After the usual tasks to start the day and get ready to move on, we left Anomabo Beach Resort and drove the short distance to Cape Coast. Seeing as I had been there a couple of time before I drove straight to the castle with out any problems. We parked the Landy at the castle wall and gathered our things. As I firmly closed the rear door and snapped shut the padlock I casually asked Verena for the keys. The reply was not what I wanted to hear, “There in the back”. It was raining as I stood there in disbelief, as I had spent a lot of time and effort in improving the security of the Landy, not thinking one day that I would have to break into it. The security guy saw the problem and provided me with a short steel rod, which slid inside the padlock clasp and after some struggle managed to break the lock. Unfortunately in the struggle the stable lock bracket also got badly bent and had to be repaired before it would close again. I then used one of the side door padlocks to secure the rear door and lock the side door using the standard door lock. Finally we entered the castle and arranged to do the guided tour. It did not start for a while and so we were showed to the museum to pace the time. We were about half way through when one of the guys came to collect us to start the tour. Our guide started by explaining the history of the castle and who had occupied it and what work they had done. We then toured the dungeons were the slaves were kept in over crowded and unsanitary conditions. The guide explained that over the years the excrement had built up to such an extent that half a meters worth had to be exuviated so they could find the original cobbled floor. We then toured the battlements and other rooms of the castle along with the door of no return. So called because once the slaves passed through it on their way to the awaiting ship they would never again step foot in Ghana. After the tour we walked down the road to the internet café an spent an hour there checking and writing e-mail, before returning to the castle and having lunch at the restaurant next door. After lunch we left Cape Coast and drove north to Kakum National Park. By the time we got there it was late afternoon and we asked if we could camp there. But the guy gave a quiet a high price and so we decided we would be better off in the lodge we had passed early along the road. So after arranging to go on the first tour of the next day, we drove back down the road to Hans Cottage Botel and took the cheapest room they had. The cool thing about this place was that the restaurant/bar and a couple of seating areas were on stilts set above a small lake. This gave great views of the birds roosting in the trees around dusk and the odd small crocodile skulking around. We had dinner in the restaurant that evening and then went back to the room, where I spent an hour or so working on website stuff before going to bed.
We woke, packed our gear up in the room and went to breakfast (included in the price). We downed breakfast, left Hans Cottage Botel and drove straight to the park. As we had been told to turn up at 07:30. This turned out to be rubbish as no one was around at first and we didn’t start the tour until 09:00. I was not too impressed with our guide, but I did enjoy the canopy walk. Which is a set of rope bridges suspended high in the trees, the total length of which is 300m and at some points are 30m above the forest floor. From up there you got some great views across the park, but unfortunately we didn’t see any wild life. After we had a short walk back through the forest to the entrance. We then jumped back into the Landy and first drove back to Cape Coast and then westward to Takoradi. There we fuelled up and bought a new pad lock for the rear door. We then drove round for a while to see a bit of the place and managed to get lost and eventually got back to the main road via Sekondi. We then continued westward and to Busua. Busua is a small fishing village, with a couple of old colonial builds and a few beach resorts. As you walk around it has a general run down, uncared for, feel to the place. Which is in contrast to the clean modern beach resort on the edge of the village. We stayed at the Alaska Beach Resort as we could camp right next to the beach. After setting camp we went for a walk around and done a little shopping. We then wandered out to restaurant on the headland run by a German lady. There we sat chatting to her for a while and learnt why she had decided to stay in Ghana and her general outlook on things as someone who lives in the country. I was surprised to hear that she thought even her hired staff would rob her blind if she was to leave the place to go on holiday. But also learnt the useful tip that if snakes are killing your chickens, get some pigs and then they stay away. Apparently pigs are quiet good a killing snakes. We returned back to the camp and stuff half a water melon each for dinner, before I spent the evening working on website stuff and Verena read, until it was time for bed.
woke, and I decided to wake myself up with a swim. After the refreshing dip I toddled off and had a shower and then joined Verena for breakfast. Over breakfast we made a plan to drive north towards Kumasi and see how far we would get. As we had heard that the road was bad and we didn’t know how much progress we would make. So we packed the Landy, paid the bill, and left Busua. We first came to Agona Junction, were we took the road north toward Tarkwa. This first stretch of road was fine, and we made good time. But as we continued on our way via Dunkwa the road returned to piste for long stretches. This was because of lots of road works all along the road. As we drew closer to Kumasi we decided it would be better to turn off and go to Lake Bosumtwi, and there look for some where to stay the night. So at Obuasi we turned off and made our way to the village off Abonu. As we descended the hill toward the village, we saw some great views of the lake, and could all the way to the other side. In the village it self there was not a great deal, but just as we entered we spotted signs for a hotel and a guest house. We had info on the hotel from Verena’s guide book. So we went to check it out. The rooms where very expensive and there was no option of camping. So we drove back to the village and followed signs for the Lake Point Guest House. After weaving our way through the outskirts of the village and along the lake side some way we found it. After a quick look around and a look at the huts for hire we decided to take one. As they were really nice and there was no place to came except on the side on the track. It was a great place with the huts set back up the hill, to give you a good view of the lake, and a garden/beach area on the lakeside. After moving our stuff up to the hut, we had a chat with the owners, and had dinner there. By the time we were finished it was dark so we retired to the hut, were I done a little website work on the laptop and Verena read, before we went to bed.
