So, I have finished up my motorcycle training and have arrived back in Wa. It’s good to be home, I always feel happy to walk back into my room, it’s my space and for now it is my home.
Since I have been riding my bike for a couple months the motorcycle training was a piece of cake. I was riding the same model bike as I had back in Wa, except it was brand new and Blue, I named her Tanya, again not sure why. I found out that this was the bike that I was getting back in Wa and Betty (my current bike) was going up to Nadawli for Laura.
Aaron had a bike back home, so he was fine on his training. Cath and Rachael had only had the training back home, so they were a little rusty. We spend the first day in a dirt field just going around and round, there was a bit of sand, so I spent most of the time going through this. Cath and Rachael had couple little accidents and fell of going slow, but they were fine. Our trainer Dan was not the most helpful; he had very hands-off style. Basically, picking up the bikes and telling people to try harder. So, Aaron and I tried to help and give some tips.
We did a few day trips out to places around Bolgatanga which on the bikes were great. Doing trips like that has really solidified my growing love of riding a moto. The best day was the ride out to Sirigu which is the home to the painted villages. The buildings around the area have a portion if not the whole house painted in traditional designs in many colours. The colours are usually more to the red side of the spectrum and the designs are usually geometric but sometimes pictures of animals do feature, like the dot painted animals of the indigenous Australians. We also visited an artist community setup to help the women of the community. Here they paint, make pottery and jewellery with the profits directly going back to the women.
After Sirigu we rode up to Paga, which is only a stone’s throw from the Burkina Faso border. Paga is famous because of its totem, the crocodile. These creatures are considered sacred here, so they are not chopped (that means eat in the English spoken here) and are looked after very well, they are even buried when they die in a proper grave. There is a large crocodile pond here and for a small fee you can be guided out to see them and even touch them, you can sit on them, but most people don’t either out of fear or respect, my reason was respect and I’m sticking to it. Also, you must buy a chicken to be fed to the crocs, so we got to watch two crocodiles munch down on their lunch, the chickens disappeared in only a couple bites. They did not feed the croc that we had been touching so I asked why not. Now this was a particularly fat croc, it even had neck rolls and the answer reviled the cause of it. The reason it was not fed was because it had eaten 6 chickens already today. It was interesting to see the crocs in their natural habitat even if they have just become pets.
The worst day of the training was spent in the Ghanaian DVLA getting out Ghanaian driver’s license. It took the entire day but the VSO officer that was helping us, Gilbert, did a great job and we walked away with our temporary licenses and told that two months later we would get the proper one. It’s all about who you know, and they have got a good relationship with the DVLA boss, so we didn’t have to do any tests.
The week was more a formality for me as I didn’t feel like I needed the training anymore. But I had to jump through the hoops to get the proper boxes ticked so no one will have a problem with me riding the bike. Getting my license and insurance papers was the main reason to do it and I am glad this is complete.
The week in Bolga was also nice because I got to catch up with Cath, Aaron and Noriko and the Bolga Lot. We spent one night out at Laura and Antony’s House and another night having dinner at out hotel with most of the Vols from the area showing up so there was about 14 people there. Really nice to hear how everyone is doing and what they have been up to.
I wanted to get back to Wa early because this weekend is Mel’s last, so we are having a going away party. So, I left on the last bus to Tumu from Bolga which was supposed to leave at 15:00, it was three hours late and broke down along the way, so I didn’t get into Tumu until almost midnight. I hate that road it’s always a shit journey.
The only good part about the bus being delayed was that I met three amazing kids. Albert was 11, his sister Elise was 4 and Stephan was 2. Albert was looking after his brother and sister while waiting for a delivery to come in on a bus. They had to wait almost if I did and on their own in the Bus station. They were fine of course, and they were having a great time playing with boxes and whatever else they could find. Albert had a small motor and a battery that he was playing with. I have some great photos of them that I will put up. They loved playing with my moto helmet. I bought them some pineapple pieces and cookies and they were overjoyed. Kids here are happy with the simplest things and so friendly and polite, makes you smile a lot.
I set of from Pete’s at around 9:00 the next morning and I took the straight road (all dirt of course) back to Wa, arriving there about midday. It was a nice peaceful ride and the scenery was beautiful. Every time I do a ride like that I am starting to think where can I go and do a road trip on a Bike, they are addictive.
So, I am back in Wa now and just getting ready for Mel’s leaving thing tonight. She is still in denial that she is leaving, and I can imagine it is hard to say goodbye to everyone here because you probably won’t see them again. It’s not like me saying goodbye to London because I know I can go back easily or meet people from there in different parts of the world. The people here don’t have the money to travel and to get back here is a real mission and expensive. Anyway, we are trying to make tonight a happy night and just celebrate the good times. I’ll let you know how it goes.
Add comment