One Unforgettable Journey - Part 1

So what is it that makes for a good adventure? I have certainly had some adventures both at home and abroad but the ones that stick out the most are the ones when the unexpected happened. And that is exactly what happened over the last week as I traveled the country. As you can tell by the title there is going to be more than one part to this story, there is too much to cover in a single sitting, so I will spoil you over the course of the week. Where to start...

I took the week off to explore some of the Northern Region of Ghana. I had read in the guide book about a ferry that runs up the Volta River/Reservoir. The boat runs up the river once a week to bring yams down from the upper reaches of the river. The information I was getting was a little vague, as that is the nature of this boat, and accounts I have heard from others described the ride as being quite miserable. But that is all relative, miserable to one may be a joy to another. So I arrived at the boat excited to get on the water and begin this leg of the journey. Much to my surprise there were several other foreigners taking advantage of this cheap transport to the North which was a bit reassuring. Very much in line with the Ghanaian norm, the boat left late. Off to a good start. The sleeping arrangements on the boat were basic, actually nonexistent. There was a dining room, where the options were to sleep on the tables, wooden benches, or floor. It was pretty cramped in there so I decided to sleep on a bench on the upper deck. It wasn't the most comfortable wooden bench in the world but it worked and I did manage to catch a couple of hours of sleep. We were scheduled to arrive in the first port sometime late the next morning and the final destination later in the evening. But the first port didn't appear until later in the afternoon, several hours late. Turns out the boat lost an engine early on and was now just limping around, quite slowly. That was OK though, I was ready for another night on the boat and the scenery was great. The ferry started near the Ghana highlands and as it progressed North the land flattened and started to give way to savanna. It was nice to laze around on the boat, watch the villages go by, and go on deck and observe the activity as the boat made numerous stops.

Night came again and rumor had it that we would arrive in Yeji (the final stop) sometime around 2:00 in the morning. Just wonderful! I would have preferred the boat slowed down so that I could spend the entire night on the boat instead of getting off in the middle of the night in a strange place. But that was out of my hands. At this point most of the foreigners were mildly concerned about our impending fate and we banded together and schemed. What to do when we arrive? Sure enough the boat arrived around 1:30 and we were booted off. So the rest of the night was spent sitting up, trying to sleep on another bench at the Yeji port. Again, I managed a couple hours of sleep.

The kind-of reliable Yepei Queen

Gathering more villagers and stuff

The next morning it was time to catch a canoe ride back across the Volta to catch transport on to the next destination. As planned, the canoe came cruising in early in morning. Turns out though that it was market day on the other side, so there were a lot of villagers with a lot of stuff needing to get across. We managed to get on the boat, which was a relief because it appeared that there was more people and stuff trying to get across than there was room in the boat. Or was there? The boat kept filling up. More and more people and more and more huge sacks getting piled high. It was amazing how cramped and uncomfortable the boat was getting. Finally the boat departed for the hour long ride. The first red flag that things were sketchy came as the boatmen began rapidly bailing water. I began to inspect the boat and sure enough it is leaking. It was just like the cartoons. There were holes with water spraying in and villagers trying to plug those holes with their fingers, with little effect. The water seemed to creep closer and closer to the edge of the boat and I was certain we were going swimming. I heard a Ghanaian behind me very upset that the boatmen had disregarded our lives. Not too reassuring. Miraculously though the boat made it. What a relief, once again. So after two cramped and dusty tro-tro rides we successfully made it to the town of Tamale.

From Tamale a new adventure begins, but I am going to have to save that for next time.

The canoe continues to fill up

Patiently waiting to further overload the canoe