HOLY MOLE!!

(That’s pronounced Mol-ay just in case you didn’t catch on;)

There is so much that happened today! Brace yourself, this is going to be long.

I think there’s a golden oldie that has a chorus that goes something like “Mole Molaaaayy! Mole Mole!” I realize that you cannot hear a tune through writing, especially when those are  probably not even the right words, but I make up my own words a lot and that’s what I was singing all day today. “Magic Carpet Ride” yesterday and “Mole, Mole” today.

Today was one for the books. Epic is really the only word to describe my endeavors in Mole National Park. I checked a few things off my bucket list, and for 23, that’s not too shabby. I just happen to glance at my watch today, and read 11:55 am, and I thought to myself, “Holy Mole! The day is not even half over and my awesome quota was maxed out for the next year!”

Check it out:

5:20 am- Alarm goes off. I hit snooze two more times and then get out of bed to put on my safari-esque clothes I set out last night. I’m already sweating.

6:15 am- Depart from Damango and head to Mole, which is only 15 km but took us almost 45 minutes. This was a Lion King sunrise. Absolutely vibrant.

7:00 am- Arrive in time for the walking tour only to find out from one of the guides that we will see so much more if we drive… in an air-conditioned vehicle? I’M IN. It was also at this time that we find that one of the guides knows Bob and Jean from their time at the hospital in Damongo and wants to give us a free tour around Mole. Dr. Jean has saved his life and his son’s life, numerous times, and felt a free, guided tour would be the least he could do. This is a prime example of that literary element we call “foreshadowing.”

7:15 am- Yaboa, our safari guide with a 357, rides shotgun (bahaha) while Bob drives and Dr. Jean and I are in the back. Yaboa directs us down the “Office Loop” which is 16 km round trip. Quick definition of goals for this trip here- ELEPHANTS. I want to see an elephant in its natural habit in the worst way. Crazy baboons- added bonus. Bob is creeping along at .000002 mph, stopping at every deer we see. I am not going to say I was getting frustrated because that would be rude, now wouldn’t it? He was only doing that to create photographic opportunities for me, which was very kind of him.

7:30 am- Still creeping. “OH! Look look! Another deer!!!” My lens cover is still on my lens.

7:45 am- See above. If we were going any slower, we would be going in reverse.

7:55 am- Who’s idea was it to come to Mole again?

8:00 am- Wart hog and its little babies!! Finally a break from those darn deer. Yaboa told us they are known for their bad attitudes. One just happened to look right at me right then. Yikes. I would have a bad attitude if I had a face like that too. Poor Pumba.

8:05 am- Yaboa’s phone rings. Elephants spotted along the road on a different loop, not far from where we are. Step on it, Bob! So there I was, bouncing in the back yet again, thrilled to be on an elephant chase “Please don’t let them leave. Please don’t let them leave!”

Ok- I have absolutely no idea what time it was. I was never good with time in the States, and now I’m in a culture that doesn’t use a clock. I was merely making accurate, journalistic guessesJ

Anyway, so we’re off to find the beasts. Bob is hauling (his usual), and my excitement was mounting yet trying not to get my hopes up. Minutes later, we see another vehicle pulled off on the side of the road, and Yaboa motions for Bob to pull off as well. My door is open before we come to a stop.

Yaboa is on it (I like this guy), trudging through grass and trees, and I am obnoxiously close behind him. And there,  not 30 yards away are two bull elephants who had stopped by Dead Tree Diner for some breakfast.

No. Way.

I had to pinch myself. Ouch. Yep, this is real. I’m really standing right in front of some elephants, not in a zoo, but in wild Africa that I just trudged through the bush to get to. I wanted to get closer, but I asked Yaboa if he had even been charged before. Dumb question to ask 007. His story made me laugh, quietly of course. We didn’t want a repeat. I told him I was going to take a video of him talking about the elephants and getting charged by one. It’s such great footage, with the gun and the two elephants munching away in the background. However, you can hardly hear him as he is so soft-spoken.

AND THEN, we were told that there were three more just off to the other side of the road! Oh this is too good to be true! I started filming as we trekked down the hill, through the brush, dodging this branch, getting thawacked by that branch. We came into somewhat of a clearing and there before us stood a ginormous bull with two smaller ones. This one was almost twice as big as the other two we just saw. I could not believe my eyes. What marvelous creatures.

I was taking several pictures of these ones and I followed Yaboa closer and closer… Big Papa turned its massive head and looked right at us. Too close? Wups. Sorry, sir. Elephants are as blind as bad referees, but their sense of smell and hearing are superior.  Yaboa said these were all males, and that the young only stay with their mothers until they are about 9 years old and then they go off to form their own man club with their father.

