in the nice "brisk"-ish morning air. Since the weather is so dry in the north the morning is actually quite cool and nice. We arrived and saw that is was just a fence. We walked through the "security immigration checkpoint" and all we had do was say we wanted to take a picture in from of the Burkina Faso sign and the captain or whatever he was just waved us on. No stamp in the passport, no ID card or anything. We sauntered over to the sign, took our pictures and that was it - time to get the hell out of there. (See my boat? Now let's get the hell out of here.)

As we crossed back into Ghana we waved at the patrolman and he waved back and wished us a safe journey. We had asked several people what the taxi fare would be to get to the city of Navrongo from the border so that we could catch the bus to Wa.

We rolled up the bus station and found the bus to Wa left at 5am, not 7:30am as told. You'd think we would be mentally prepared for always having wrong information... We were talking to one local who mentioned a bus to Tumu, half way to Wa. It didn't leave until the afternoon which meant a morning of waiting and waiting. However, about 30 minutes later that same guy rolls up in a cargo truck shouting "going to Tumu?." Our savior! Kate, Roy and I climbed into the back of the OPEN AIR cargo truck as we prepared our hitchhiking adventure. Other locals joined us, so we figured it must be legit. In the north, transportation is limited, so if a sketchy open air truck comes along, you take it.

The ride should have taken about 2 hours as the distance is just over 100 kilometers. However, the "road" was like driving on boulders and the truck had zero shocks to absorb the bumps. There is a video of the three of us sitting in the back of this truck. Only the video accurately shows what we endured. The ride there was beautiful - the golden Ghanaian savannah -- mixed  with me thinking about that movie Planes, Trains and Automobiles." Four hours later we arrived in Tumu.

Once in Tumu, we had the realization that we were still 150 kilometers from Wa. It's like getting sucker punched when you are already down. Luckily, in Tumu you purchase a ticket for the TroTro to Wa. It was somewhat comforting to know we had a guaranteed spot on a bus. While we waited we grabbed some Yam chips with Peppe sauce, talked to some local kids, and enjoyed the smells from the communal open air bathroom.

The bus was finally ready to leave and we stepped into the bus. This has got to be the worst TroTro I have ever been on. First, it is meant to hold maybe 12 people. We had 16 people and even 2 people were sitting on the roof.  The roof of the bus was caving in on top of my head and the engine was hissing like it was about to blow up. While driving, we had to stop every 30 minutes to pour water on the engine to make sure that it would not overheat and leave us stranded somewhere in north Ghana.

The most interesting aspect of this leg of the journey was the local people that we met. This TroTro was obviously one of very few, or even the only TroTro for the day. As we got to each village people were there waiting -- clearly waiting all day for the one TroTro so that they could get to Wa. If they missed the bus, they would have to wait until the next day. We take our cars and buses for granted and the luxury that they provide.


Chapter 5: Getting to Wechiau and some Hippos
We finally made it to Wa around 5:30pm. Remember, we woke up at 5am and still accomplished nothing in our day so far except travel 200 kilometers. Realizing we were losing daylight and were still several hours from the Hippo Sanctuary, the three of us became a little jumpy. We frantically searched for the correct TroTro to get to Wechiau. Of course the locals were completely unhelpful at first. The Hippo sanctuary is basically the only attraction in the entire region yet no one knows it. We eventually found someone that knew and took us over to the Wechiau TroTro -- which was really just another open air truck. But, at least this one had bench seats and a roof.

The road to Wechiau was even worse than from Navrongo to Tumu. Even more terrifying by the fact it became complete darkness. All we could see were the bodies around us squished in like sardines and we could feel the dust and dirt collecting on our faces. Also, one man asked us why we made no effort to learn their language, Wala. A language only spoken in the small city of Wa. Anywhere outside this city, even in the North of Ghana, no one speaks it. So, why this man felt the need for me to learn the language, I'm not sure... This was when the three of us realized one of the major problems of Ghana. There are over 10 languages in this country. People in the north speak languages not spoken in the south and vice versa. Basically, what that means is that even people in Ghana cannot understand each other. English is weak in the north, so for us travelers the journey was made that much more difficult. The little bit of Twi I have learned was worthless -- so I guess maybe learning Wala for the 12 hours I would be in Wa was not such a bad idea.

Another 3 dusty hours later, and one completely compressed spine, we arrived to Wechiau, the city of the Hippo Sanctuary. As we were driving we kept asking one man if he knew the Hippos. "No, no, no." We figured he just didn't know. We finally arrive to Wechiau and he leans to us and goes "Here's hippos!"

