Wednesday, April 09, 2008
Mole National Park and the Funeral Season
The weekend after Easter we decided to take in a bit of the more serious wildlife of Ghana, as apposed to goats, sheep, pigs, donkeys, frogs etc. and visited the country’s largest and best-known reserve, Mole National Park. Whilst there is little doubt that animals (other than pigs, goats, sheep and cattle) do roam wild in Ghana, sightings are few and far between, and it’s hardly surprising when you look at what happened to the Hippo – they know they run the risk of ending up as chop! Mole however, provides a relatively safe haven for a variety of species, and at the same time provides an opportunity for visitors to see them at close quarters and in their natural habitat. So we teamed up with Ruth (another VSO) and her sister-in-law Lesley who was on a short holiday from the UK and set off.
Now any trip in Ghana wouldn’t be the same without a high degree of difficulty and discomfort in arriving at your destination. To start we had to go via Tamale (at least a 6 to 7 hour journey from Tumu if we did it in one go which we didn’t. We stopped in Bolga overnight and travelled on to Tamale the next day), from where there are different means to get to the nearest town to the reserve, Damongo. The mode of transport however is the usual bone shattering ‘tro tro’, and to be honest we weren’t up for it. So we decided to hire a taxi, and have a little more freedom. Now people had warned us that once you turn off the Tamale – Kumasi road and head for Damongo, that the road is the worst in Ghana. And they are not wrong! It’s appalling. Over 80 kilometres of corrugations and potholes. Unfortunately, the road isn’t really suitable for taxis, and after about 30km and an hour and a half of pretty bad vibrations we broke down. The problem? The back wheel had come loose. When the driver took it off, it only had three wheel nuts instead of four. He umm’d and aah’d about what to do, a young local guy gave him the customary nail to help (thankfully he discarded it), and eventually he decided to tighten the three nuts, and off we set again. The journey took another two to three hours and he drove much of the way with his head leaning out of the window listening for noises from the back wheel, and stopping about every 20 minutes to tighten the nuts again. But nevertheless we had arrived safely by mid-afternoon on Friday, shaken but not stirred. We paid him and thanked him for his efforts, and he was last seen leaving the car park at Mole with his head half way out of the window!
The Hotel at Mole is situated at the top of an escarpment, and overlooks a vast forested plain, with a waterhole sited at the base of the escarpment, directly below the hotel. It’s quite a big complex, with a range of chalets, a restaurant and bar, and get this…a swimming pool! Although it’s very touristy in the hotel, its remoteness really does allow you to relax. Our room, air-conditioned no less, was situated a little further along the escarpment in a really quiet part of the complex. We spent much of the time sitting in the shade of a huge Nim tree overlooking the plain, watching the world and the wildlife go by…literally.
There are guided walks that take you down on to the plain, early morning and late afternoon. We opted for a morning walk. We were informed that there are eight main species that you see regularly at Mole: warthog; red patas monkey; green patas monkey; baboon; kob (type of deer); bush buck; water buck; and the biggie…elephant. On our walk we saw most of these. It’s really strange to be walking along and coming across bush buck or kob, that prick their ears before moving off to a safe distance then stand and stir at you. They have obviously become accustomed to the guided walks, and although they still have that instinct to move off, it is possible to get a reasonable look at them at close quarters. Still, the Ghanaian guide is not the subtlest creature, and they don’t believe in moving around slowly and quietly, so trying to spot things like birds was less easy. After wandering for around an hour we made our way back across the plain toward the hotel, and to stop off at the major waterhole. Then as we emerged through some bushes to the edge of the waterhole situated below the hotel, we were greeted by the sight of eight elephants wallowing in the water. Magical. We’ve seen elephants before in the wild, but only fleetingly or from a distance, but these were no more than 20 or 30 yards away and were going nowhere for a while. We stood and watched. They weren’t in the least perturbed. They did everything you expect of elephants. Sprayed themselves with water and mud. Made elephant calls. Wafted their ears and waved their trunks. What fantastic creatures they are. After a long time we made our way back up the escarpment, where we sat again for some time watching them through our binoculars. Interestingly as soon as we’d moved away, another elephant appeared on the bank to join the others. It was huge; its tusks just cleared the floor. Think he’d been waiting for us to go so he could jump in the pool. After around three hours of relaxation the elephants slowly emerged from the waterhole one by one, and made their way off into the distance in a slow moving convoy.
The time we spent at Mole followed this sort of pattern; sitting, watching, relaxing and enjoying. Whilst we were doing this green patas monkeys would appear in the trees around us, and after picking at the seeds and leaves and doing whatever they do, they’d usually fall asleep. Or alternatively, a troop of baboons would move through the hotel grounds, intimidating anyone they passed…us included. At one point we were evicted from our chairs, while they all sat around chilling out where we had just been! When not being disturbed by the baboons, we saw a great variety of birdlife. Two particularly stunning ones being the African Paradise Flycatcher and the Bataleur (a species of Eagle). Late afternoons involved a compulsory dip in the pool, followed by a beer. Then it was a quick change before our evening meal. All very sophisticated and unGhanaian!
