We departed from Kumasi pretty much as planned. With trucks and vans loaded, we made our way North out of the city. It was a pleasure to get out on the open road, beyond the city limits and see the Ghanaian countryside. Ghana is a beautiful country. Our trek took us on a single straight ribbon of road that cut through a seemingly endless horizon of green. We made few stops: a roadside stand for oranges, bananas and mangoes and lunch in the town of Kintampo. I spent much of the time resting, sleeping off and on, and reading. We listened to some Ghanaian music from the 1970's that our sound man, Chris, had collected. Chris has study Ghanaian music for years with a focus on drums in the Northern regions, specifically Dagomba. According to Chris, Dagomba drumming, which is a complex and multi-voiced music, utilizes entire villages as part of their performances. Chris has been studying Dagomba music for more than ten years, and studied with masters from Tamale in the states. However, this would mark his first trip to Ghana. Chris has some hopes, given the chance, to visit Tamale. We'll all keep our fingers crossed but we're not counting on it.
After about six hours, we turned off the main road. Our last two hours would be along a bumpy dirt road. We paused for a few moments in order to take all the bulbs out of our lighting gear before continuing on. There was fear that that the bumpy road would break the lamps. It's a good thing we stopped. The road was very rough, and it didn't help that we were driving between 50 and 60 miles per hour. Nonetheless, everyone’s’ spirits were high. It felt great to be so far from home.
Sunset in Mole National Park.
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