I think we arrived to the Hippo place around 9pm. Pitch dark, but this is when our luck started to change for the better. The driver of the truck took pity on us and found the office manager, who then led us to the office. Very slowly, he described what the sanctuary had to offer, where we could sleep, how much it cost and all the other details needed to ease weary travelers. It was too late to sleep in the "Hippo Hideout" which is a tree house right on the river. The next option was a lodge. We were able to sleep on the rooftop, but unlike the last place, they set up our beds with sheets and nice mosquito nets and the camp grounds were really beautiful. Plus they had plenty of water and so we could shower off 3 days worth of dust. This lodge was tucked away 17 kilometers from Wechiau in its own little hideaway area. It was serene and relaxing and I slept solidly for the first time in days.

The next morning we woke up at 6:30am to go on a river raft trip. We followed the guide to the river and took a canoe down the Black Volta. On one side is Ghana and the other is Burkina Faso. So, technically I've been in Burkina Faso twice! A bit down the river we saw 4 hippos playing in the water. They were an awesome reddish brown color and they looked peaceful, farting along in the water. We drifted around for about 30 minutes and in our effort to save some money, we turned around to head back to camp. For me, this was the best part of the trip. I could have stayed there for days. The locals were so friendly to us and we really felt welcomed. They treated us like we were one of them and we even met a shop owner that was completely deaf, but through sign language the locals communicated with him.

After the river trip we headed back to Wechiau in order to go back to Wa. In Wechiau, the village chief and elders were heading to Wa as well and so we had the opportunity to ride with them in a TroTro. That was a really cool and unique experience.

Our next plan was to get to Mole National Park in order to see elephants. This should be a relatively simple journey, only a few hundred kilometers, but after such a nice evening/morning it was in the cards to face more trouble...

Part 1: Kumasi and Beyond

The story I am about to tell is the story of 3 people and the most challenging experience of their lives. Happiness, anger, confusion, sadness, rage, joy and more confusion. No matter how many details I use to describe this recent adventure, the only way to truly understand is to have been there. In my modest attempt, I will try to bring you into my world and help you to understand our 6-day journey. Enjoy.

Chapter 1: Kumasi
Roy, Kate and I left for Kumasi, the second biggest city in Ghana. Distance: 270km or 168 miles. The journey began when we left the house at 6am in the morning. From the CUC house we went to Circle (a bus station) to find our bus. Armed with just 1 German-written travel guide borrowed from a friend, little did we know that we were about to start the longest trip of our lives.

We arrived to Circle and were immediately harassed by the locals. "Where are you going?!" You have to use your judgment and select the person you feel will give you the best information. We chose and were told that the next large bus would come soon. However, the bus holds maybe 30 people and well over 60 were waiting in a mass. When said bus did arrive, the performance that occurred was something from a movie. Women getting pushed aside, babies crying and 3 light skinned people struggling to not get trampled. Needless to say, we missed that bus. Before we could catch our breath we were hustled away from the crowd by our information-keeping local. From no where, in the back of the station he directed us to a white bus with A/C. We tentatively got on, but with reassurance from other passengers we agreed. Cost: 12 GHC.

Between 4 and 5 hours later we arrived to Kumasi. The road to get there was insane - like climbing through a wall of rocks. It's astonishing to find that there is not a decent road connect the two largest cities in the country. How cargo trucks manage is quite incredible. Also, had we known that this bumpy ride and lightly A/C van would be our best mode of transportation for the rest of the trip we made have tried to soak it in a little more...

Once to Kumasi we found our hostel and checked-in. The total cost was 12 cedis for 2 connected double beds and was split three ways. The room was not fancy at all, but more than decent and even had a balcony. The first day in Kumasi was spent traveling to tourist spots. We saw the central market, the main TroTro station, the National Culture Museum, the Sword Site and then the Zoo.

Market: one market = another market. Everyone selling, no one buying.
Station: actually really cool, and I have pictures to prove it
Museum: grounds were beautiful, but there was literally nothing to do. Museum was no-nexistant and so we just got Cokes and got out of the sun
Sword: story goes that Ghana has its own excalibur. We finally find the site and it's this like 15x15 building behind some random hospital. And as you stand at the entrance and can see everything in the room in one glance, they then ask for 2 cedis to enter. Kate and I stayed outside while Roy went in. Then we listened to the tour guide from outside and took pictures of Roy wasting his money. Gotta love it. Also, I'm not sold on the story about the sword...
Zoo: Ah, so depressing. The animals were so thin and sad looking :(. No one there taking care of them. Also, I saw a chimpanzee, that in my opinion, solidifies that evolution is real - but that's just my opinion. Other present animals were some bats, turtles, snakes, more turtles, birds, monkeys, 2 hyenas, 3 lions (1 tried to get busy with a female but she wasn't having it) and a peacock.

