“There’s hot and then there’s just ridiculous….”

In order to get the 8 am bus to Tamale we got up early to head to the bus station. I got my first opportunity to haggle with a cab driver for the fare to the station. As I had no idea what it should cost I basically just offered about half of what the driver asked for and worked from there. We got a rate of 25,000 cedis (about $3.50 CDN) for all four of us which was ok I think. At the bus station I had some rice and beans with some spice added to it. So 8 am rolled around and our bus was yet to arrive. Louie informed us that they never leave on time so this was nothing out of the ordinary. The bus was only and hour and a half late and we quickly loaded our bags. The bus was similar of a yellow school bus with an extra fold down seat that went in the aisle. Luckily for me the seat across the aisle was broken so no one was sitting beside me. When I say broken I do not mean removed for repairs. I mean broken as in no longer welded to the floor and free to slide around as the bus moved. No one else seemed to think this was a big deal so when in Rome. Well as the bus pulled out it was apparent that the bus driver was intent on making up lost time. He quickly got up to speed and began weaving his was out of the city. Any time the bus would slow down or spot a rush of women would come up the bus window with produce on their heads trying to sell everything from mangoes to frozen yogurt to toothbrushes. One interesting thing is that nearly everyone drinks out of these 500 ml water sachets termed pure water. It is kind of like a small milk bag with water in it that you bite the corner off of and suck the water out. It is a convenient source of relatively safe water. I do wonder though how they manage to keep them cool.

Oh yeah by the way it is really hot. I mean really HOT. Like 38 to 40 degrees Celsius. The crazy thing is I see lots of people wearing toques with really big pompoms on top. I don’t understand. Don’t get me wrong I think pompoms on toques is a great idea and should really be brought back to main stream toque wearers everywhere. But toques in 40 degree weather that’s just wrong.

The only stop or slow down the bus makes is to either avoid a car or to not hit one of the goats or chickens that seem to be roaming around everywhere. There are literally goats everywhere you turn to. I want to know who owns these goats and how they keep track. Or maybe it is the goats keep track of who their owners are? Who knows anyways there are lots of goats here.

Eventually the bus makes it out of the city and now the driver really tries to make up lost time. He is passing on the shoulder, passing over hills, on curves in the road basically constantly. I thought I had an interesting bus ride in Jamaica but this one puts it to shame. The bus stopped a few times along the way and had some maintenance done in Kumasi where I had my first encounter with fufu. Fufu is basically cassava root (think tapioca) that is boiled that pounded until it is of doughy consistency. It is really doughy like uncooked bread dough. You eat it with your hands so it gets a bit messy. It was served in a big ball in a peanut soup. If it wasn’t for the good soup I’m not sure if I would have gotten through it. I think it is a bit of an acquired taste. Overall it was pretty good though.

One thing along the ride that surprised me was the greenery. Ghana is really green. Lots of palms and baobab trees and grassy undergrowth not the typical desolate picture of Africa. Although it did die down a bit as we headed further north. The bus ride was a total of 12 hours which was kind of intense. When we arrived in Tamale we made our way to the guest house we had reservations at only to find out that they did not keep them. Luckily another place in town was free so we stayed there. Tomorrow I start work with Community Water and Sanitation Agency.

Take care and God Bless,
Jason