Tree Platform...Attempt #2...Fail

So Kakum National Park has this tree platform that people can go to and spend the night.  It sounds really neat and is something us volunteers really want to do! 

Well the first time we tried was about 3 weeks ago.  We traveled to the entrance of Kakum only to be given the information that we were in the wrong place.  They told us we had to go back to Cape Coast and travel to a different part of the park.  Well it was too late at night and so we had to head back home.

Failure #1

So then this past weekend, we tried again.  We talked to lots of people about it, getting different information from everyone, but we decided to try it anyways.  This is where the adventure begins…

We headed out in the early afternoon and took a tro-tro (big van) to a town called Fantina Kumasi.  There, we spent at least a half hour arguing about a taxi ride and how much it should cost.  By the end, there were about 4 or 5 Ghanaians all arguing in Fante with us just standing there having no idea what was going on.  They told us for it to be a shared taxi (cheaper), we had to fit 4 people in the back seat and 2 people in the front seat….plus the taxi driver!  Mind you, we had backpacks full of stuff for our overnight – no way were we fitting 4 people in back!  See I guess since the village we were going to is more of a remote village, not many cars go there so they make the most out of each journey.  So finally we figured it out and ended up paying a little bit more so that it was only the 3 of us in the back.  

We set out basically to the middle of no where – lots of dirt, potholes, beautiful scenery and an evil looking storm cloud ahead.  We were headed to the rainforest so we eventually figured rain was inevitable, but we were in for a real treat.  It started down pouring during our ride.  We passed 4 people 2 little boys and 2 women) who were walking on the road and since, you know, we had all the room in the world, we picked them up to join the party!  They sat in the trunk with their large containers of freshly picked plantains.  So now we had 10 people in the taxi, lots of plantains, and lots of rain.  No big. 

Well then we came to a hill…it was not our friend.  We got stuck…bad. 

One of the women in the front seat got out and continued walking, I guess she thought it would be quicker.  The other 2 women, the taxi driver, and the man in the front seat all had to get out and start pushing the car!  They got completely drenched!  And then there’s Liz, McKell, and I just cracking up at the whole situation!  But they did manage to push us through, but only to get stuck 2 more times.  But I’m alive and we made it up the hill and to the village!  Oh Ghana J

We get to the village finally!  It was a very neat little place - when Americans think of Africa they think of mud huts and dirt roads...well this was something like that.

For the next 2 hours are running around trying to find the right people to take us to the tree platform.  Well it turns out that 4 out of 6 of the guides are traveling, one is sick, and the other just doesn’t want to go because it rained too much.  Well that’s nice…do they realize what we had been through?!  The community tourist guide (the guy helping us) tried everything so we could go, but it just didn’t work out.  We were bummed.  Especially since not that many cars come to the village, so now getting home became an unwanted issue. 

We waited, ears perked to the sound of any motor vehicle.  Finally, one came!  I have never been more excited to hear a car!  So after all our hard work, we had to get into the car and head back to Fantina Kumasi…oh but there were only 8 total people in the car this time…thank goodness?!

We thought we were fine then…but we were wrong.  You really can’t travel anywhere without something happening.  Well this time it was that the car had no headlights…and it was now dark out.  Hmmm…not a good mix?  We were assured that it would be fine because the driver was an electrician (of course he was) and he would fix it.  He did, but then we stalled and the lights went out again.  After at least a half hour of trying to fix it again, the driver decided to continue without.  The three of us were laughing and joking the whole time…we were jokingly offering our flashlights as headlights, never thinking that would be the real solution.  Well that’s exactly what happened.  The front seat passenger held his dying flashlight out the window for the entire duration of our ride (maybe 1 hour) down pitch black dirt roads with rainforest on both sides.  I have to say I did not feel very safe!  Just picture…8 people in a small taxi, pothole-y roads that were wet and slippery from the rain, and a flashlight as a head light.  Oh boy.  Many prayers were said and despite the circumstances, we all got to Fantina Kumasi in one piece.

Now it was getting later and I was a little worried we wouldn’t get a ride back to Cape Coast and then we would have no idea what to do.  But amazingly the second we got off the taxi, this very welcoming and friendly lady greeted us and told us that if we couldn’t find a car back to Cape that we could stay with her!  WOW!  But after awhile we ended up getting a tro-tro back home…the ride was surprisingly uneventful except for the creepy guy sitting in front of us who kept looking back and talking in mockingly high-pitched voice! 

So lessons learned – I have no idea.  Laugh at everything?  Know that you can always expect the unexpected?  God is watching over me?  Don’t ride in a taxi with 9 other people?  Plan ahead?  Always bring a flashlight in case your headlights don’t work?  Who knows…

Well anyways we didn’t accomplish what we had set out to do, but we had quite the adventure…many laughs, good conversations, and new experiences that I could never have imagined! 

We did get a pretty cool picture out of it with some adorable little children!