Melissa Halliday’s Blog

SAFARI!!!

Talk about the experience of a lifetime. Here’s how it all happened:
The group from Buffalo was leaving on Friday. Their plans were to head out about 1p and make the 3 hour drive to Tamale where they would stay overnight. On Saturday, they were going to drive about 3 hours to Mole (moe-lay) National Park which is an animal reservation and see the animals there. In talking to Dr. Young, she suggested that Clint and I go along, since she wants us to experience all we can on this trip. We decided we would go with them, and Moossa (I’m not sure if I spelled that right, but he is an older teen that’s in school and lives with the Youngs) would go with us.

On Friday, with all of the luggage piled high on top of the van, all 11 of us including our driver piled into the van and headed out for Tamale. The drive as always was bumpy and the van had no air conditioning. We made it to Tamale in decent time (although our driver kept stopping for various errands!)exchanged our money and then did some shopping. One of our stops was at the culture center. This is a big outdoor market with various souvenirs and goods. It was interesting watching Azziz (our driver) barter for things for us. I walked into a few shops and would look at things. I asked how much a few of them were and they told me the price. When I would say no thank you, they would keep asking, “well how much would you pay for it?” I had one guy that literally followed me back to the van with goods asking how much I would pay for it. It was a little intense but a fun experience.

The next morning we got up and left at about 4:30a to head to Mole. Only a short portion of road was paved and the rest was VERY VERY bumpy dirt roads. I thought the roads leading to Saboba were bad….this was like a GIANT dirt rumble strip….for about 3 hours. The other thing about dirt roads and no air conditioning is that with the windows open, you get VERY dirty very fast. Donna (who is blond) looked like a red-head with a bad sunburn by the time we got to where we were going! When we arrived, we met Zach, one of the head rangers there. Apparently, Dr. Young had treated his son who had severe asthma. Normally he does not serve as a safari guide, but when Dr. Young told him we were coming, he cleared his schedule and took our group out.

Part of the safari was in the van. As we drove through the roads (still dirt roads J ) we saw a lot of antelope, some warthogs, and a few other things. We would stop at various places along the way and he would teach us some things….I never knew termites could be so interesting! :)  He showed us some plants that have a natural antibiotic that is supposedly stronger than levaquin or chloroquine and also that lavender is made from! There were some amazing views of the savannah and the watering holes.

At one point we got out and walked a ways, looking for elephants. We were able to find them and were probably within a hundred yards of them! We had to be very quiet and stay behind our guide so they wouldn’t be threatened. I got some amazing videos and pictures of them as well. On our way back to the place we started we also saw baboons as well.

After the safari we ate at the hotel on the preserve and even got to swim quickly in their pool!  Even with the chlorine so strong it burned your skin, I don’t think I ever enjoyed time in the pool more! The view from the pool was amazing as it sat on a hill and overlooked the savannah.

One thing I forgot to mention was what happened on the way to the park!! We were driving down the road and suddenly our driver started to slow down. On the side of the road was a wreck with a motorcycle and an SUV. The SUV was very badly damaged and I’m not sure what happened to the person on the motorcycle. They flagged us down and asked if we could take someone to the hospital. We ended up taking one person to the hospital nearby (thankfully Moosa was familiar with the area and knew where it was!). I have to say that had to be God’s timing though…if I was in an accident on a dirt road in Ghana, I’d definitely want a van with 2 docs, 3 nurses, and other medical professionals to show up!

Once back in Tamale, we all cleaned up, got some dinner and said our goodbyes as Clint, Moosa and I had to leave at 4:30 in the morning to catch our bus back to Yendi (Bob was picking us up and driving us back to Saboba). It was so great getting to know each person on this team, and even though it was only a week that we knew each other, it felt like so much longer.

Well, I’ve written enough of a novel for now. The bus ride from Tamale to Yendi was interesting to say the least. I did have a kind of bad fall on the bus though and banged up my knee pretty badly. I’m going to have Clint and Dr. Young look at it tonight. I think I may have tweaked my meniscus…nothing that won’t heal though.  For now I’m icing and elevating it and looking at the lovely colors of bruises and all of the swelling that is coming in. Should be fun!

Miss you and love you all!

Melissa