Roadtrip: Across Burkina - from one corner to another

On Saturday morning, we pulled out of Bobo around 8am – and headed for Ouagadougou. The first two hours were excellent: great road, little traffic, beautiful Saturday morning sun, great conversation and a few podcasts. We even picked up some pumpkins to cart back to Cape Coast!

The second half got a bit rougher: bad road (expected), heavier traffic, and a 12,000CFA ($24, thankfully) speeding ticket after getting caught in a speed trap just outside Ouaga. Still, we arrived in Ouaga after 4.5 hours on the road in good shape…and hungry.

We met two Nutriset colleagues – Virginie and Pauline – at a great French style resto called ‘Le Verdoyant’. A friend of a friend who recently moved from Singapore – Martin – joined us. We loved the wood fired pizzas…and homemade ice cream – what would be our last French-influenced meal before returning to the less exciting British-influenced cuisine of Ghana. It was so nice to spend that hour together with good food and good company.

It took us 2.5 hours or so to drive to Po – on the Ghanaian border – that afternoon. Great roads and relatively light traffic. We all marveled at the quality of the light on the landscape and villages zipping by as the sun sank low. 

From Po, we drove West on dirt roads for about 30 min to get to the entrance to the Nazinga Game Ranch. The sun was just setting when we pulled up to the Campement d’Elephant hotel…which looked totally abandoned and past its prime. As we drove slowly into the dark, dusty and overgrown complex, we noticed some movement in the parking area…and were informed by the parking guard that the place was indeed open – but they only turn the generator on if/when a guest arrives…and we were the only guests that night! The kids said the place reminding them of Tower of Terror – an abandoned hotel that had outlived its glory days and almost looked haunted when we arrived in the twilight.

In the light of the morning sunlight Sunday morning, the complex looked more charming than haunted. 

We had planned to drive in to the park that morning, but the grass was 10-15 feet high and we realized the chance of spotting elephants was so slim that spending more time on a bad dirt road only to look out both windows at walls of grass would not make much sense. So we walked around the entrance to the park and complex, loaded up and drove back to Po…where Heather guided us on a 90 minute tour of local villages via the guidebook. 

Roadtrip: Border Crossing and Baobabs

The drive from Wa to Bobo – across the northern border between Ghana and Burkina Faso – was as memorable as any drive I’ve ever made…very likely *the* most unique drive ever! We were on the road by 8am and made our way through Wa to the road to Hamile (the border town on the Ghanaian side). At that point, we seemed to have already crossed the invisible line between mostly cars and trucks in the south and mostly bikes and motorbikes in the north…so navigating rush hour traffic feels a bit more like paddling down (or up) a river than driving.

The first hour or so flew by on smooth, paved, relatively sparse roads. We passed some impressive Baobab trees, which have always held a special place in my heart thanks to The Little Prince. 

I tried to figure out how much of the road to the border was paved beforehand, but never got enough detail to really know what to expect. So I wasn’t all that surprised to see the road suddenly end and turn red and bumpy. The first hour on the red dirt road was totally enjoyable…with only the occasional motorbike or lorry coming the other direction and huge billowing clouds of red dust kicking up behind us. After an hour, I started wondering how much further away the border could be: at 15-20 mph miles are long and hard earned.

When we finally rolled in to Hamile, we cheered at the sight of the ‘ByeBye Safe Journey’ sign that marked the end of Ghana. Crossing an international border in interior Africa on a red dusty road can only be described as ‘epic’. 

A few passport stamps and a good chat with some happy border guards on both sides of the border and we were in Burkina. It is amazing how much of a psychological effect an imaginary and arbitrary line between two countries can have. We talked with the kids about colonialism in Africa and how maps were drawn like a parlor game. As an aside, we’ve also had several discussions about the slave trade and tribes capturing interior tribes to sell as slaves on the coast.