We slept late, slowly packed our gear and had some watermelon for breakfast. After paying and saying goodbye to the owners, we left Lake Point Guest House and drove towards Kumasi. Along the way stopping to pick up some dough balls, as the rest of breakfast. It was not long after entering the outskirts of Kumasi that we were crawling our way along in the traffic. Eventually, we found our way to the Presbyterian Guest House, drove in and checked it was OK to camp there. It was no problem, and after a quick tour of the place we moved the Landy onto the grass. We then decided we would walk down and explore the famous Kejetia Market. As we descended the hill toward it, you could see that its reputation as one of the biggest and most chaotic markets in Africa was well disserved. It was spread over a massive area and only seamed to stop where the buildings had hemmed it in. As we entered the market area our senses we assaulted by the number of people, the colourful stalls, and trying not to get run down by Tro-tros. Amongst the chaos, we managed to do some food shopping before just taking a general wander round to see what else was on sale. To find our way out we resorted to following some train tracks we came across, as we had seen them earlier near where we entered. Once out of the market area we found our way back through the streets and just before the last turning back to the guesthouse we stopped and spent an hour in the internet café. Once back we set camp, I changed/cleaned the air filter and also check the Landy over, whilst Verena made dinner. During which a guy called Pete came and had a chat to us. He was a student from Birmingham Uni, and was on a year out in Ghana teaching and travelling. After dinner we joined Pete and his two female friends for a drink in town. Where we spent the evening chatting and finding out what each other was doing. It was late by the time we returned to the Guesthouse and we were soon in Bed fast asleep.
We woke and went through the normal morning routine. We said goodbye to Pete and swamped contact details, before leave Kumasi and heading north-west to Sunyani. As we were trying to find our way out of town, we took a wrong turning and stumbled across a Land Rover garage. So we stopped to see if they had a spare wheel carrier. They knew what I was on about but unfortunately didn’t have one. So we continued on our way. We only stopped in Sunyani to fuel up and get some bread. But as we were leaving the outskirts we stopped to get some lunch, during which a local guy approached us and introduced him self. He was curious to know what a UK car was doing in Ghana. It turned out that he had lived in England for many years and had recently returned to clam the right to be a chief in the area. Unfortunately it was disputed and it was still going through court. We learnt all this, as he invited us for a beer at a local bar after lunch. Where we swapped stories and I explained what we were up to. But we had to make our apologies and leave, otherwise we would have not made it to Bui N.P. before dark. We continued on our way north and at a town called Wenchi turn northwest to reach the village of Banda. Once there we carried onto the park entrance by following the signs. This last section was piste, with some quite rough bits in places. We found the village at the park entrance and spoke to a couple of the rangers about entrance prices and camping. After a long debate between me and Verena, we decided to camp the night at the village and make our mind up whether to enter the park in the morning. Shortly after setting camp next to the guest hut, we were approached by some other travellers. Two lads who were on a gap year teaching and travelling in Ghana and two girls from a Raleigh International group. One of which we found out was also from Jersey, Goery in fact. Small world! They invited us and the lads, to come have dinner with them and the rest of their group that evening. So we spent the evening with them chatting about the project they were doing at the village and I explained about my trip. It was a great evening and it was late by the time we said goodnight and went to bed.
After the usual getup and pack routine, we said goodbye to the Raleigh International group, left Bui N.P. and drove back to Banda. There we talked to some of the locals to find out whether a piste that was on our map connected to the main piste running north south. They reckoned it did and so we took the piste east. It turned out to be a fast good piste and must have recently been completed. As there was also a new bridge which we used to cross the Black Volta river. Gladly the locals where right, we connected with the main piste and turned north. This we followed up to Bole and onto Sawla. There was nice scenery either side of the road all the way along and the sun was out which made it a pleasant drive. At Swala we turned east and followed a well-worn and sometimes hard piste to Larabanga. Once in Larabanga it was easy to spot the massive sign marking the way to the park entrance. We arrived at the park entrance and paid the entrance few and continued onto the Mole Hotel Lodge. There we checked in and then moved the Landy to the campsite. All the campsite was was a patch of grass between the hotel compound and another accommodation block. But from there we had great views of two nearby water holes and a lot of the park. As we had arrived around 14:00 we set camp and went for a swim in the hotel pool. There we met a Belgium cyclist and we spent the rest of the afternoon relaxing and chatting to him. He was a teacher back in Europe and was spending his summer holidays doing a cycle tour of Ghana. He carried hardly anything on this bike and would often rely on the friendliness of the locals to put him up. The afternoon passed quickly and we ended up having dinner at the hotel restaurant. After dinner and a chat we read for a short time before going to bed to all the strange noises of the wild.