Eventually all good things must come to an end, so we contemplated our journey back to Tamale. Cutting another long story short, we paid for a ride in a Land Rover (the old variety), driven by a Rastafarian. It went slower than the taxi had to start with, until he tucked into his supply of cola nuts when he began to go faster and faster. All was relatively smooth until we broke down just before Tamale – basically he was running out of fuel and what was left in the tank was not of a very good quality. Nonetheless, we made it to a garage, and eventually back to Tamale, but it was marginally better than the outgoing taxi ride. We stopped the night at Bolgatanga on the way back to Tumu, and stocked up on some goodies (jar of mayonnaise, tomato ketchup, tins of mixed veg and Foster Clark’s fruit drinks, no twix or mars bars this time) before arriving back in Tumu on the Tuesday.
Whilst we were away we missed a large funeral in Tumu. Mrs Jolly (owner of Jolly Friends bar behind our house) had invited us to her mother’s funeral, a seriously big occasion, located at the Chief’s Palace. It started on the Friday and finished on the Sunday. Following local traditions we paid our respects, offered our condolences and had to decline as we were travelling. But there have since been many funerals in and around Tumu, this being officially the funeral season – or the peak of the funeral season. It actually runs from November to May. It is at this time of year, people take the opportunity to commemorate the passing of members of their family, for three main reasons: firstly because the main farming season has not yet started, so valuable farming hours are not being lost; secondly, there is a plentiful supply of food, so the hosts can provide for their guests; and thirdly, it’s hot. This means all the visitors can be accommodated, they can simply sleep outside when the rooms are full! The burials will have occurred weeks, often months ago, and the funerals allow an opportunity for a significant social gathering. So the past few weekends here in Tumu have resounded with the sound of explosions. Gunfire is an indicator of the status or type of person that the funeral is for and also for the stage the funeral is at. Traditionally a musket would be fired, but now because the guns are probably too old and unsafe, the communities use gunpowder charges, hence some of the explosions are rather loud! It all probably resembles the sounds of a distant battle, quite eerie really. It also means that many local businesses are closed, as different families go to pay their respects. One other feature of these funerals, again depending on the status of the deceased, is the arrival of ‘warriors’ who perform their dances and rituals, rituals that usually involve the spontaneous sacrifice of some unfortunate passing animal (be it a goat or a dog) – so a feature we’re not too sorry to say we haven’t witnessed…yet!
So there you go another month of typical Ghanaian life.
The weekend after Easter we decided to take in a bit of the more serious wildlife of Ghana, as apposed to goats, sheep, pigs, donkeys, frogs etc. and visited the country’s largest and best-known reserve, Mole National Park. Whilst there is little doubt that animals (other than pigs, goats, sheep and cattle) do roam wild in Ghana, sightings are few and far between, and it’s hardly surprising when you look at what happened to the Hippo – they know they run the risk of ending up as chop! Mole however, provides a relatively safe haven for a variety of species, and at the same time provides an opportunity for visitors to see them at close quarters and in their natural habitat. So we teamed up with Ruth (another VSO) and her sister-in-law Lesley who was on a short holiday from the UK and set off.
Now any trip in Ghana wouldn’t be the same without a high degree of difficulty and discomfort in arriving at your destination. To start we had to go via Tamale (at least a 6 to 7 hour journey from Tumu if we did it in one go which we didn’t. We stopped in Bolga overnight and travelled on to Tamale the next day), from where there are different means to get to the nearest town to the reserve, Damongo. The mode of transport however is the usual bone shattering ‘tro tro’, and to be honest we weren’t up for it. So we decided to hire a taxi, and have a little more freedom. Now people had warned us that once you turn off the Tamale – Kumasi road and head for Damongo, that the road is the worst in Ghana. And they are not wrong! It’s appalling. Over 80 kilometres of corrugations and potholes. Unfortunately, the road isn’t really suitable for taxis, and after about 30km and an hour and a half of pretty bad vibrations we broke down. The problem? The back wheel had come loose. When the driver took it off, it only had three wheel nuts instead of four. He umm’d and aah’d about what to do, a young local guy gave him the customary nail to help (thankfully he discarded it), and eventually he decided to tighten the three nuts, and off we set again. The journey took another two to three hours and he drove much of the way with his head leaning out of the window listening for noises from the back wheel, and stopping about every 20 minutes to tighten the nuts again. But nevertheless we had arrived safely by mid-afternoon on Friday, shaken but not stirred. We paid him and thanked him for his efforts, and he was last seen leaving the car park at Mole with his head half way out of the window!
The Hotel at Mole is situated at the top of an escarpment, and overlooks a vast forested plain, with a waterhole sited at the base of the escarpment, directly below the hotel. It’s quite a big complex, with a range of chalets, a restaurant and bar, and get this…a swimming pool! Although it’s very touristy in the hotel, its remoteness really does allow you to relax. Our room, air-conditioned no less, was situated a little further along the escarpment in a really quiet part of the complex. We spent much of the time sitting in the shade of a huge Nim tree overlooking the plain, watching the world and the wildlife go by…literally.
