After leaving Kumasi we entered new territory for me …. up to now everything was tried and true … so this was going into the unknown….
I had been a bit nervous about this trip North as various people had said to me there was the possibility of being hijacked and nasty things like that … but the police presence has been constant and very reassuring.
As we headed north the Muslim influence became more and more in evidence. We stopped at a gas station to use their amenities and there was a beautiful simple mosque there with the teakettles of water outside ready for washing the feet before entering. The utter serenity of this little mosque chimed with my soul… a house of prayer should be like this…. nothing between you and ‘God’ …..
…. the beautiful simplicity of this house of prayer touched my heart
…. with the tea kettles of water ready to wash the feet before entering
…. the prayer mats already assembled ready for prayer
We saw lots of massive termite castles (they just can’t be called anything else as they look like massive sand castles…) We saw villages of mud huts and thatched roofs. We saw a herd of milk chocolate cattle crossing the road .. all sinewy elegance…. We saw stands of pineapples, papaya and bananas.. We saw huge elegant baobob trees …. We saw people transporting goods on motorbikes, bicycles, trucks … all loaded to the brim!
….a man cycled along the road with a huge load of greens. Whatever vehicle is always loaded way beyond capacity…
… he just chugged along smiling
… as i said Loaded to the Brim!!
We broke our journey at Kintempo … which was nothing to write home about … but it broke the 6-7 hour journey to Tamale… It poured with rain all night … just poured crashing down on the roof with a roar!!
… we did the touristy thing and went off to visit the Kintempo Falls … beautiful, right? Behind me is garbage strewn everywhere .. not exactly the pride of Ghana.
… Dela our wonderful guide and friend!
The next morning we continued on to Tamale where we will rest for two days.. We are staying at another very nice hotel just a bit away from the town center. We were early enough that we were able to go and visit the Tamale Central Market… where we were hoping to find beads. No matter who we asked they would send us off on a wild goose chase only for Dela to finally pronounce ‘There are no beads here. ‘ Oh well….
…. the Tamale Market
… brooms for sweeping
… Tamale Market
… local rice at the market
…sorting cocoa nuts at the market
It is a gorgeous old market in the old style … with lots of trees shading the stalls….. but not a single bead to be found …. oh well!