Elephants, Sangria and blisters...
Trip Start
Mar 15, 2007
1
9
17
Trip End
May 15, 2007
Mole National Park, Ghana
Wednesday, April 11, 2007
We not only sat on the balcony by the pool watching the animals, but also got up close and personal on a safari walk. Donning highly attractive rubber boots (more about them later) we hiked for 1hour, starting and finishing at the water's edge. A herd of elephants were lolling lazily around, their giant heads and ears just visible above the water and we spotted several crocodiles soaking up the early morning sun.
That would have been enough for me, but we also had a heart-stopping moment when a dominant male appeared out of nowhere and marched across our path just feet away. Luckily, his sights were firmly set on his morning bath and we got to admire the animals awesome strength and size from (a bit too!) close up.
It's a shame but towards the end of the safari, I was willing it to finish due to the aformentionned footwear. When we rolled up for the walk in 'slippers' (translation: sandals) we were directed to a steaming pile of wellies and told to select a pair. With every step mine flapped around my ankles wildly and literally rubbed all the skin off my shins and ankles. With all the grime and dust around it's impossible to keep clean, so of course I now have several festering sores- how attractive!
The Sangria part probably sounds better than it actually was. I could tell you that we sat sipping away as the sun set over the plains, but in reality it was slightly different, though no less enjoyable. The warm fruit punch was a total magnet for the Tetse flies so common in the north, and when the writhing layer of bugs on the surface of our drinks had passed the 2cm mark we had to give up!
