Seasons

The dry season is a time for building. A family- typically the male head of household- will first buy a plot of land. Gradually one room, then another will be built, additions made as money allows and the needs of a growing extended family have to be met. The owner is free to build and develop as he sees fit within his land boundary.

Bricks are hand made uses a simple mold, from concrete and sand, then watered daily as they dry.

Making the building materials- blocks are increasingly used in construction, then finished with a covering of mixed sand and clay. (photo-internet)

A neighbour stands by her newly made bricks- later the family compound will be extended.

While some families hire a "mason" to build, others use their own skills to add new rooms. This extension was completed a week later, when the zinc sheet roofing was added.

This grain store is made using local clay and sand- the prepared balls of clay are passed and then smoothed and molded into place.

And now, as May runs towards June, and occasional showers become more frequent, the time for soil preparation has come. This weekend, I saw, as I travelled from Zebilla to Bolgatanga, men, women and children tilling plots near to homes, preparing drills and planting seeds collected from the previous harvest.

Subsistence farming- family plots are cultivated, using basic tools  and time honoured methods- as long as the rains come, followed by hot sun to ripen, a harvest will yield enough to keep the family fed for the year.

Animals: domesticated 2

The patient, gentle donkey:- younger boys ride them like cowboys.

Larger animals to be seen everywhere include cows, which are extremely valued, and donkeys, used for labour and transport, though gradually being replaced by the three wheeled motorking.

Donkey and metal cart- young children quickly learn to handle the donkey and to transport goods to mark

The adaptable motorking- the new workhorse of northern Ghana- this picture taken on the main road into Tamale.

Although there are few fences, no squared pattern of fields, no clear land boundaries other then the clay walls surrounding traditional compound houses, I am still surprised if I open the door to leave my house and a large cow walks straight past me. Why?

And finally- another domesticated animal, infrequently seen, favoured by tribesmen from Niger with nomadic habits:-the camel.

I was keeping a safe distance from the long strong legs.

The rider sits to one side of the saddle, using a stick, but also his feet to give instruction and direction to the animal. I like the handbag, slung over the saddle. Camels and their riders are welcomed in Zebilla- I have seen one man gallop with camel from house to house, requesting small offerings of food.

Animals:domesticated

In the smaller towns and villages of northern Ghana, most households keep some domesticated animals for food,as a security against harder times and for gifts to be offered for weddings and funerals. During the dry, non- growing season, most animals are un-tethered and roam, "free range", although everyone knows who each animal belongs to.

Wandering past my house each day and night will be:

goats-this picture was taken when the maize was ripening, and shows the destruction goats cause if let loose. Most of the time, goats appear to have great fun, running around, eating, and following their reputedly lusty goat instincts.-;

ducks-mother and ducklings take a bath, though as water becomes scarce, the ducks  follow the retreating water;

fowl-(chickens)- this one sprayed a rather fetching shade of pink for easy identification;

guinea fowl-surprisingly noisy creatures;

pigs-this one is almost camouflaged as it sleeps in the welcome shadow of  hollowed out tree roots, within a dried stream bed- pigs are also extremely noisy when running around and when eating, somewhat disturbing when awakened in the small hours by strange sounds immediately outside my bedroom window.

Market trading- animals are bought and sold live at local markets- every third day is a market day. The trading is always done by men. (photo-internet) Meat from many animal sources is popular- in addition to fowl, goat, cow, pig, available also dog and "bush meat" which covers any animal not domesticated.

How to transport a live animal- my friend Fati demonstrates. A goat can be secured within a basket or large bowl and fastened to the back of the moto.