We woke, grabbed a quick snack for breakfast and went to reception to join the 06:30 walking safari. There were quite a number of people there and we were slit into groups and allocated a guide. We set of up toward the entrance along the track before turning off into the bush. There we saw a group of Baboons playing about in the trees. Later on we came across a lone grumpy elephant rooting through the rubbish of the nearby village, which we got to within about 40m to. Not long after we came across another group of elephants, all males, busy eating a tree the rangers had felled a couple of days before. Apparently it was one of their favourite types of tree to eat and they had been coming there for three days on the trot. Our and another group managed to get really close, as they didn’t seam to be bothered by us. We then moved on and descended into the plain and walked to one of the water holes. Along the way we spotted another group of elephants from afar and a couple of different types of deer. Once at the water hole it was not long before we spotted a couple of Crocodiles slowly creeping about. One of which put on quite a display whilst trying to break into a turtle shell. From there we walked back to the lodge. By that time it was getting quite hot a sticky and we were glad to be back. The entire safari had taken around 2 hours and I had really enjoyed it. We had some proper breakfast from the restaurant, then got on with some washing. It was made all the more difficult by the fact that brown water was coming out of the traps at one point. After that I got the water filter out a filled the water jerry cans and all the drinks bottles we had with fresh water. Not long after finishing that, Freddy and Rita turned up with their big truck. We spent a while chatting to them and an American girl who also new Bas and Elli. We then made some lunch and retired to the viewing platform for the afternoon. Where we spent our time reading and watching the animals come and go from the water holes. We again had dinner at the restaurant and spent the evening with the American girl chatting and drinking until late.
We made a slow and relaxed start to the day and where ready to leave by around 10:00. We then drove east to Tamale. The first part was piste but around half way we joined the main tare road at Fufuiso and made good time. We where there around lunch time and started to look at the options for accommodation, that were listed in our guide books. The first place we went to was the Catholic Guest House, were the guy blankly refused to let us stay at all let along camp. Cheesed off we left and started to look at the other options we had and anything else we spotted along the way. The places we looked at were either nice but very expensive or crap and still expensive for what they were. Resided to the fact that we were not going to find something, we headed out along the road toward Yendi. At the out skirts of Tamale I spotted a guesthouse sign and followed it down a dirt track. We arrived at a leafy compound and a tidy looking place. We parked and went in to check out the situation. We could camp and have use of the shower and toilet for 20,000. We set camp and in turn went for a shower. By the time I came out it was raining hard, so we wimped out and went had dinner in their restaurant. The place was basic but the food was good. After dinner we went back out to the Landy and dived in the roof tent. We spent the rest of the evening reading before going to sleep listening to the rain on the tent.
We packed up and had breakfast around the back of the Landy. We then left the guesthouse on the outskirts of Tamale and followed a good tare road eastward to Yendi. We made good time and once in Yendi stopped to do some shopping. As we had decided that we would cross over to Togo at the Natchamba crossing. After checking with the local police that we could get the visa on the border we headed east out of Yendi along the piste to the border. It was not long before the piste got quite rough in places and some bits were hard work. But about two hours later we arrived at the border post. We went through the normal formalities for exiting Ghana with passports and Carnet, and then moved onto the Togo side. It was there we found out that they did not in fact issue visas for Togo at this border crossing. The guy there was very sorry but he could not let us in. Frustrated, we went back to the Ghana side and went through the formalities again to re-enter Ghana. They looked at us strangely but stamped everything once we explained. So we then had to drive the piste back to Yendi, which took another two hours. Once back at Yendi we had some street food as a quick lunch, and continued to drive south. We didn’t know how far south we would be able to get with the time remaining, but we reached Bimbilla late afternoon. We decided to find a place to stay and followed the signs to guesthouse on the south side of town. There was no chance of camping as it was right next to the main road and there was too many people wandering about. So we decided to take a room, as we needed a good nights sleep after all the driving over the last couple of days. We went for a quick drink just down the road before returning and moving our stuff into the room. We then both had a wash before having a snack for dinner. We the spent the evening relaxing, chatting and reading and it was not long before we went to bed and were fast asleep.
We had breakfast in the room after packing our gear and moving it back to the Landy. We then set off from Bimbilla and continued along the piste running south. Along the way we passed through Nkwanta and Jasikan and arrived in Hoehoe late morning. After a spot of shopping and getting some direction form a local taxi driver, we drove out of town and found the sign for the Wli Falls. Not long after the sign the road returned to piste and we passed through a couple of villages continuing to follow the signs. As we dew closer you couldn’t fail to miss the towering green hills of the Ghana Togo border. We soon found the Wli Falls Lodge, parked up and introduced our selves. It was no problem to camp so we moved the Land onto the grass and set camp. We made some lunch and during which it started to rain, but we managed to get under the cover of the open hut before the worst came down. I then got on with some work on the website and Verena chatted to the owners of the place. They are Sabina and Bernard and were overlanding on their way to South Africa when they found the place. To cut a long story short, they decided to stay and set up a lodge as a way of making a living. It was by no means easy, as we found out after Bernard told us of all the problems they had building the place. But it was all worth it as they have a great place now, and seem to be doing well. We spent the evening chatting to them over a couple of beers, and it was late by the time we went to bed.