early...

When I got on the plane this morning, I was sad to leave Ethiopia behind. There is so much unexplored, untapped adventure just waiting to be discovered. I have decided that I will DEFINITELY be going back. However, at the same time, I was really excited about going to visit Peter and George. They are some of my favourite people in the world. They work for GILLBT, one of the best literacy-providing organisations in Africa (http://www.unesco.org/uil/literacyprogrammes/05_en.html)

Sometimes you have to hit the ground running. My plane arrived in Accra at 1:30pm, I left the airport by shortly after 2:00. I immediately caught a taxi to the Burkina Faso Embassy. Technically, you have to drop your paperwork off in the morning and then pick it up again in the afternoon, but I filled out the paperwork and begged them to let me get it done today. I left the paperwork and my passport while I ran (literally) to a bank, pulled out some money, then to a ForEx office to change the Ghana Cedis into US dollars, then back to the Embassy. Whew. I was out of breath, but by 3:30, I had the visa and I headed to the bus-station! Who says things can’t happen quickly in Africa?

I was itching to get the 12-hour journey to Tamalé underway. Since I got my Burkina visa in less than an hour (rather than waiting the 24 that I was supposed to), I skipped the Accra Guesthouse and went straight to Tamalé. Well, kind of straight.

Turns out that busses for Tamale only leave in the morning, so I bought a ticket for Kumasi (half-way) leaving at 6pm and arriving at 1am. That way I could take the Kumasi-Tamalé bus in the morning and be several hours ahead. However, around midnight I fell asleep at the back of the bus and some other passengers woke me up a couple-hundred kms past where I was supposed to get off. I was in a small town called Sunyani, (the blue square on the map), and they assured me that I could catch a bus back to Kumasi in the morning. I spent the night in the station, but decided it would be better to see if I could catch a bus direct from Sunyani to Tamalé instead of back-tracking. Sure enough, you can go back-roads to Tamalé, but the bus only goes on Mondays. I kept asking and found out that another transport company does that trip daily, so I took a taxi to a different bus-station, and got on the bus there, putting me into Tamalé before noon!


George, it turns out, is in London, taking a course, so I didn't get to see him, but it was great to see Peter again. He is doing really well, but GILLBT is seems to be struggling. Basically, they have got almost no literacy grants. The Western World is going into oil shock and not wanting to give up any money. Ghana is now considered to be in much less need than other places (in some ways valid, but it also offers a much better ROI due to the progress they have made). Anyways, due to cuts, most of the literacy staff has either been let-go or quit, which leaves a huge burden on Peter. He was very gracious in showing me around his offices, introducing me to people, and even took me home to meet his family. They are having their AGM in a week's time, and I could see that he was under some serious stress, so I decided not to stay long. I told him that I was going to leave first thing in the morning, and I think I read some relief in his eyes. Gee I love that guy. Hopefully next year we can coordinate time a little better and have some time to just relax together.

From Tamalé, you take a mini-bus for 200k, then a taxi for 70k, walk accross the border and catch a bus the remaining 300k to Ouaga. I got here about 4 pm. As I walked in the gate, I was greeted with shrieks of laughter. Cathy had just been telling Bea that she didn't know when I would show up - that it would be a surprise. And so it was! I was a day and a half ahead of my earliest projection (mostly because I got my visa and left Accra on the same day I arrived). Surprise. Late to Ethiopia, early to Burkina. Crazy.