The road on the Burkina side was spectacular (I know from experience that it is a true anomaly!): smooth and tarred and empty. We drove a few miles down the road and stopped for a picnic. One little boy biked by our car, stopped and came over to greet all of us with a bow and a hand shake. He wanted nothing more than to greet us – which we all found heartwarming (even if the kids were a bit puzzled, “But why did he bow?”).

Heather started driving after the stop, but there were simply too many sights slipping by unphotographed for her liking, so we switched back and she snapped away. Having felt that same impulse, that same impression that one is moving through a 3D National Geographic magazine, I loved watching her scramble to point-and-shoot every few minutes.

After 2.5 hours of more spectacular roads through beautiful country – green is just starting to turn yellow as the wet season fades into the dry season – we arrived in the outskirts of Bobo. A few minutes later, we parked at Hotel Relax and settled in. The kids were in the pool before all our bags were in the room.

Roadtrip: Day 2 on the road

We arrived safely in Wa this afternoon after another epic day on the road. We left Mole around 11am and visited Mognori ‘eco-village’ with a local guide named Mohammed for about 90 min. The village was very memorable – even though Rock was trying not to be interested. I loved that both Rock and Hannah insisted on getting a gourd of shea butter and a shea butter soap ball from the local women. It was really a great introduction to village life for the kids and Heather. Heather – ever the mom – loved chatting with a new mother and later went back to the home to ask to hold the 3 month old child. I also loved watching Hannah interact with the kids and adults in the village. After a brief stop at the Larabanga mosque (claims to be the oldest mosque in West Africa…mud and Sudanese style) that was brief partly because we could see people descending on us with requests for money, we were on the road again. 

The first 90 min in the car we were on a dirt road of variable quality – lots of red dust. Then, we turned north toward Wa on a paved road. After an easy two hours on that road, we were in Wa – the first two letter town I think any of us have ever visited. 

 Most memorable for the day: Another 30 min conversation in the car about what it means to be poor and why it is hard. We talked a lot about what life is like when a family is living on a dollar a day per person. When we told the kids roughly what we live on by the same metric – dollars per day per person – they were shocked. That this point in the conversation came at precisely the time when we passed by young kids drinking water directly out of a dirty pond really reinforced the idea. Based on their questions, we talked about the difference between relative and absolute poverty – and about whether money makes a person happy. Such profound, meaningful conversations – that would never have come up in this way, to this effect, during any other road trip we have made as a family.

After we checked into our room at Upland Hotel in Wa, Rock quickly observed that the bathroom has the nicest toilet seat we’ve seen since we got to Ghana two months ago. While he seemed to be right once I had a chance to inspect the seat carefully, it is funny what they pick up on.

Tonight, before the kids went to sleep, Heather shared a great thought on gratitude for FHE. We talked about how “gratitude is better than guilt”…although I’m not totally sure why this is true (or even THAT it is true), but it has always rung true to me. This is something that we may just explore and try to understand through these driving conversations tomorrow – another big day…with a border crossing into Burkina Faso.

Epic Roadtrip "into the Heart of Africa" - First big day

Incredible times…days never to be forgotten…and not always easy for the kids, who refer to this as our "roadtrip into the heart of Africa."

We just finished our 2^nd full day in Mole National Park. We spent most of our time the last two days either looking for or at animals, chilling in our modest room at Mole Hotel, or eating by the pool. We’ve seen some great wildlife action: a big troop of baboons right out our back door every night and morning, green and red monkeys, wart hogs, monitor lizards, bush bucks, water bucks, and birds and bugs of all shapes, colors and sizes. So far we’ve seen no elephants…but it has been amazing otherwise...as I'm sure Heather will soon blog about!

The drive up on Friday was an epic driving day. We left Cape Coast at the crack of dawn at 5:30am – 30 min later than we hoped. The drive to Kumasi was wonderful and full of excitement and some nerves not knowing what to expect (for all of us, each in our own way). 

