Wednesday,
July 26th.
Today was my first complete day in
Mole Game park. After a quick 6-hour
nap, I awoke and prepared for a sunrise safari.
Our group met up with a guide I know well, Akabu.
Although blind in one eye, he’s proved one of
the best guides I’ve had at mole. The
two plus hour safari was quite a success.
Immediately, we ran into two male elephants out for breakfast. We got surprisingly close, and as it turned
out, too close. As another safari group
flanked in from the back of the elephant, he got scared thinking we were
surrounding him. With incredible speed,
he charged towards us, but then broke left only ten feet away from where I
stood. It was a bit startling for the
both of us!
The rest of the safari was pretty
typical – there were bushbuck, cob, waterbuck, and warthogs, each group fleeing
when they sensed our presence. We ended
the tour at the water hole where a group of male elephants were bathing and
playing in the water.
The next eventful part of our day
came at lunch. After a nice plate of
spaghetti, I heard some commotion at the tables nearby. A baboon had been spotted, maybe 100 feet
away just opposite the pool.
Immediately, a Dutch college student ran down to retrieve his
backpack. The baboon hopped over the
fence, and carefully but quickly strode over to our table. Baboons are notorious for stealing bags, and
I had my computer plugged in against a nearby wall having just done some
transcription. As the baboon approached,
I leapt to the wall hoping to beat him to my backpack. The baboon had different plans. He scaled the four-foot ledge, hopped up onto
our lunch table, and made a move to grab the ketchup. Also vigilant, an employee grabbed a tin of
coffee cream and tried to pelt the baboon.
She missed, but the baboon was sufficiently spooked, and it hopped off
the table and ran away. Another day in
Ghana!
The afternoon was filled with
transcription and rest. A group of
students from the University of Georgia are here sharing the hotel with
us. In the evening, a few members of our
group, the Georgia girls, a Dutch man named Dan, and some Ghanaians on holiday
all gathered around in a circle and had a very engaging conversation. Topics ranged from light safari talk but
eventually led to cross cultural comparisons of marriage and premarital sex,
love, circumcision, and more. I somehow
made it onto the topic of familial relations, and mentioned I had family in
Georgia, and it just happened that one of the girls from Georgia knew my cousin
from school! She was his chemistry
partner, had him in her text log…totally a small world moment.
 |
| Blurry shot, but proves the saying "It's a Small World!" |
Robert! I can't believe you ran in to Sarah while in Ghana. Talk about an extremely small world.. I've really enjoyed reading about your adventures abroad. Keep it up, and hopefully I'll see you soon!
ReplyDeleteNo kidding! When this group made it to the National Park, they mentioned they were from Georgia...GU...and I told one of her friends about you. A few minutes later, Sarah yelled, "I know your cousin - he's got fiery red hair!" Too cool - Hope you are well back at school!
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