Thanksgiving Travels
After a great Thanksgiving in the Upper East and a weekend in
Tamale, I traveled back to Bodada along the infamous Eastern Corridor Road. Connecting
Accra to Tamale via the Volta Region, the ECR is a traditional African highway.
You'll experience coastal savannah, the might Volta River and its accompanying
valleys, the mountains of central Volta, and the foothills that lead you into
the great North Ghanaian savannah. Contracts to pave the road have been signed
for years, but more than half of the road is surfaced with dirt. It is
considered by many to be one of the worst major roads in Ghana. Here's how it
went:
MONDAY: I woke up
at 4:00am and got a ride to the taxi station. Then I walked from the main
station to the Metro Mass station; I arrived at 4:45. The first bus only had
seating for the first 4 rows of people waiting, and I was in the 6th row. The
rest of the tickets were sold as standing room only, but I didn't want to stand
for 2+ hours in the early morning. I left the station at 7:00 on the 2nd bus,
and we arrived in Yendi at 9:10. Yendi is not a known as a peaceful town because local chieftaincy disputes have
resulted in gunfire as recently as Christmas (and probably more recently).
Peace Corps doesn't let volunteers spend the night there, but I didn't have any
problems walking to the Bimbilla station or waiting for my next car.
The Benz (atro-tro made my Mercedes that fits about 30
people) left Yendi at 10:15. At 10:22, the car broke down. We waited 45 min for
another Benz to come, and when it showed up there were already 8 people in the
car. I didn't want to push and shove my way into one of the seats, so I boarded
last and had to stand for 45 min until enough people got off and I had a seat.
The car arrived in Bimbilla at 1:40pm, and I found a car going to Nkwanta.
Unfortunately no one told me that this car was the 4th car
in the queue going south. Most cars that go south stop at Damanko (on the border
of the Northern and Volta Regions),or Kpassa (firmly in Volta), but this one
was going straight to Nkwanta so they put me in it. After an hour, I realized
what was happening, but I had already bought my ticket. I wasn't going to be
able to make it home in one night, and I had only one option that didn't cost
too much money. I called up Linda, a Health PCV in Jumbo, just south of Kpassa,
and she graciously accepted me as a guest. At 3:40 we left Bimbilla, and I eventually arrived in Jumbo
at 5:45pm. Linda cooked quiche. It had real Velveeta cheese in it. And she had
an extra bed for me to sleep in. Linda is awesome, and her site is good. Highly
recommended.
TUESDAY: I woke
up at 5:00am and left Linda's house by 6:15; I walked to the station in Kpassa.
I boarded another Benz heading to Hohoe at 7:00, but the car didn't leave until
9:50. Thankfully I had plenty of "Wait, Wait, Don't Tell Me" podcasts
to listen to, and I'm now caught up on current events. After sweet-talking the
driver into taking me into town, we arrived in Jasikan at 12:30pm. I lucked out and my car to Bodada left right
away. By 12:50, I was finally home, and I was greeted with rain.
Thoughts: First,
the road isn't that bad. In the
Northern Region between Yendi and Damanko it is pretty rough, and I can see how
it would be even worse in the rainy season. Honestly though, it isn't that much
worse than the section between Hohoe and Jasikan.
Second, I think it might be possible to go
from Tamale to Hohoe in 1 day, but one would have to be lucky. By catching the
first bus, I think you could get to Bimbilla by 11:00. Then by taking cars to
Damanko or Kpassa and then to Nkwanta instead of getting a straight car to
Nkwanta, it might be possible to get to Hohoe by 6:00pm. However, this assumes
that you get cars relatively quickly, 7:00 or 8:00 is probably more realistic.
Third, Northern Ghana is hotter than the South, but it's also drier. I was
sweating constantly, but it dries so it's not nearly as oppressive.
Fourth, my site is awesome. In my opinion,
equatorial jungle mountains are superior to savannah grasslands (In other
words, the jungle where Simba lived with Timon and Pumba > the Pride Rock
plains).
Fifth, podcasts and music make traveling here bearable. I would have struggled
a lot more without my iPod.
