An Elephant Never Forgets, and Neither Will I - A Trip to Mole National Park

The view of the watering hole at Mole National Park

 This weekend was the one that we had all been waiting for since the start of our trip: a visit to Mole National Park to see some elephants! Jessica, Leah, Ashley, Bevan, Shannon and I had set aside August 3^rd to 6^th to go to the park, and it was amazing how quickly those dates arrived. After attempting to fly (far too expensive) and battling with bus schedules, we finally headed out of Accra on a 4pm bus to go up to Tamale (the capital of the Northern Region) where we would then catch a bus to Mole. The trip to Tamale was supposed to take 11-12 hours, and the ride from Tamale to Mole about 5. While I expected that a 4pm bus would really leave around 6pm (this has been my experience with transportation in Ghana so far), to my amazement we were pulling out of the station at 3:56pm –  a miracle!. The bus itself was amazing: air conditioned, with huge leather seats and tons of leg room, it was much better than economy class on a plane! Since most of the ride took place during the night, the trip actually felt so much quicker than I expected. We all got a fair amount of sleep in, and the rest stops were perfectly planned and involved delicious jollof rice and chicken! All in all, it was an excellent trip up to Tamale.

We arrived in Tamale around 5am and took a short taxi ride to the Metro Mass Transit Station to check out the ticket situation for bus tickets to Mole. It turned out that you could not get a bus to Mole until the afternoon, around 1 or 2pm; there were other buses going other places which could get you close, but they were all full. We had a dilemma on our hands: we were not really interested in waiting around for 6 hours after a 13 hour bus trip, but the only other option was to take a taxi which seemed expensive. In the end, we were able to find a taxi that would take us to Mole for only 20ghc each, which although the bus was only 5ghc each, we really wanted to just get to the park and not lose a whole day. Six of us piled in the taxi, promised that it would take less than three hours in the taxi as opposed to 5 hours in the bus, and headed off.

We made it!

The Northern Region is obviously very different than the Greater Accra region. The highway was lined with fields and trees, and every so often there would be a community of mud huts, something I had never seen before. These homes were all the same shape, but each had different symbols carved into its walls. Every community also had a mosque, as the Muslim population is much more concentrated up north. The contrast with the southern parts of the country were fascinating and beautiful. The beauty ended however when we hit the dirt road leading up to Mole. This road is so bumpy and there really is nothing to see but trees. This would have been fine, save for the fact that our driver was going about 20km/hr and we were packed and layered so tightly into the car that later, we all admitted that we thought we may never walk again. After an extremely painful 3.5 hours or so (the last half hour of which Ashley and I decided to ride in the trunk of the station wagon to avoid being squished – which may have been a worse experience in reality), we arrived at the gates to Mole National Park! We paid our entrance fee of 5ghc (yay for being a student), we travelled another minute or two down the road and ended up at the hotel around 10:30am.

Our first elephant sighting!

We were too early to check in, so we decided to grab some breakfast at the hotel restaurant, which is next to the pool (you read that right) and overlooks the massive watering hole. The views were spectacular and while we were waiting for our food, we saw five elephants at the watering hole! There was a female, a bull, and three babies and it was one of the highlights of the trip for us all I would say. We were not 100% sure we would get to see any elephants, and here we were a mere hour or so into our trip and we saw a whole family! Seeing these massive creatures was so surreal; I have never seen an elephant in real life before, and this was the way to do it. Even from so far up, you could see just how massive these animals are, and how majestic. After lunch (which took about 2 hours to arrive) and a dip in the pool (absolute heaven), we decided to go on the 3:30pm walking safari.

Some warthog friends sorting out their differences

We set off from the information centre with our group, plus two Americans and our phenomenal tour guide, Moses. Moses led us through the forest, pointing out animals as we went. We could often only catch fleeting glances of antelope and deer of all kinds, but even that was worth it. We could also see baboons and warthogs everywhere, which was fantastic. The views and sounds in the forest itself were amazing. We walked for about 2 hours down to the watering hole, stopping frequently to peek through the trees at animals Moses had pointed out and taking pictures of our surroundings. On the way, we saw elephant footprints, fresh dung, and trees which had been freshly severed by the elephants’ massive tusks. By the time we got to the watering hole in this expansive, grassy area, the elephants had gone. This was no disappointment to me though, as I had already seen what I came to see hours before! The walk itself was pleasant enough, and seeing animals in the wild is obviously never guaranteed. I got the impression from Moses, who committed himself fully to making sure that we got to see an elephant during our 2 day visit, that some tourists who do not get lucky enough to see elephants get quite irritated, believing the long trip was for nothing. I had a different attitude: I was never sure that we would see elephants, and so in a way I did not expect to. This made getting to see them a treat as opposed to an expectation. Animals are unpredictable, and the reason one visits a 4700 square km national park as opposed to a zoo is to view them in their natural habitat. This means that you risk not seeing any animals at all, but when you do you know that you are watching them go about their real, daily lives and are not confined to any small area just so that people can gawk at them (don’t get me wrong, I still enjoy a good zoo). To me, this makes the experience more special, and the journey to find wildlife was just as enjoyable as actually seeing some.

