The Trip North

We woke up early, at 5:00 a.m. to catch our bus North to Tamale.  After some ambiguity with how we would actually get to the bus station, we found a member of the family who led us from the house to the nearest road where we could hail a taxi.

In the pitch darkness, I made a very important discovery.  In Ghana, the side of the road often ends with a sewage channel that is only covered in certain locations.  Not know this fact and not being able to see anything, I took a step back when the taxi was coming and I landed in the gutter.  Thankfully, it was not too deep, it was dry and I was not seriously hurt.  After this incident, we swiftly moved toward the STC bus station in Accra.

The bus station also held a few surprises as I discovered how large the 10 Cedi note actually is.  Many merchants simply refused to accept it when I was buying things for only a few Pesewas?  So, I had money but still could not effectively buy things like water, snacks or food without smaller change. While waiting for the bus, I learned that a Chop bar is simply a very basic restaurant, and how to drink water out of a small sealed plastic bag by biting off the corner.  I’m still learning how to do it right without splashing myself.
I then got on the bus and was quite impressed high quality of the bus.  The two taxis that I had been in were mostly over 10 years old, had varying numbers of dents, working lights, and paint.  I doubt that they would have passed in an Auto Inspection but they were still driving.   However, contrary to my expectation, the bus had Air conditioning, a TV, cushioned seats and quite a good suspension.  The limiting factor now became the quality of the roads on the journey.  These were quite good even though there were localized patches where traffic had to slow significantly to avoid bumps, potholes and cracks. 

On the journey I also had several ‘Firsts’.  I learned how delicious a fresh lemon juice tastes that you squeeze out of a lemon that has a wedge cut out of it.  I learned to value the refreshing quality of fan ice and the key steps that you have to go through in order to use the washroom in Ghana.  Finally, I watched my first Nigerian movies on the ride and observed the transition from the lush thick green vegetation that stretched for many kilometers while we were in the South but which gradually became more sparse the more we approached Tamale.

We finally arrived in Tamale at around 8:30 without much trouble and checked into the Catholic Guest House with In-Country-Training set to begin the next day.