There are guided walks that take you down on to the plain, early morning and late afternoon. We opted for a morning walk. We were informed that there are eight main species that you see regularly at Mole: warthog; red patas monkey; green patas monkey; baboon; kob (type of deer); bush buck; water buck; and the biggie…elephant. On our walk we saw most of these. It’s really strange to be walking along and coming across bush buck or kob, that prick their ears before moving off to a safe distance then stand and stir at you. They have obviously become accustomed to the guided walks, and although they still have that instinct to move off, it is possible to get a reasonable look at them at close quarters. Still, the Ghanaian guide is not the subtlest creature, and they don’t believe in moving around slowly and quietly, so trying to spot things like birds was less easy. After wandering for around an hour we made our way back across the plain toward the hotel, and to stop off at the major waterhole. Then as we emerged through some bushes to the edge of the waterhole situated below the hotel, we were greeted by the sight of eight elephants wallowing in the water. Magical. We’ve seen elephants before in the wild, but only fleetingly or from a distance, but these were no more than 20 or 30 yards away and were going nowhere for a while. We stood and watched. They weren’t in the least perturbed. They did everything you expect of elephants. Sprayed themselves with water and mud. Made elephant calls. Wafted their ears and waved their trunks. What fantastic creatures they are. After a long time we made our way back up the escarpment, where we sat again for some time watching them through our binoculars. Interestingly as soon as we’d moved away, another elephant appeared on the bank to join the others. It was huge; its tusks just cleared the floor. Think he’d been waiting for us to go so he could jump in the pool. After around three hours of relaxation the elephants slowly emerged from the waterhole one by one, and made their way off into the distance in a slow moving convoy.
The time we spent at Mole followed this sort of pattern; sitting, watching, relaxing and enjoying. Whilst we were doing this green patas monkeys would appear in the trees around us, and after picking at the seeds and leaves and doing whatever they do, they’d usually fall asleep. Or alternatively, a troop of baboons would move through the hotel grounds, intimidating anyone they passed…us included. At one point we were evicted from our chairs, while they all sat around chilling out where we had just been! When not being disturbed by the baboons, we saw a great variety of birdlife. Two particularly stunning ones being the African Paradise Flycatcher and the Bataleur (a species of Eagle). Late afternoons involved a compulsory dip in the pool, followed by a beer. Then it was a quick change before our evening meal. All very sophisticated and unGhanaian!
Eventually all good things must come to an end, so we contemplated our journey back to Tamale. Cutting another long story short, we paid for a ride in a Land Rover (the old variety), driven by a Rastafarian. It went slower than the taxi had to start with, until he tucked into his supply of cola nuts when he began to go faster and faster. All was relatively smooth until we broke down just before Tamale – basically he was running out of fuel and what was left in the tank was not of a very good quality. Nonetheless, we made it to a garage, and eventually back to Tamale, but it was marginally better than the outgoing taxi ride. We stopped the night at Bolgatanga on the way back to Tumu, and stocked up on some goodies (jar of mayonnaise, tomato ketchup, tins of mixed veg and Foster Clark’s fruit drinks, no twix or mars bars this time) before arriving back in Tumu on the Tuesday.
Whilst we were away we missed a large funeral in Tumu. Mrs Jolly (owner of Jolly Friends bar behind our house) had invited us to her mother’s funeral, a seriously big occasion, located at the Chief’s Palace. It started on the Friday and finished on the Sunday. Following local traditions we paid our respects, offered our condolences and had to decline as we were travelling. But there have since been many funerals in and around Tumu, this being officially the funeral season – or the peak of the funeral season. It actually runs from November to May. It is at this time of year, people take the opportunity to commemorate the passing of members of their family, for three main reasons: firstly because the main farming season has not yet started, so valuable farming hours are not being lost; secondly, there is a plentiful supply of food, so the hosts can provide for their guests; and thirdly, it’s hot. This means all the visitors can be accommodated, they can simply sleep outside when the rooms are full! The burials will have occurred weeks, often months ago, and the funerals allow an opportunity for a significant social gathering. So the past few weekends here in Tumu have resounded with the sound of explosions. Gunfire is an indicator of the status or type of person that the funeral is for and also for the stage the funeral is at. Traditionally a musket would be fired, but now because the guns are probably too old and unsafe, the communities use gunpowder charges, hence some of the explosions are rather loud! It all probably resembles the sounds of a distant battle, quite eerie really. It also means that many local businesses are closed, as different families go to pay their respects. One other feature of these funerals, again depending on the status of the deceased, is the arrival of ‘warriors’ who perform their dances and rituals, rituals that usually involve the spontaneous sacrifice of some unfortunate passing animal (be it a goat or a dog) – so a feature we’re not too sorry to say we haven’t witnessed…yet!
So there you go another month of typical Ghanaian life.