After returning from the safari around 6pm, when the sun was just about starting to set (making the views back even more spectacular), we went for another dip in the pool and then settled down for dinner where we got to watch some Olympics as there was a television in the restaurant. This remarkablynormal activity was so welcomed by all of us, and after watching Great Britain absolutely sweep so many track events, we turned in for the night, exhausted but happy.

We got up and headed out for our 7am safari the next morning with the other guests. We decided, finding 4 other people, that renting one of the big Jeeps for 2 hours for only 10ghc each would be totally worth it and we piled in (some of us on top of the vehicle!) for another adventure. I sat inside the car at first with some people from Germany, Italy, and the US. We drove through the forest with Moses, but did not really see much wildlife. We passed a few other groups on the way and tried to see if they had seen the elephants, and Moses got out several times to track them because he had seen footprints (pretty cool). All in all we kind of struck out in terms of seeing elephants that morning, and it had started to rain a bit. I was on top of the Jeep at this point and while riding on top of a vehicle was very fun, being cold and wet, sitting on metal slats, and getting whipped in the face with tree branches was slightly less so. However, this did not stop me from having a good laugh at the situation!

Our first sighting!

We went to our complimentary breakfast (lucky us!) after our safari and were able to have a few sips of coffee, some toast, and the most delicious eggs I think I have ever eaten. Then we split up a bit, with some of us heading to the info centre to check out the store and whatnot. We were not there long at all when Moses came and found us, and said that there was an elephant nearby. We rallied the troops as it were (keep in mind that this was not a regularly scheduled safari), and went off only about five minutes down the road, when we saw him. He was huge, with one full tusk and one half one, standing in front of a house with a satellite dish (gotta love the juxtaposition there!). We stood in awe, staring at this massive, gentle being, and took as many pictures as our cameras could handle. We did not stay long, as this trip was somewhat off the books and Moses did not want the elephant disturbed too much; however, I do not think any amount of time with him would have been enough for us! We walked away in wonderment, thanking Moses dearly for specifically coming to find us and bringing us within 20 feet of the most amazing animal any of us have ever seen. It was definitely an experience I will never forget.

We filled the afternoon with phone calls home, sitting by the pool, watching more Olympics and eating lunch. It felt so good to be in this place, around all these animals, and just relaxing. It has been a long and hectic three months, and I think we all really enjoyed winding down. Later in the afternoon, around 2:30 or 3pm, Leah came to get us, saying that she had seen elephants again down by the watering hole and Moses had agreed to take us there to find them. After pleading with his boss to let him take us down for a very short time ahead of the other tourists, we set off down a special and direct trail that got us to the bottom in no time. We ended up having the best time – we had to cross this small river over a log, and we just laughed at our own incompetency. I shimmied, Shannon stretched across it like Inspector

Another view of the watering hole

Gadget, and we all had a blast. We then had to cross a very muddy section of grassland and again had so much fun getting dirty and wet and slipping through the grass. By this time we had seen the elephants, very dark form having taken their own swim, from quite far away and it turned out that they were just too fast for us. Moses tried to track them to see if they might come back, and we sat up in a small lodge on the edge of the grassland for a while observing monkeys, listening to the forest, and waiting, but to no avail. I do not think this bothered any of us all that much; it was a shame we missed the elephants by such a small margin of time, but we had so much fun getting to where they were that we did not mind. The journey back was just as enjoyable and fun, and we all felt light, happy, and relaxed when we got back to the hotel.

We went swimming yet again, and then enjoyed our dinner and, you guessed it, more Olympics! Just before dinner, there was a baboon that grabbed cookies out of the hands of another guest, scratching her arm in the process. The whole hotel burst into laughter, as we had all heard about how the baboons will steal any food they can get their hands on. There were a couple of other encounters as the animal tried to return to take more, but after being chased away a few times, he gave up. Such a funny experience!

