As this is out first and only trip to the north it is worth mentioning the differences I have noticed between the north and the south. Perhaps the most syiking difference is in the change in religion to Islam. As we travelled north, at first every village we passed had a church at their centre, then a church and a mosque before finally only mosques. In the last two villages the mosques were made in the traditional mud and stick construction and were said to be the two oldest in Ghana. Another change we could see out the window, besides the change in clothes from ashante toga to Islamic smock and trousers, was the change from brick houses with metal roofs, to mud houses with thatched roofs, which were very similar to the houses in the villages of Morocco.
As we got furher north, the temperature also increased, to such an extent that we all struggled to sleep the first night we were in mole.
The next day we awoke with the sun rise and rushed out to the viewing platform overlooking 2 large watering holes, right next to the hotel. I got my trusty binocculares out and was treated to a great view of cobs (an antellope species) waking and heading down to drink. There were also a few males rutting to try and gain control of the herd of females. At 7 we headed off on a walking safari. Our guide abdula took us out into the bush and pointed out the different animals we saw. We actually managed to see almost all of the different animals in the park, 2 different antelope, the sociable cob and the solitary bush buck, the ground bound guinea fowl, some green monkeys and some crocodiles. It was great fun but we all agreed, what we really wanted to see were elephants.
With this in mind we booked a jeep to take us out that afternoon and spent the rest of the day sunning ourselves by the pool. At the designated time we headed to the information centre and found our jeep.4 of us were to ride inside the jeep and 4 of us on the roof. By the roof I don't mean some seats constructed on the roof, but a couple of planks which had been screwed onto the roof bars. The boys naturally went straight for the precarious root, whereas the girls decided they would see how we fairer before taking their turn later. With us all in position clinging for our lives on top, we headed off. It was actually quite safe, the bumps in the road were taken at a sedate pace and we were easily able to keep ourselves upright in the corners, but we did get a great view of the animals we saw, who rather than being frightened of the jeep seemed mesmerised, and would stop and turn to have a good look at us before running off after we'd all got some really nice pictures. We went on for an hour, heading further and further into the park and still no sign of the elusive elephants until suddenly their was a screech from below us. Cat had seen something grey in the trees. We all strained to see what was there, and I could see nothing until all of a sudden a long grey trunk shot out and grabbed a leaf. We all tumbled out of the jeep and crept closer. There was a massive male about 100m away. He seemed unconcerned by us and continued to munch on the trees and move slowly towards us. As he got closer we could see that he wasn't alone, behind him were 6 or 7 more, 2 females, 2 babies and 2 young men. They were all walking straight at us. We started to back away as our guide hissed at us to get onto the road. I must say as excited as I was I could see that if they started to charge we would have no chance of getting to the car in time as they were now very close. Thankfully they still looked unconcerned about us and wandered on now slightly away from our direction. They then came out of the trees and walked just in front of us across the road giving us a brilliant view of them before they headed off in the same direction on the other side of the road. By this point our guide had called the other jeeps and lots people were turning up, so we smuggly left them to it and headed back to the lodge. We had been incredibly lucky and congratulated ourselves all the way back.
The next day we spent mainly by the pool, with omar and I heading out on a walking safari in the afternoon before the big fa cup clash between reading and man city, which we could watch in the bar. It was unfortunate to see reading knocked out in a game where they were the better team for most of it. Although they didn't have many chances I thought they were at least good enough to get a replay. Still after a few drinks in the bar and a look out at the magnificent views framing the hotel and things weren't quite so bad.
The next day we rose at 4 for the morning bus to tamale and the less said about the day probably the better, I think it will suffice to say we didn't get back home until 11 that evening and were all shattered.
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