The Bus!
After quite a nice rest, Lisa was there to greet me and we had breakfast (scrambled eggs with veggies & toast and coffee). The plan was to get a bus ticket for Kumasi.
It was a rainy morning and a lot of people didn't have raincoats or umbrellas.
And the first thing I noticed was how crowded it was. So much traffic and so many people! It reminded me of India, but minus the tuk-tuks! But when we got to the bus station...whew! It seemed that everyone was on the move. Inside there was a monstrous line...almost like the airport! And the place was sprawling with people, kids, bags, giant boxes! What chairs there were were doubly filled! And although it had stopped raining and things would've/should've cooled off a bit, it was crazy hot inside and the few little ceiling fans were of no use unless you were directly underneath them!
Lisa took one look at the line and told me to wait...she would find someone outside who could maybe get a ticket. And it occurred to me that this is how it works in some places. You just need to know the guy who knows a guy who can get you what you want: bus ticket, driver, etc. Things work on knowing people. Why do we in the West insist on having reasonable processes for things? Small lines, purchase a ticket or reserve on line, have a seat? Why not either struggle through the process of too many people & not enough services or find the right guy who can get you what you need? :-)
After about 10 minutes, Lisa came back and asked me if I was ok sitting in the front of the bus. Why, yes, Lisa. That sounds fine to me! We escaped outside and I was offered a seat (because I looked so old & feeble or out of courtesy? At my age, one never knows anymore!) But sitting let me watch the chaos around me: taxis honking and jockeying for position, cars circling dropping people off & picking them up, people "directing" traffic, busses trying not to hit people lined up just about everywhere, people trying to see newspapers, snacks, water, and just about anything you could want, people trying to negotiate getting in the front of the line, hand gestures, exhaust fumes. Whew! All with a recording of a man preaching blaring through some portable speakers.
About 40 minutes of that and my bus was ready to board. Thank goodness for Lisa who negotiated something with someone to take care of my bag underneath. She gave a phone with a new chip in it (this is the thing I'm starting to understand: everyone seems to have a throwaway phone that they just change SIM cards with...and why not? Vodafone is still happy!) so Sally, the program coordinator could contact me while I was travelling.
Bus filled to capacity and more (people were sitting in the aisle) and we were off! We started with a prayer from one man standing in the aisle...but after a few "Amens," he kept going! And the prayer turned into a sermon, complete with a call & response from the passengers: "Yes, Jesus" and "Praise The Lord," and "God is Good." The whole kit. He stopped on the middle and passed around some gel that we were to put on our "pains." Seemed like Tiger Baum to me, but I put it on my shoulders which were achy from the first few days of the backpack. More preaching and then he opened his briefcase and sold some of he gel! I thought we'd have him for the whole trip, but on a pretty long stretch of unpaved road, he got off and took a returning bus.
Then the driver, or rather the "driver's mate," put on "Sheena." Ugh...I kind of wanted the preacher back!
Sights from the Bus
Beautiful countryside! Small villages with roadside markets selling EVERYTHING!! Even livestock...most also amidst the goats & chicken I saw "other" livestock: rats, which I think is considered bush meat. Crazy traffic!! Lots of people going about their daily business. Trucks and taxi vans with Bible messages scrawled on the windows, signs for Christian churches of every sort, from Mormons to Seventh Day Adventists to Baptists and Pentecostals.
At the rest stop I got my first hot pastry: a fish pie! For 3 Cedis, a pretty yummy deal!
It occurs to me that this place will be challenging, yet if I remain open to whatever happens, it'll be a blast!
And how cool is it to NOT be a visible minority!!!! Yes, as soon as I speak or you check in closer to my "traveller" garb, I'm a minority. But right off the bat I'm as brown as everybody else! And white people stand out! Somehow this makes me smile. :-)
First night-time view.
My diggs for the next three weeks!
My first view of Africa from the sky! Must have been Algeria or Tunisia. :-)
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