Yaboa 007 and I with half an elephant:)

Another group had joined ours by this point and you could tell Big Papa was starting to get a little annoyed by us. Time to head out.

I jumped back in the lorry. The morning has hardly started and this day has far exceeded my expectations. How fortunate I was.

Correction from yesterday- “lorry” is a British term for any size of truck , SVU or semi.

We headed for the water hole. The perk of coming to Mole this time of year is that all the other water holes in the park have dried up but the largest one, which the hotel conveniently overlooks. On our way there, we saw the most beautiful bright blue bird- an Abyssian Roller?? I know I’m offending birdwatchers, but I’m pulling the rookie card.

We arrived back at the information station where we started this adventure, and the Young’s friend, Zachariah, offered us a quick tour of the museum, which he personally unlocked for us. This guy was seriously hooking us up. It was a small room, but there was nothing small about its contents. It was a room full of bones, skulls, skins of elephant ears, crocodile hides, deer hides, and snake skins... SNAKE SKINS?!?!

It was then I realized that I had been so completely caught up in elephant hunting with Yaboa 007 that I had completely forgot about my strict “never go off the path where snakes are” policy!!

I’m worried about snakes when I could have got charged by a bull elephant today. Yes, I see the fallacy in this, but that’s just the way I think.

There were elephant skulls resting against the wall nearly the length of my legs… my legs. The femur bone came past my hip and the hoof (do they have hooves? Feet?) swallowed mine. I have pictures of all this. It was Comparative Anatomy with Hokit all over again. In a tank by the elephant bones, there was an elephant fetus that was pretty remarkable to look at. I had been dead for years, but it was still cute. There was that darn snake skin plastered to the wall, all 12 ft of it. My fears aside, I had to admit it was impressive. Zachariah said it had died trying to eat a crocodile, and points to the crocodile skin. Oh my. Some ones has eyes bigger than their stomach! Really God? Why on the 7^th day did You look down and say “It is good.” I would have zapped the living daylights out of all snakes. Fur real.

We walked from the Visitor’s Center to the restaurant in the hotel. As I mention earlier, it overlooks the biggest water hole in Mole. Prime animal watching. And people watching for that matter. All the European men sun bathing in speedos, the elderly couple who inspire me to keep living despite my age, the young children who have no idea how lucky they are, the tall Dutch girls laughing with some cute Dutch boys (who were not actually Dutch I come find later) and the Ghanaians who think we’re all ridiculous. As for myself, I realize that my legs are covered in dirt from traipsing through the brush. It was righteous dirt though so I didn’t bother cleaning it off.

 There was a guy from Belgium who now lives in New York with his wife and adorable 3 year old daughter on the viewing platform where I was animal/people watching. She kept me laughing the entire conversation, spouting off with one hilarious comment after another. She had a hat on, a pink shirt, panties, no pants and crocs. We became fast friends. They were in Ghana for about a month, which was their first stop on their 6 month journey around the world. No big deal. “I bet he’s a farmer,” I thought to myself.

During my delightful conversation with the Belgium, Elephant #6 emerged from behind a tree on the far side of the water pool. The little girl said very matter-of-factly , “Daddy look! We better not go down there. It might eat us.” Oh she was funny. Minutes later, a baboon dropped out of a tree a few feet near us. Rafiki! I held my bags close to me because those things can go crazy, but fortunately it sauntered off back into the bush. Try and keep a straight face watching a baboon butt walk off into the jungle. It’s impossible.

I realized I had lost Bob and Jean, so I went back up to the restaurant to find them. They were engaged in a conversation with some really important chief-like men dressed in traditional tunics and hats. They know everyone, so I usually just smile because I never know what they are talking about. The gentlemen leave, and we set our stuff down. It was time for a late breakfast. Yes. Dr. Jean noticed the guys to the table next to us, and before I know it, she’s talking to boys I thought were Dutch. Americans!

Get a load of this small world story- one guy, Chris, had an Illinois basketball shirt on and somehow through the course of conversation, we discover that Chris and his brother Adam and Jean are from small towns 20 miles apart AND that Bob and Jean know their parents! They were put in contact when Chris found out he was coming to Ghana for Peace Corp work and through the small world Ghana-Illinois connection, knew that Jean was in Ghana as well. They had emailed several times about Ghana and just this Christmas, Bob and Jean had dinner with their parents.

