Mole national park, Ghana, Day 195

The first cook groups finally get to do their shopping and Christi is paired with Hu-man. They will cook while we are in the remote Mole national park and so need to shop now. I tag along as they go and buy food for 20 people for breakfast, lunch, and particularly dinner. While I’m out and about Buddha snatches my good seat at the back of the truck (which allows you to stretch out into the aisle). The etiquette for reserving seats on the Dragoman truck is somewhat arbitrary (there is no official SOP) and ranges from first come, first served to reserving a seat with one’s day pack. Buddha denies moving my bag, but it didn’t get on the worst seat (around one of the table’s but facing backwards) in the company of Sheldon Cooper and Stan Laurel – or is it Oliver Hardy; I always get them mixed up. Buddha is demonstrating some annoying passive aggressive behavior. Fortunately Sheldon cannot get a signal for his phone, so I’m spared his love-struck conversation with Miss Hong Kong.

It is 422 km from Kumasi to the remote Mole national park in northern Ghana. As we leave the city the scenery changes from the verdant rainforest of southern Ghana to the dry, dusty, hot savannah in the north of the country. Along the way we see many classic thatched-hut villages and some large termite mounds on the increasingly rutted dusty red track. And of course it’s very hot so we either put up the window and sweat or roll it down and get covered in sand. We arrive in Mole national park at 5.30 pm hot and dirty. Theoretically we’ll be camping, but a rumor is flying around the group that the motel (in whose grounds we are staying) has air-conditioned rooms available. The upgrade is an extra US$27 per night. Christi sharpens her elbows and disappears into the melee. The other passengers never stood a chance. The upgrade is not strictly in our budget, but it’s too good of an opportunity to miss. And the beds are rather comfortable. The hotel also has a bar and a swimming pool, not to mention satellite TV, while the campsite attracts warthogs and baboons. Dennis Thatcher and Thelma cook dinner. They don’t like one another, but the bangers and mash are wonderful.