Mole National Park.

Dear Followers,

Sorry to leave you hanging yesterday, I know how upset you all must be. But not after I tell you about my experiences at Mole National Park (pronounced like guacamole...without the guaca part).

It is one of the biggest game parks located in Northern Ghana...a mere five hours from where I am staying in Kintampo. We stayed at a beautiful resort (tourist trap) where we had some good old fashioned American food (overpriced french fries). We went on a morning safari where we saw 8 kinds of animals (baboon, some type monkey, warthog, and 5 types of antelope)...but unfortunately no elephants which are my spirit animals (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Power_animal)...

However, it's not about the destination...it's about the journey. And what a journey! The reason getting to Mole takes 5 hours isn't because its super far away...it's because for 2.5 of those hours the road is an unpaved dirt path. Even the pickup truck we were in couldn't handle it. We stopped just outside the park to pay a toll and the truck refused to start! Thus, all four scholars got out and pushed like we had never pushed before...until our stick shift car rolled to a start. Luckily on the way home it started, no problem (no problem = a popular Ghanaian phrase)! Also, the lack of air conditioner in the car made it so we were all caked with a thin layer of red dirt by the time we got back to our hostel. I've never appreciated my no pressure, swatting shower as much as I did this afternoon.

Am I sad I didn't see elephants, leopards, hyena and the like? A little...but being the spoiled traveler that I am this was my third African safari (others were in Botswana and South Africa)...so don't feel bad for me...but I do recommend visiting Southern or Eastern Africa to get your big 5 fix (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Big_Five_game).