July 28

Today was a bumpy Trotro ride up to Mole national park. We stopped in a small village with round mud huts with thatched roofs for lunch. We sat and ate with the goats and I discovered the discomfort of African ant bites! The buys here are every bit as aggressive as the ones back home, but for some reason, they itch so much worse!

Late in the afternoon, we went on safari on the roof rack of a jeep. I enjoyed wizzing around the park in the fragrant jungle breeze. The bumps and the wind and the sense of holding on reminded my of Grandad’s ATV and Harold’s boat, and I was very happy. We didn’t see any animals outside of some blesbok and a few baboons, but I didn’t mind. At the end of the tour we finally saw an elephant and everyone was very excited.

Again, I have to wonder about cultural display. Our guide, Moses, was extremely knowledgeable about the area and the animals, but all of the patrons were westerners, every one. Does the average Ghanaian know much of this information? How many Ghanaians actually visit this park apart from the maintenance staff? This is yet another beautiful view of Ghana that really isn’t as accurate of a representation as we would like to think.