First quarter ride to Mole National Park

The Journey

The Tamale Cycling Society embarked on a challenging 160km road trip (through cycling) to the Mole National Park, from Tamale.

It was a grueling dawn-to-dusk ride that lasted for 12 hours.

Ordinarily, the duration should have been shorter, but for a few snags (punctures that led to intermittent breaks, with the team using over an hour to fix a bike in one of those instances) along the way which caused the team to delay considerably. They made it anyway!

Camping

The Mole National Park has two accommodation options: a motel and a camping site in the wild. The team opted for the latter, ostensibly because of the experience. The team did not go with camping tents, so had to improvise with the few the park had to offer, on a ratio of 2:1 — two people to a tent.

Upon taking delivery of the tents, the team's tour guide led them to the site. Descending the hill to the site, they heard rustling of what they were told by the tour guide, was caused by antelopes in the bushes, which made some members of the team, in low tones, and outside the earshot of the guide and other members, question themselves whether it was a worthy adventure.

Fortunately, it was worth it.

The team was lucky to have found three other people (two ex-pats and a Ghanaian who later introduced himself as a private tour guide), who had pitched tents already.

The team's decision to camp in the wild turned out to be the best as it afforded them the opportunity to connect with nature and meet new people.

There was a bonfire which they gathered around and shared experiences with their new friends. The night proved to be one of bonding.

After the bonfire, they retreated to their tents to the peaceful sound of the wilderness while already excited over the "safari" that awaited them in the morning.

The Safari/Hiking

The team was so excited to see the wildlife. The Mole Park has safari vans but as usual, the team opted for what they called, "walking safari" or "safari on foot". So, together with other groups (who had also come for the safari), they set out on a hike, taking in the park's breathtaking scenery and getting up close and personal with the wildlife — immersing themselves in nature's beauty through the hike.

Primarily, seeing an elephant was the goal — as it would have been the first for most of them. They hiked for 2km with no success. They had almost given up when they ran into the group which went with a van. Apparently, that group had seen a herd of elephants drinking from a dam in the wild. The team quickly regrouped and set out for the dam to have a look at those magnificent creatures.

Camping and hiking in the wild turned out to be a thrilling adventure for the team, and they know the memories are going to last a lifetime.

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