Elephants, Jack Nicholson and Rice

Hello all!

well this past week i went to see elephants!!! Now as relatively simple as that sounds, it wasn't. Far from it actually. Basically if i didn't see elephants it might have been the worst weekend of my life, but since i did see elephants it was amazing!

It all began last Monday when Lauren and i tried to go and by tickets to the nearest town near the park. There weren't any left. We had been planning to go on Wednesday. They told us that they had some middle seats left on the Thursday morning un-airconditioned bus (i should probably mention that this trip is between 12-15 hours depending on the driver). We really wanted to see the elephants so we said sure!

Anyway, we get to the bus station at 7 am cause our bus was supposed to be at 8. 8 rolls around, no bus. 9 rolls around, no bus, until finally at 12 pm the bus comes. We had to just sit around the bus station cause all the people would tell us is "it will come". So we sat at the hot bus station for 5 hours.

Anywho, lauren and i had a premonition that our bus ride wasn't going to be very comfortable when we noticed that not all the passangers' luggage fit into the storage under the bus. We kept seeing people lug large suitcases and huge bags of rice into the actual bus. We also realized that by "middle seat" they didn't just mean non window. It meant that the aisle had wobbly fold out seats that only reached a third way up your back. So when we got on the bus i couldn't put my feet all the way on the floor cause there was a bag of rice there, i also couldn't lean back cause there was no where for most of my back and my head to go. so i had to sit up straight. for 15 hours. with my backpack on my lap. couldn't really sleep. it was not cool....

In addition to the cramped conditions, are bus driver was a bit reckless in driving and it started to rain. He slowed down after we passed our SECOND over turned truck.....

So at 4 am we reached Tamale. The bus to a Larabanga (the village next to the national park) was leaving at like 5ish so we just walked to the bus station and waited around for another bus. At 5:30 we were off (luckily with actual seats this time) we were so exhausted we didn't even notice the bus ride was 3 hours long on dirt roads. Actually some like 20 year old guy fell asleep on me and i could have cared less : ).

So when we reached Larabanga we were met by some guys who managed to convince us to stay at a house as a "homestay". they told us that it benefitted the community more if we stayed with community members. By community he meant his sister. So we quickly left and found a guesthouse to stay at. I use the term lousely. Actually there were termite hills on our "ceiling". i have pictures... it was definately an experience! But the owner was really nice and some of his family gave us a tour around the village. They have the oldest mosque in ghana. it was actually really pretty. totally made of mud and such. it's apparently the only 100% muslim village in ghana.

The next morning we took motorbikes up to the park. It was a walking tour so we just wandered until we found animals. So we basically walked around for 2.5 hours without seeing anything besides antelope (which are basically deer and not all that interesting....) Finally we saw elephants going to this watering hole. It was really hot and they all wanted to cool off. I think we saw like 20. it was an entire herd! At one point in time i was talking to Lauren and we turned around and there was an elephant basically charging at us. we didn't run. we treated it as a picture taking opportunity ; ). lucikly the elephant took a sharp left and just went into the water. It was honestly one fo the most amazing things i've ever seen. they're so graceful!

After that. we caught motorbikes back to Laragbanga to get our bags. Then we took motorbikes to another town about an 45 away. From there we just caught a bus that was leaving for Tamale. this ride was not as pleasent as the first one. it was slower, more crowded and seemed not to have shock absorbers. luckily i hadn't eaten anything : )

Basically the rest of the trip went like clockwork. The hotel we stayed at kinda reminded us of a scene in the Shjning though... it looked like there were blood smears on are walls and i felt like jack nicholson was gonna show up any moment. Anyway, i love you guys and when i get my camera i'll try to post some pictures! love ya!