My head was spinning. This was too much. It gets better. Chris lives down in the Volta region in the same area where I’m plotting my next adventure, yet to be revealedJ. So now I have hookups down there too! We swapped digits just as a couple from COLORADO SPRINGS sat down at our table!! Well heck. We might as well celebrate the Fourth of July! You know I told them about Gavin, which of course they were impressed with. I found that they guy, loaded with great stories,  was in Paris getting his MBA and she was a lawyer back in Colorado, so these two distant lovers were having a Ghanaian rendezvous before they went back to their lives.

And we all meet over omelets in Mole National Park.

(All together now) Holy Mole!

It was time to leave Mole, but the sight-seeing was not done. We had to stop in Larabanga, a town between Mole and Damongo, to see the cover photo on my Ghana guide book. It was one of the oldest mosques in West Africa built in 1421. What is so unique about this mosque is that it is modeled after a termite mound, so not only is it a historical marvel, but an architectural one as well. It was built this way to maximize stability and airflow, which the termites have mastered. Fascinating. You have to be very careful taking photos in Muslim communities because most believe that you capture their soul if you take their picture. The Nikon took 4 photos of strictly the mosque and maybe some cute kids standing in front of it. I was getting creeper vibes from the people here and I didn’t want one chasing me down to get its soul back.

Things were getting weird, so Dr. Jean and I left quickly. Those people are not right in the head. I’m not joking. I don’t know how else to describe it, but it felt dark and evil there. There is a ton of mysticism and evil spirits known to be lurking in that town. It gave me the heebie geebies.  I was so glad to be back in the lorry… with AC.

Now we are back in Damongo and are going to partake in this three day Damba festival (the Gonja tribe’s massive homecoming) this evening. They boys from Mole just called and said they are trying to make it down, which would be a blast. I will clarify once again- there is no canoodling going on in Ghana (except for the Colorado couple of course), and if these guys even come, we will meet up and have a grand time. Bob and Jean trust them, Dad, so chill. It’s all good. I’m a smart girl with a wicked kick.

I’m resting back at Abraham’s for a bit but there is a soccer, I mean, football game going on outside my window I might have to check out. However, I’m sitting under a fan now and it’s outrageously hot out there…

 Gavin and Galen- I wished you where here so badly today!!  Too many cool things happen, and I just need you here to experience this because I know you would love it.

Just before bed-

I ended up falling asleep before dinner, so I didn’t do a darn thing the rest of the afternoon. Abraham made this rice dish and a salad of cabbage with carrots and red and green peppers that were to die for. I’m so proud of my eating habits these days. I have come leaps and bounds from the whiny, picky girl whose diet consisted of strictly cheese, pasta, olives and mushrooms.

I helped the girls with dishes after dinner. There is no running water here so tonight was very educational for me. Lucy, the Ghanaian girl who is staying here was washing, the American girl was rinsing (dipping soapy dish from Lucy into a bowl of clean water, and Yolanda the Dutch girl was putting the clean dishes away. We had a blast telling stories, which further proves that the kitchen is an international hen house.

I couldn’t take the grimy, safari dust mixed with layers of sweat anymore, so I filled my bucket with fresh water and gave myself my first bucket bath… in the dark. Yep. The power went out during the shampooing stage of this operation. Adapt- this is the keyword of this trip, and that’s exactly what I did. Once I found the cup I used to rinse in the bucket was on the ground somewhere… right… over… here. No here. Ah HERE.  Once I found my rinse cup, I was golden, and by the time I had to gather my things, the lights came back on. Whew. Bucket bath- success.

And just in case some of you are wondering, those no running water thing also means that you dump water in the toilet after #1 and #2 and eventually, it all goes away. This is making me a better womanJ

In other news, I think I have contracted my first tropical bug. Self-diagnosing is never a good thing, but hard to avoid. Dr. Jean confirmed it, and we’re pretty sure I have a little Helicobacter pylori couple raising children at the end of my esophagus. I looked up the symptoms of peptic ulcers caused by H. pylori and have all of them.  Thank God for Pepto Bismol. Dr. Jean is on it though, and when that woman is on a mission, you’re going to want to get out of the way, so I will be juuuust fine.

I did feel better today though in the lower stomach region, so I was able to bring my A game to Mole today. Thank you for keeping me in your prayers. I can feel them.

I saw elephants, baboon butts, wart hogs, diagnosed myself with H. pylori and expanded my global network. This has been a productive day.

Much love to you all! I have soooo many more awesome pics I want to share with you but it's just tooo slow:(