Day 4: December 30th

So MAYBE I was in over my head when I decided I was going to track my holiday trip on this blog...seeing as though it is currently the end of February...but I figure I kind of left ya'll hanging, so I'll do my best to keep this thing goin!

We left off with falling asleep in a tree house...

We woke up FREEZING and TIRED, BUT ready for a new adventure. Our guide came to lead us back to the office in order to be picked up by a car to go back to Wechau. In Wechau, we headed straight for the bus (there was only one). Once a week is market day in Wa (The Marketday company that you order from on the pretty piece of paper that comes home with your student from school is QUITE different than the marketday in Wa). Small towns from all over join on the bus from Wechau to Wa, because THIS is the day of the week when all the supplies come from the south. So things you can't get out of your own backyard will arrive on market day. Lucky for us, that was today. We got on the bus in a fairly comfortable seat. There were about 30 rows, each with 5 seats (when you fold down the seat in the aisle). Today, for market day, if you could fit on the bus, you had a ride. Of COURSE the mate on the bus is going to let on as many people as will fit. Each new person is another Cedi (about $1)! So our rows (with no aisles) of 5, turned into rows of 7 or 8, with many people sitting on the stairs and on top of seats. With no way to get out of our current position, we were quite happy this was a short hour and a half bus ride. SHHEEEESH! If you're claustrophobic, don't try to travel in Ghana, you won't survive. Happily hopping off the bus in Wa, we made a bee-line for a tro-tro to Sawla which is about 2-3 hours west of Larabanga (which is 30 minutes south of Elephants!). A few hours later we were in Sawla, where we were told to sit and wait because the tro-tro 'was coming'. Three hours later we got into the tro-tro that took us down a dusty, bumpy and...DUSTY road to Larabanga. Larabanga...a 100% muslim populated town and the home of THEE oldest mosque in Ghana. It is also our destination for the night. We had read all about the Salia Brothers Guest House in Larabanga. If they have a room open, they will arrange for you to get to and from Mole National Park (elephants), as well as provide you with dinner and a personal guide to show you around the small town of Larabanga. When we got off the tro-tro, a man walked straight up to us and said, "You're probably staying with me." Apparently, everytime a tro-tro comes in, the Salia Brothers Guest House sends a representative to the stop to pick up any foreigners. Well, he was right! We followed him about 20 yards to the guest house where we were relieved to find that, yes, there WAS an open room and we weren't going to have to sleep on the street.

Please take a moment to breathe a sigh of relief...

The Salia Brothers Guest House is a 6-roomed + kitchen/bath mud-with tin roof house. Three of the rooms belong to the "staff" (family) that runs the guest house. That leaves three rooms (each with a bed and a table and a lightbulb hanging from the ceiling) and the roof for guests. Bathroom is separated into two small rooms. One with a hole (covered by a wooden slab) and a basket for paper, the other with a bench and a bucket [Bathroom and shower]. Kristy and I were pumped. CULTURAL EXPERIENCE!! We got right down to business, playing cards with the couple from Holland (who had seen elephants and wildlife earlier that day) and Yaya (the son of one of the Salia brothers). We had dinner cooked to order, which was fabulous, arranged our taxi to the park for the morning, then fell asleep to the resounding call to prayer.

Day 5 to come soon :)