Journey to Langbinsi!

So, I finally managed to shoehorn the boys away from the delights of Kumasi, and we set off for the big drive North.

The first obstacle was to get around the Kumasi ring road during Monday morning rush hour, the traffic was wild. At the same time there was ominous black clouds forming and it was looking like it was going to rain…and hard! With the only space for the bags being the open pickup, I urgently needed to find a tarpaulin and rope to protect them. That’s while also making sure I did not crash or get lost as well as play the umpire to the occasional altercation from the back seat! Scanning the shack shops along the roadside and the “Walking shops” for ropes, I got to some traffic lights where I got really confused when the green light suddenly started flashing (??) but then it went straight to red, leaving me in the middle of the junction. From nowhere, a troupe of policeman, lead by a particularly enthusiastic policewomen, charged across the road to intercept me, “STOP!”

The Policewoman checked my licence and asked me why I had skipped the light, this was a serious offence etc etc. Now I have a rule, that I never give money to Ghanaian policemen, so when she asked what I was going to give her and her team, I was slightly in the doo doo! From the back Toby pipes up, “I don’t think my Mummy’s going to give you anything, but I can give you a fist bump if you like?!” Fist bump delivered and copious apologies from me, and we were waved on, nice one Toby!

So 1hr45 to get around Kumasi and to avoid a court appearance, and we actually began to head North! The drive was a long one, as Tamale is a long way away and every town has severe, and often well camouflaged speed bumps every 100 yards. They threaten to take your wheels off if you catch one going too fast (that is more than 5mph in most cases!). The open road is littered with other hazards, be that hidden potholes, free range goats, cows or sheep, huge overloaded lorries crawling along at a walking pace, or broken down and abandoned vehicles that crop up in random places. All curtail progress!

We broke our journey up visiting Kintampo falls which is quite impressive, especially as it is the end of the rainy season so full of water.

At 4pm the sky went black, and the heavens opened. We then had about half an hour of me pretty much guessing where the road might be! By 5pm we rolled into Tamale and I managed to find a hotel… with a pool (get super mum here!!). The following morning was spent by the pool, and then at midday, we set off for the final leg of our journey to Langbinsi. First, we picked up a few supplies including a bunch of plantain, some Kapok pillows, a new loo seat, you know, all the essentials!

The 2hr30 journey was punctuated by an aggravating encounter with a particularly obnoxious policeman, at yet another roadblock. As we went through the thousandth barrier on our journey North, I slowed down as normal and as the barrier was open, and the policemen were all lounging around by the side of the road, I proceeded to carry on slowly through the road block. Suddenly one of the policemen sat up and shouted, “Stop!” at the top of his voice. I pulled up and he came over to the car accusing me of failing to stop for the Police. I thought it might not be very helpful to point out that, as I was clearly stationary and he was a policeman, I had by definition stopped for the police! I apologised but that did no good. Then he took my driving licence and left us to sit in the hot car for a bit, before calling me over. He then proceeded to berate me in front of his colleagues, threatening to give me a traffic ticket for this serious offence, and that I would have to go to court in Tamale tomorrow (which sounded a bit unlikely), and at one point he threatened to get me deported (which sounded a bit extreme, and I would like to see him take that idea up with Captain!!). So, staying quiet and stubbornly sticking to my rule of refusing to give him anything, he suddenly gave my licence back, laughed at me and told me to go away. Nice! When I got back into the car, a little voice of Mikey from the back seat piped up, “Mummy is that mean policeman going to send you to jail,” and then Toby added, “Mummy, I did not think that policeman deserves a fist bump!” Probably wise, I thought!

The Boys were keen to get to Langbinsi as it had been a big build up, but they began to sound a bit apprehensive as we got nearer, which is totally understandable. “Are we nearly there?” X 20, and eventually I was able to say yes as we rolled into the ever expanding edge of Langbinsi. We branched off the main road at the lorry station towards the Presby Agric Station (where I used to work). Then it is over a ditch, across a football pitch, past the clinic and down the side of a fence and around a corner to James’ house. We have arrived!

Everyone was waiting for us and there was a tense 3.5seconds and then Mikey swiftly followed by Toby rushed off to get the footballs out of the bags, and all the kids went to play football. Everyone was surprised by them as it was hot, but quickly they seemed to settle down.

Most adults I have taken to Ghana need time to adjust, time on their own and withdraw into themselves at first, maybe locking themselves away in their room for periods, but kids, they live in the here and now, and right now, they were having fun. Within 10 mins Mikey had the first accident of the trip, as he climbed onto a big motor bike cart and fell off! He was fine but I had to crack open the first aid kit for a plaster! The first night was a bit of a disaster, as Martha (James’ wife) had kindly purchased and treated a mosquito net for the kids. I hung it up and everyone went to bed only to reappear a few minutes later having had a reaction to the insecticide, as did I. So, as we all felt that there was something crawling over our faces and a slight burning sensation, the first night was spend copiously washing our faces and we had to discard the mosquito net!

Most days in Langbinsi the temperature range is from 30 – 35 degrees (in the shade). Mikey left the thermometer out in the sun yesterday and when I retrieved it, it was reading 49 degrees! So, it is hot, and, as it is the end of the rainy season, it is also humid. This means I am having to compromise on screen time and let the kids have more screens than normal, although trying to keep it to the hot part of the day. But we are here for a while, and so my take on it is that I need to take it extremely slowly with them, and not push things too much. The last thing I need is small people keeling over in the heat!

School is currently on holidays, but their new term starts next week, so beginning to get that lined up. More on that next week, but today we went to Walewale to get some wood, as each of the boys needs to get a desk made to take to school, as you must supply your own furniture. Measuring for school uniforms is taking place over the weekend. Driving along the road to Walewale we suddenly spotted a large helicopter hovering, and it obviously intended to land. People were pouring out onto the road, motorbikes swerving around and screeching to a halt, as people emerged from every house and out of every alley way to witness this novel event.

We joined the throng and found out it was the Minister of Roads come to inspect the road which was recently washed away after heavy rains caused a local reservoir to burst its banks. The subsequent flood washed away a bridge and flooded several communities and so a temporary ford system has been put in place while they fix the bridge. Anyway, it was all very exciting for all concerned. When we left the scene, we took most of the kids with us as I guess when, given the choice of gawping at 2 white kids v gawping at a minister, they voted with their feet!

Anyway, all is going well although we are still in full pursuit of pepper avoidance, at all costs! Had the first pasta with our precious pesto this evening, which was very popular! So, all good and I will catch up again once the kids start school next week!