Day 13: The journey north– Saturday, 23 January 2010
on Michelle Currie (Ghana), 05/Feb/2010 17:21, 34 days ago
A 6.30am start enabled us to avoid much of the Accra traffic, but unfortunately a lorry had overturned on a section of unmade road leading to a long tailback. This, and the long sections of unmade roads, made the journey north a long one.In fact, we could have flown from Accra to Heathrow and back again in the same amount of time it took us to travel from Accra to Bolgatanga.The dust on some of the roads made driving very difficult.However, it must be even more difficult for the people who live along side these unmade roads because, as you can see from the colour of the leaves on the tree and the roofs of people’s homes in the photo below, the dust covered homes and vegetation for a distance of at least 50m from the road.As it was a Saturday, we passed many people on their way to funerals. Mourners in Ghana, especially in the south, traditionally wear red and black.Another aspect of life on Ghana’s roads we were becoming used to, are the slogans people put across the rear windows of their vehicles. Most are religious in nature.Whilst others relate to something else many Ghanaian hold dear.We even saw one taxi with Tony Blair written across the back– I’m not too sure what that was all about!Having first crossed the Black Volta RiverWe then crossed the White Volta before stopping for a bite to eat in Tamale at about 4.30pm.After Tamale the road north was mainly surfaced (except for the large pot holes that is) and very straight.It was interesting to note the change in scenery as we headed for the much hotter and drier north and what a contrast the grass savannah was to the much lusher tropical south.Approximately fourteen hours after starting out from Accra, we eventually arrived in Bolgatanga. Our driver, Isaha, had done a tremendous job of getting us here safely. Driving on Ghana’s roads requires total concentration, so he must have been exhausted after such a long day.