Friday May 10th, 2013
Obruni Obruni! That’s Twi for white person! We were up so
early this morning but since I went to bed so early last night it was
fine. I am feeling loads better
today. So grateful for that. We started the morning out with the walking
safari!! We walked and saw antelope monkeys and warthogs. The warthog males were even fighting. Tusks and all. At first we saw all these animals by outcroppings
of buildings so it wasn’t to impressive but eventually we ventured into the forested
bush. There were loads of these antelope
things with horns and they traveled in herds.
We saw a water buck which is basically a giant form of antelope. We were walking and a giant lizard jumped
from the trees and scurried away from us.
It was so fast! Then we saw the coolest thing ever! 6 elephants standing
together in a herd. They were at the
water just hanging out. Luckily we were
on the side of the elephants where one was just chilling on its own. It was so cool to see animals in their real habitats. They don’t look up at you with scared eyes
because they are locked in a zoo. It was
the coolest thing to see them outside.
We kind of walked toward the elephant and he ended walking into another
pond and swimming around. The pond was
full of crocodiles. We could see their
backs but that was all. They are smaller
crocodiles so they won’t attack the elephants.
So we hiked back up to our hotel and had breakfast overlooking the
valley. From the table I could see the
elephants down below. It was so
neat. Mole is so pretty. We went into Larabunga, a small village near
Mole. A guy took us around to see their
city. They live in mud huts, and some
concrete homes. Only 30% of the 4000
people have electricity. Most are Muslim
so they have several mosques in the community.
We met a mother that had her baby 5 days ago so it was a big deal in the
town. Many of the kids had shirts on and
no pants. The girls where eye makeup like eyeliner. It is to help keep the dirt away from their
eyes. The town is also known for its shay
butter. We saw how they collect the nuts
and grind them up and make it into the butter.
It was so hot in town and it amazes me still that people live the way
they do. I could not imagine living that
way. Just a few miles up the road from
this town is our hotel with comfy beds, a TV, a fridge, and a sweet air
conditioning system and then you have these people that probably make very
little money and live on dirt. It blows
my mind. We visited the clinic outside
of town with one nurse. She says that
they service parts of the community and will actually make house calls. They only drive motorcycles in the town and
they say it is a problem because pregnant women sometimes cannot make it to the
clinic because it is difficult for them to ride on the back. They should invent a trailer or
something. We got back and I had some
delicious soup for lunch. Then most of
us got in the pool and swam for a bit.
There are a lot of white people here visiting. Lots of Europeans. The baboons came for a little visit
today. They look so freaking mean. We were watching them and taking pictures
when this one baboon hopped over the fence into the pool area. He walked around a freaking snatched our bag
of gummy bears off of the table, stupid thing! So Kevin fought with him a
little bit and got the bag back. It was
seriously the craziest thing though. He
acted like he owned the place and that bag was his. Crazy.
As we were leaving the pool I met four girls from England who were also
here volunteering. So I invited them out
with our group for the evening. We went
back into Larabanga and they put on a show for us. They lit a fire in the middle of their square
and had girls doing the local dancing.
Then they grabbed all of us and we danced with them for an hour! We had
so much fun doing it. Man I am totally
white. I could not find the beat if my
life depended on it. I am sure when
anyone of us got up to dance they were cringing. We were a funny site but we had such a good
night. It was so much fun. I got home and we didn’t have any water. It’s only on from 5 am to 8 am and 8 pm to 10
pm but that doesn’t mean it will come
on. The hotel kind of picks and chooses
when they turn it on. So I had to take a
rag bath. Very different experience for
me. I had this bucket but I couldn’t
figure out how to use it. I stood in it,
tried to cup water; couldn’t figure it out.
So I dried off and cleaned up and realized that there was a second,
smaller bucket that you use to assist yourself.
Dang it. My roommates thought it
was pretty funny. Jerks. I am beat though. I had such a good day. My stomach is rumbling a little bit so I hope
I feel better in the morning.
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