From Accra to Tamale

The notoriously long journey to Tamale began bright and early with us being at the bus station at 7 a.m. Since it was hot (ok, so apparently this isn’t the hot time of the year…but I’m having trouble believing that it’s possible for it to be hotter! It’s like living in my hot yoga class.) We bought water in water sachets – this is one option for how Ghanaian’s get clean water. You buy a 5 cent plastic bag that contains 500 mL of cold “pure water” (I say “pure water” because that is what the vendors call out as they walk around with it). It is so refreshing with a nice hint of chlorine. I have trouble opening and drinking from them at first and people watching have a good chuckle. I chuckle too- imagine water splashing up onto your face when you open your juice container! I have even more trouble disposing of my sachet onto the ground.
Anyway – the bus got full at about 8 a.m so off we went, hoping for a 13 hour trip. Shortly after Kumasi, the bus broke down on the side of the road. Luckily for us we broke down right near a village so there were lots of kids to play with and things to see. I became friends with a man who works for “Right to Play” in northern Ghana and had spent 6 months living in Canada. He was an awesome example of the warmness of Ghanaians. He showed us all the food that was being sold and told us what it was and explained what was happening. The kids seemed to be pouring into the village to check out the stranded bus riders. We had fun showing them Canadian games and learning some of their games and songs, however getting their picture taken seemed to excite them more than playing games! Nightfall came and it started getting dark…just as the fun awesomeness of being stuck on the side of the road in the middle of nowhere began to wear-off, the replacement bus arrived and we were back on our way. We made several stops where vendors would run up to the bus with their produce and you could buy it through the window. We arrived at about 2 a.m at Tamale station. I felt like I was in the twilight zone and needed to go to bed.