We hit traffic on the outskirts of Kumasi, but were in such high spirits from the thrill of new landscapes (beautiful hills and small mountains, vast horizons of trees of different heights, etc.) and the adventure of it all that it hardly phased us. We spent about 2 hours in Kumasi getting the transmission fluid changed in the Pilot at the Honda dealer there, then were off (in more traffic) and headed for Tamale.

It took us another 5-6 hours on surprisingly good roads and some great conversation to get to the village where we turned off for Mole NP. We spend the last 90 min of driving as the light softened and yellowed on a dirt road that alternated between bad and good. 

"Whoa! Check out that termite mound!" We heard this a LOT and tried to track the tallest we had seen...easily 15 feet tall, maybe more.

This stretch was particularly memorable for me because we drove past several mud hut villages bustling with evening activities. The kids and Heather were pressed at the windows soaking up totally new sights. We talked about how the families in these villages make money and food. It was one of the first times I’ve been able to really get the kids engaged in thinking about the kind of work I do and why I do it. It was magical in several ways. It was great to see Heather and Hannah trying to snap photos of the villages and termite mounds…because when I’m without them in places like that I am constantly wishing Heather and the kids could be there with me to soak it all up. To actually HAVE them with me was truly special.

After about 30 min of bliss – great light and great sights, high spirits and anticipation for our destination, lots of laughter about the bouncy and rutted dirt road – daylight started slipping away and Heather got noticeably more nervous. We always try to avoid driving at night and it was a bit unsettling to not know how much further we had.

As it turned out, the last hints of daylight had just faded when we pulled up to the entry to Mole NP. 30 min later we were hauling bags into our room and ordering dinner. Whew! 13 hours out, about 11 hours on the road, 390 miles from the Ghanaian coast to the far north. We were all exhausted…and Rock immediately started complaining about the fact that we would have to somehow log the same number of miles back to our Cape Coast Bungalow…and we weren’t even to Burkina yet! It is hard to convince a 10 year old boy about the virtues of road trips…but there were several great moments where – lost in the experience and sights / sounds / smells – he forgot entirely about being cooped up in a car.

Ghana Mama - Mom's Water Post

This post was meant to be published weeks ago: 

So, the kids have both posted about water. I believe it's my turn. Here is a short list of water-related, um, experiences I've had here:

1. Drinking:  In Morocco, Trav and I chose to accustom our gut to tap water. We paid dearly the first two weeks, but were fine the remainder of our time there. Here: we drink bottled water, or from the more colloquial 'water sachet'. We do so for health reasons, which were verified recently by a new friend here (Ghanaian) who uses a water purifier/distiller: "We drink purified water because if you don't you could easily get typhoid from tap water.". Um, yes. We will continue drinking bottled/purified water.

2. Dishes: no hot water. So I have to boil water after every meal in order to wash dishes. :) Just try THAT for a day, or a week, or....!

3. Food: I bleach (with a bleach/water solution) every item of produce that crosses the threshold of
 our home.

4. Laundry: it's done by hand (so far, hoping to change that in the next month or so); using two buckets and yes, my hands. I have been known on more than one occasion to pass off the over-flowing bag of laundry to Sobonzzee, our 'butler' of sorts. He's our maintenance contact w/ the University (the fan and lights have gone off periodically), 'know-er' of all random Ghanaian gadgets, ant-killer products, etc., and has asked if I would like help w/ laundry. Inside I screamed "Yes!", but my verbal response? "How much?".  Really, who the heck cares? I need help w/ this laundry pile!

5. Showers: (see no.2) Yes, we're taking cold showers. And,  no, I don't like it, for those of you who just had to ask the question .

6. Coconut water - to die for. Way better than Zico, people. Aaannnd it's way more fun to purchase and enjoy. Walking on a beach, coconut palms swaying in the tropical breeze, man w/ machete near a pile of freshly picked young tender coconuts, slice, slice, guzzle, crack, eat. The whole experience, friends. The whole experience. Come and see for yourself!