Larabanga Mosque

The next morning, we had arranged for a tour of a mosque in Larabanga, 6km outside of Mole. From there the plan was to catch the 9:30am bus which we had tickets reserved for. We took Jeeps to Larabanga (this time with seats on top) and we flew to the town. Now that was a fun Jeep ride! We arrived in Larabanga in minutes and were told the history of the mosque and got to look around the structure. The first record of this mosque appeared in 1421, but chances are the mosque was built long before that. As non-Muslims, we are not allowed to enter the mosque but were able to walk all around it and take pictures. The mosque is re-surfaced every year which makes one wonder how many layers have been added to the building and whether or not that would change its

The Mystic Stone

original shape much over hundreds of years. There were several doors to the mosque, all for different purposes. The doors to the mosque were very tiny because the idea is that when one is entering a house of god they should kneel; with door-frames so low, if you forgot to bow down while entering the mosque you would hit your head. That is one way to remind people to be respectful! After considering the mosque and interacting with countless local children, we decided to continue down the road to another attraction, the Mystic Stone, which is a stone that people tried to move many times but it kept inexplicably returning. Now it stands within a small stone structure where you can go and make a wish on the stone. We all made our wishes (and of course, if I want it to come true I cannot divulge my own wish), and then admired the view of the countryside before us.

Goat family on the way to the Mystic Stone

We walked back to the town, attempting to catch some earlier buses along the way but to no avail. As it turns out, we would never even get the 9:30 bus to Tamale as it had a flat tire that was taking ages to fix, and we all had buses to Accra to catch. After waiting in Larabanga in the heat for several hours, we were able to contract a trotro to take us to Tamale. Expensive, but we really had to get on our way! Luckily, the tro cost only 10ghc more than the taxi to get into Mole and was obviously much more spacious. The driver also flew at warp speed over all the bumps which made it a fun and quick trip! We were all wind-blown (especially since a window flew out of the tro on our journey, which I though was hilarious) and absolutely covered in red dirt, making us all look much more tanned than we were, by the time we got to Tamale. Once in Tamale, the scramble to make the 6pm buses to Accra was on. Ashley, Shannon and Leah had planned to stay the night in Tamale anyway as they were heading to various locations in the morning, but Bevan, Jessica and I needed to get back to Accra sooner. After visiting the three bus stations multiple times, we discovered that all the 6pm buses were completely full up and the next bus would not be until 6:30am. This was frustrating, but we simply got the name of the hotel the others were spending the night in and headed there for the night.

This hotel was remarkably cheap (about 10ghc/night/person) and rightly so. It was very much a motel scenario, and was pretty sketchy to be honest. Looking back on it of course I cannot help but laugh at the mysterious marks on all of the walls, the broken lights, and the horrible bathrooms; but at the time, I kept joking that my last night on earth might be spent in this place! The reassuring thing though was that there were many obrunis staying at this motel, meaning that while it may have been slightly less than beautiful, it was likely safe. We walked to Sparkles, a restaurant in the culture centre, and ate some delicious spring rolls and some terrible pizza (which funnily enough cost more than our room!), and then pretty much headed to bed as we were all exhausted. Of course, the rooms were quite hot to begin with, and then the power went out, stopping the fans from blowing any air around. Also, it made it pitch black and terrifying! Luckily, the power came back on after less than an hour and I had a surprisingly relaxing sleep from which I was happy to awake the next morning!

The bus back to Accra was nice, and 11ghc cheaper than the one we took to Tamale. The catch was that there was less seat and leg room and there were Ghanaian movies blasting from two television screens on the bus the entire time, making it very difficult to sleep or relax and listen to music. Fortunately, these films were truly hilarious, and often involved ghosts, mystical snakes, and over-acting; unfortunately, they also often involved lots of loud screaming. The Ghanaians on the bus were loving these movies, and laughed constantly which was also funny so I could not complain too much. Overall, the ride back to Accra was worse than that to Tamale, but it was manageable. The worst part was experiencing the road from Kumasi to Accra. We had travelled on this road on our way up north; however, it was at night and so we were remarkably able to sleep through most of it. This road connects the two largest cities in Ghana, and yet it is unpaved and an absolute terror to drive on. There are very few street lights and the terrain is so bumpy that you literally fly inches out of your seat every couple of minutes; this continues for about 2 hours. This is amazing to me since it connects the two busiest places in the country. Since it was the last stretch of our trip, our time spent on this road seemed like an eternity and when we hit the smoothly paved roads of Accra I nearly cried with relief! The three of us finished off a long day with a much-needed trip to Eddy’s pizza (the best in town if you ask me) where I demolished an entire 10 inch pizza all to myself; I regret nothing.

This Mole trip was a big one; the planning of it was stressful, and the journey to and from the park were long and uncomfortable. However, I had experiences this weekend that I would not trade for anything. Seeing elephants in the wild is something I never thought I would be able to do, and it was truly remarkable. Even just relaxing by the pool and getting to watch some of the Olympics was worth all the trouble of getting there and back. This weekend was very tiring and exhilarating and ultimately one of the most memorable of my life. It was a perfect last trip to take in Ghana, and now I am trying to hang on to every last day I have in this country. I am absolutely thrilled to be able to see my friends and family and home country in ten days (can anyone say Tim Hortons?), but it will be so strange to leave this life that we have created a world away. Here’s to a great final week!