Day 2 was spent visiting the Ashanti King's palace. After finally arriving to the palace we realized that again there was nothing at the site to see, so we skipped it. Got some good pictures of the outside though -- that counts, right?? We attempted to then go to some lake to swim, but found out it would be about 25 cedis in taxi cost and it just didn't seem worth it. So, we changed plans and met up with the people from the AIESEC LC in Kumasi.

Together, we all got lunch and then headed to the pool at K.N.U.S.T (Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology). The school is hugeeee with 25,000+ people. The campus reminded me of Kent, sort of. Green, hilly and very spread out. One of the dormitories looked very similar to any standard US college. The AIESEC house is a little ways off campus. It is so much more rural where they live but very peaceful and a nice change from the big city.

We jetted from the KNUST AIESEC house just after dark as we attempted to catch a bus to the north that evening. The ride is approximately 10 hours from Kumasi to the very north of the country so we thought driving all night would be the best option. Of course we get to the bus station (after taking a little detour in the city) and there is absolutely no bus that night. They don't start running until the morning, but we did learn how to get an early 4am bus from a different STC (government public transportation system) bus to Bolgatanga, a city in the north.

Trying to get to the next bus station was a complete joke. Literally no one knew what is was. We had to ask maybe 10 different people, but finally a security guard at a hospital was able to point us in the correct direction. While walking, we found this little restaurant on the street with the typical rice and chicken and sat and ate our food. Feeling refreshed, we continued our journey down the random street to apparently nowhere. Along the way we stopped at a gas station for directions and found out we had been going down the correct road after all. Too tired to continue, we followed a business man who was heading to a hotel.

It turned out that this hotel was REALLY nice. A nice big room, with a private entrance way/balcony thing and a decent bathroom. No running water, of course, but at least nice beds. We only slept for about 4 hours before we woke up at 3:30am to catch a 4am bus. This was pretty standard for our trip. Travel all day to find something, spend half the day finding some random bus on some random street, then more traveling and finally land at a hotel in the late evening.

Chapter 2: Getting to Bolgatanga (Bolga)

We arrived at the STC station at 4:05 am. There were maybe 40 people milling around waiting for the ticket counter to open so they could buy their tickets. The options were Tamale, Bolga and a few other cities. We stepped into the Bolga line and we not even 20 people back. Around 4:30 ish the ticket counter opened and we figured by 5am we would have our tickets and be on our way - I mean a big orange bus with the word "Bolga" was already waiting to leave.

WRONG. We waited. And waited. 5am .... 5:30 am... 6 am.... literally we're not moving. Dozens and dozens of people start arriving and lining up behind us, but yet nothing is moving. No one is buying tickets, no one is moving. NOTHING IS HAPPENING!!! Twice we asked the counter lady and apparently the bus we watched, which then left was not our bus. Some other side-line randomly forms and those people start buying tickets. Finally, the bus left at 8:30am. 4.5 hours later. Just a short 5 hours since we woke up and we had not even left Kumasi yet...

Chapter 3: Bolgatanga and some Crocodiles

A short 10 hours later we arrived to Bolga. From there we took a TroTro through the countryside to Paga (40 kilometers away). The air in the north is so dry you cannot breath - it's crazy. And the countryside is sadly beautiful. Very dry, and brown with simple trees. And between the trees are little hut-style houses where people live. Most likely, they have never been farther than Bolga, let alone Accra or anywhere outside of their country. It's a strange feeling to drive past someone that will mostly likely never live somewhere with electricity or running water. A built of guilt or sadness, or happiness for my own life -- whatever it was, I was feeling it.

We get to the "city" of Paga which was just a dirty, nothing town. After fighting with a taxi driver for about 30 minutes, we reluctantly had to pay a ridiculous price for him to take us to the crocodile place. We arrive to this Crocodile "sanctuary" which is really just a little swamp with kids running around playing tour guide. We follow one over and one kid showed us how to stand behind the Croc and pick up his tail, then pat him on his back. 

By this time it was getting dark and too late to walk to the Burkina Faso border (which was about 1 kilometer) so we asked around for the "hotel." We happened to ask the right guy - the owner - who took us right to our "room," AKA the top of a hut with 2 mattresses and a mosquito net. Oh, and 1 bucket of water for 3 of us to use. Tired, dirty from the day of traveling, and hungry we plopped down on the mattress and went to town on the bread and peanut butter we had brought with us. Soon after we passed out, pretty much unable to move or speak. Had we not been so tired, it may have been neat to sleep under the stars and listen to the local goats and other animals. However, we were annoyed from the day and also the mattress/net combo cost 7 ghana cedis per person. Cheap from western standards, but extremely expensive for Ghana standards.