Northern Bound

This week has been fairly busy here at Public Agenda. I've had three stories published so far and one of them made it on the front page (I didn't write a word of it though). I attended a conference on aid effectiveness and gender equality yesterday and then wrote a story with Ama, the other reporter, today. Yesterday night was terrific Tuesday at Bonjour so almost all of us made the trek out of our house with the smell of pizza luring us. Bonjour is a pizza/ice cream/chicken restaurant at a gas station near our house. The two for one pizza deal on Tuesdays had us all satisfied and filled our bellies with doughy deliciousness.

We leave for Mole on Thursday and won't be back until late Monday so I will be out of touch until Tuesday. Mole National Park is one of the only places in Ghana to go on a safari and we are going to be walking! There are supposedly elephants, baboons and all sorts of animals to view. I am really looking forward to it. There are rumors of violence and armed robbery on the road going North, but we are making a point to travel at night and ensure our safety. We are also bringing duct tape which I am going to use to tape my camera under the seat if anything starts to happen. I just got it so there's no way I'm losing it.

The violence is stemming from ethnic disputes between Northern tribes so I think Westerners should be ok. I've sure had enough of armed robbery to last through the next few weeks. The drive to Mole is most likely going to be the biggest annoyance of our trip as it's a six hour drive to Kumasi, where we are stopping off for Thursday, Friday and Sunday night. The stretch to Mole is an additional million (maybe more like nine) hour BUMPY drive. The last three hours of the drive consist of only a sixty mile stretch of road. But I am more than willing to sacrifice the comfort of my bum to see elephants in their natural habitat. I know it is going to be a grand adventure and I am excited to the point of bouncing in my chair.