Ghanaian Lion Safari

The only reliable bus to Larabanga, the next stop on my tour of the North, left before 5:30AM. Somehow there were many more passengers than seats. Delightful.

The upside to this ridiculously early start to my day was that I arrived in Larabanga at 9AM, so I had time to experience the village and nearby Mole (pronounced mo-lay National Park a day ahead of my plans. Due to Larabanga's notorious reputation of having many pseudo-guides, spongers and opportunists, I quickly headed for the Salia Brothers Guesthouse. The twin brothers Hussein and al-Hassan are very friendly and energetic men who have worked hard (or so they claim) to help the village prosper as a result of traffic to Mole, which is entirely government-run and has few, if any, links to the community.

Coincidentally, two American students from Legon were there that day to see Mole. After breakfast, I rented a bike from the brothers and went to join them at the park. On the way in, I passed by a warthog family and some baboons.

When one thinks of "National Park", one thinks of Land Rovers driving through remote savannah searching for elusive game. Mole is something more like African Lion Safari, - but without the lions. The Mole Motel (and pool and bar) are built on an escarpment in front of the two main watering holes in the park, so during the dry season when water is scarce, all the animals go there to cool off. Elephants, bucks, gazelles, monkeys, crocodiles and birds all congregate, have a drink and wash off the accumulated dust from the Harmattan.

The patio allowed us to see all of these things from the comfort of the motel. However, five minutes after I arrived, a Floridian biologist's bread was stolen from right behind him by a large, aggressive baboon, who got very angry at the man before running off with the loaf. Even if I had left right then, it would have been worth the price of admission.

We still did the ground tour with armed guard, which was interesting, if only to see the animals up close at ground level. It's hard to believe that visitors, even with an SUV, are only allowed to see a fraction of the park. There actually are lions, but they're much deeper in the park than anyone goes. I felt the place was more of a practice run for an East or South African safari. Perhaps some years down the road?