Phase I of our Mole National Park vacation – A drive north to Tamale where our landing spot was the Asempa Lodge – February 18, 2013
PLAN B
The original plan involved a one hour plane trip Tamale, an overnight stay and two and a half hour drive into Mole National Park where we hoped to spot elephants. Despite the best made plans of Bob, who dutifully purchased plane tickets in advance, those flights were canceled a day before our departure due to a fuel shortage. And so, Plan B was put into action. Eric picked up a spare tire, loaded the four of us and our bags into Mr. Twister and we sped north.
PARTING SHOTS
Giddy with anticipation, we caught a few images of Kumasi on our way out of town. The Sweet Pee Drinks Court (cause & effect?) and what Camille called the “Sock Sistas.”
ON THE ROAD
There were many check point along the way in which we were engulfed in vendors. At one such stop a dozen women with pans of bright orange peeled carrots surrounded the travelers – a different type of “carrot top”. Another common sight was loads of produce such as this tro tro (over)loaded with oranges.
BLACK VOLTA
We crossed two of the three rivers that feed the Volta River. We crossed the Black Volta first – and it looked kind of black.
WHITE VOLTA
A little further on up the road, Eric piloted us across the White Volta (which looked kind of white by comparison to the Black). The Volta River was turned into the largest reservoir in the world (by surface area) by the completion of the Akosombo Dam in the sixties. Which generated a lot of electricity, enough to smelt aluminum ore among other things. Which brought VALCO (the Volta Aluminium Company) and subsequently Bob’s father and family to Ghana as well.
NARROW AND TALL
The road was actually quite good until we got closer to Tamale and then it turned into a narrow pot-holed strip across dry red earth. At this point, the traffic took to the dirt “shoulders” which were a better ride. We purposely timed our visit for the dry season so we would have a better chance of seeing elephants close to the water holes near the Mole Hotel in the park. It seemed the further we went, the taller the termite mounds got until they began to brush against the power lines!
DESTINATION, HO!
And then we were there. Eric had shaved half an hour off the six-hour drive and crawled from the car, happy to have arrived at the Asempa Lodge where Sadia (one quite small woman took) two of the heaviest bags and showed us to our rooms.
ART ACROSS THE ROAD
Bob took a little walk to stretch his legs and caught these images of another giant termite mount and dry savanna, stubbled and burned ground.
HOME FOR A NIGHT, NOW WHERE’S THAT DONKEY
Camille wandered the grounds and reported finding something resembling horse manure behind our room. Bob reported having read something about a donkey so we started keeping our eyes and ears open.
ART IN THE ROOMS
We loved the simple open, round rooms at Asempa and were pleasantly surprised to find expressive African images painted on the insides of those walls.
BIRD WATCHING AT DAWN
Bob and Camille always bring a birdbook and their trusty 15 year old binoculars on trips to add species to their joint bird list. Sitting in Asempa’s courtyard one morning yielded eight new birds.
BETTER TIMES
One of the rooms stood roofless, victim of a fire and the swimming pool had seen better days. But the staff was friendly and helpful and we hope the lodge rises to its feet to flourish once more.
NOW, ABOUT THAT DONKEY
All good things must come to an end and we suspected the alleged donkey may have met his or her maker after a fatal bout of indigestion. Donkeys just are not equipped with the means to digest plastic bags as evidenced by these photos.
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[Latest] * [Troutsfarm] * [Green Ranch] * [FS2BD February] * [Journey to Asempa] * [Mole National Park] * [First Two Safaris] * [Final Safari] * [Meeting Savannah Plants] * [Mbanayili Village] * [ Tamale]
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