Mole - In English!

The Mole Trip[TM]


Well... The vacation was nothing short of being great.

Part of this was of course due to the company of these wonderful women. That is Trine (N/S), Michelle (USA) and Tui (AUS).


The trip was planned so that we would follow the main roads through the West of Ghana up to Mole National Park, from where we would take the no-so-main-roads east of The River Volta.
Going from Buduburam to Mole was part fairly good surfaced road, partly dirt road which made us ever so happy that we rented a 4x4 car.
As seen here the real danger – if any – would not as much lie in the dirt roads as in the Ghanaean driving culture. As for our driver no complaint can be made...



And after a 12 hours drive we arrived at Mole Motel. This is the view from the Motel the morning after the arrival.


Another view from a viewpoint just in front of the motel. Occasionally elephants could be observed taking their baths in the pond – apart from all the other animals in the park.



And here they are. Just after lunch it would please these young gentlemen to have their bath – much to our as apparently their pleasure.



At first we were really amazed to discover that the war hogs would graze just outside our door (I have to say I was a bit cautious to begin with, as these animals looks quite a lot like boars). But since the did so all the time the amazement stagnated.



Going into the park in our big Toyota. I have to admit that it reminded me a little too much of a trip to Legoland, just to sit in the car and watch these amazing animals. However some of the girls chose the truck body as viewpoint which must have given them a much nicer view.
Here is a baboon in his natural environment.



Several species of gazelle-like deer could be observed. This is either a water buck or a cob. I never learned to tell the difference.





And this is how a track in a national park looks like. Curiously enough the only time the driver felt it necessary to turn on the four wheel drive was when he was on an almost ferocious conversation on his cell phone. Professionalism?



What really was the greatest thing about the whole vacation was by far the quietness. This picture could illustrate that – the only sound would be the sound of us and grasshoppers.
The day after we saw a big elephant up close at this pond.





The motel seen from the plains.



Crocodile – Not the largest version, but still: I would not swim here!!



What is really the natural habitat of the baboon? The place we saw most baboons was curiously enough in the dump of one of the villages in the park...




And here they are... The elephants are as amazing in their natural habitat as one could expect. Amazing animals. It seems all their activities goes really slow – But why would the be in any hurry? The only thing they really have to fear is the guns of the park rangers – And there has never been any need to loosen a single shot...




After two really relaxing days in Mole National Park it was time to go to the Volta region. That meant a whole day of less-inspiring driving – for 220 km on dirt roads like this...



The drive would take us to Hohoe where we would stay in an not improperly hotel called Mountain Paradise.
With his usual unimpressedness our driver Nana would tell us “We'll climb that mountain tomorrow” - I have not felt so happy ever since I came to Ghana.



And as said so done.
The morning after we took the car to a village on the mountain side and walked the last bit to the top. The quietude and chill was – I have no words!!



And on top of the world we would find a rusty cross – For the first time in Ghana I found the Christian symbol somehow in it's right place.




Well down of the mountain we drove to the nearby monkey sanctuary in which we got to hand-feed monkeys with bananas. Yup, as cliché it ever may seem monkeys love bananas.
It's Tui to the right and the monkey to the left... :-)



And as our tour de Ghana was to an end we would swing by the great dam that provides 60% of all of Ghana's power.
Really not the greatest of the trip's experiences but helped a lot by our guide – a very lovely old man who was pleased to answer our questions.


And then I could not resist myself... This is Nana and the Toyota Hilux D-4D.



I have to admit that when I first learned that my international driving license would not be able to reach me until after the trip, I was disappointed to say the least.
I had truly looked forward to drive the car.
But for various reasons I am glad that things turned out the way they did.
For one thing there is no way the girls would have respected my driving. I have to admit that every now and then the roads was quite rough. But as Nana was professional the roads was to blame rather than the driver – a situation that may have been different if I was to drive.
I am quite sure that Nana also prevented us from being stopped at all the police barriers as well as he would save us money on various haggling situations etc.
Finally Nana knew places like The Mountain Paradise as well as the state of the roads in relation to what the car could handle and still provide some comfort to the passengers.
All in all Nana saved us time (we might have struggled to find the way, and his skills on the road is of course so much better than mine), was able to be quiet when we liked him to as well as to joke with us when we were in that mode...
In addition I could actually relax during the driving in contrast to being devastated from being constantly observant.
- And it is always nice to have a trusted local by the hand, when you are travelling a foreign country.