Apologies everyone. I've just been really busy with wrapping up my time here.
So, where I had left off was... right before my trip up North. I wanted to see the Northern half of Ghana because it is home to the nation's best wildlife reserve. Its name is Mole National Park and, if anyone is ever in the region, I highly recommend you going up there. It is a must see for anyone who is in Ghana, or one of the surrounding countries for that matter. I loved it. I started by leaving Accra on a Thursday morning.
I took a bus up to Kumasi and spent the night with a host-brother-in-law. To be had never been to a majority Muslim area before. There were mosques everywhere and most of the women wore head scarfs. Disembarking from the bus, I met a kid named Muhammad Zakaria. Hehonest, I can't remember his name, my sister just instructed me to call him 'pastor'. I feel bad about not knowing, but I did genuinely attempt to pry his name out of her when putting his number into my phone. His wife is the one at my house with the new born baby. She normally is living with him up in Kumasi, but came down to Accra in order to get the help of her mother during the first few months of the infant's life. Because of their situation, I now understand why Cid's daughter-in-law wanted to move back to Germany to be with her family. American families are just so isolating. Here in Ghana, a family is made up of around a hundred members and they all keep very close contact with each other, whether that means calling to check in on you or coming over to spend a few nights. I no longer understand why we choose to live in such isolation. These giant families keep things really welcoming and interesting.
After leaving my brother-in-law's, I took a bus up to Temale. That's the largest city in the North and any travel in the top half of the country stops though it before going on. It was an interesting place. I works a a guide for students who come to Temale; simpling meeting us at the bus station and taking us around(interesting enough, he did the same thing for 5 other students from my program on that weekend alone). He took me to a famous boabab tree, to the oldest mosque, a palace and to his community where I ate with his family. Oh he also found me a place to sleep. I slept at the police barracks. Temale's police station rents out extra rooms to travelers. Nothing special, but it got the job done.
The next morning, it was off to Larabanga(the city next to the park). I found a guest house operated by some very highly recommended brothers. It was really cool because I was able to sleep in a mud hut(nicer than it sounds). After that, it was off to the park. My pictures really explain the rest. We all packed into 4x4s and went out into the bush to check out the wildlife.
Then in the morning I headed back(20 hours of bus riding).
Last days, and my host made me a great birthday dinner and gave a wonderful send off to the airport.