Safari 3

Early the next morning, our party of four took a jeep tour with guide Mohammed Adam. The gun, he explained, was for our protection only. In his fourteen years here as a guide, he had only rarely fired a warning shot and never had to “take an animal down.” (He did not disclose any actions regarding protection of the animals against man.) He prepared us for what we could and should not expect: essentially most animals kept under the cover of trees, many of the big cats were nocturnal (he had only sighted lions four times), we may see more activity around any watering places, patience and careful observation were vital. The seven species of mammals we saw were from the same families- elephants, primates and antelope- as those seen at close quarters in Mole village.

western hartebeest (internet)

water buck (internet)

Roan antelope (internet)

 With Mohammed Adam’s keen eye and the help of a pair of binoculars we also saw, or glimpsed at, thirty-one types of birds. The constant call of birds filled the air as we slowly drove through savannah woodlands and into open plains with dried flatlands and muddied ponds, a reminder of the lateness of the dry season and the expectation of rain.

Our tour guide, warden Mohammed Adam. In the background, one of the lodges used for overnight accommodation by tourists and wardens on patrol.

Northern carmine bee eater (internet)

Grey headed kingfisher-(internet)-which looked beautifully colourful in flight

Paradise fly catcher- wonderfully exotic

The short stay- just twenty-four hours- was sufficient for a non-scientist, a town dweller lacking scientific knowledge and informed curiosity, and accustomed to viewing, with commentary, detailed recordings of animals’ lives courtesy of David Attenborough and therefore not wanting (and as a volunteer, lacking the funds) overnight camping in distant lodges, accompanying by wardens on dawn, dusk and night-time walks to hideouts, spending patient hours awaiting perhaps for sightings. 

Viewed from above on the terrace by the Mole Motel, elephants visit a watering hole. Behind stretches the savannah and forests of Mole National Park.

Safari 2

Male kob on the Mole village football field.

Wart hog enjoys a bath- note the kneeling position.

An elephant, completely overshadowing the church, eats the wild mint. The usual Ghanaian practice of growing crops to feed the family cannot happen in Mole village.

The walk around Mole village showed us that some of the Mole wildlife is accustomed to humans and has no fear. Rather, the humans are the intruders who must adapt and accommodate.

Safari

Mole National Park (area 4,840 km2area)-  (Compare-Lake District 2292 Km2 , 4528 Cairngorms in the UK)

“Mole National Park in the Northern Region offers close-up encounters with huge Savannah elephants, baboons and other primate species, birds and large antelopes”-Ghana Tourist Board

“The Game Reserve which is the biggest in the country.... was established in 1971 and is home to more than 94 different mammals, 33 species of reptiles, 300 species of birds, four species of monkeys and 700 species of plants.”

Ghana has  seven national parks, huge tracts principally established for the conservation and safe roaming of animals,  ideally free from threats of hunting, poaching and illegal timber logging, sadly all reported by the World Wildlife Fund for Nature(WWF). Unfenced and difficult to patrol and protect effectively, the news periodically carries reports of such illegal activities by individuals and organized groups.

Map- showing position of Mole National Park- I could not find any map marking Mole and the road route- indicative of the lack of a road infrastructure. 

Bushmeat on sale by the road side- the term is generic, meaning any non- domesticated animal. Ghanaians spend an estimated US$ 200M per year on bush meat. (Wildlife Direct)

 In Ghana bush meat continues to be an important source of protein in a country where fishing yields have dropped and on land 66% of all households rear animals extensively, supplying families at subsistence level. The bushmeat trade is unregulated and researchers say it has lead to localized extinction of species and contributed to a  general loss of biodiversity across Ghana. On our journey from Tamale to Mole, we passed a lorry, rather like a cattle truck, loaded with hunters heading out for bushmeat.

Like much of Ghana outside the few major cities and throughout the more northern regions, travelling to Mole was a long, arduous trial of a journey, with hours spent bumping along a ridged, red dust pot- holed road- this route being the main road linking the key regional cities of Tamale and Wa.

Arrival at Mole- looking more like oompah-loompahs, the combination of dusty roads and a vehicle with ill fitting doors, windows and boot, allowing dust to circulate freely.

Comparing experiences later with volunteers  who have been “on safari” in Kenya, where jeeps travel in fleets and tourists are guaranteed to see lions and other favoured  big game, here the touring was quiet, low key, personalized, any sighting s of rarer animals, a privilege to be appreciated (or possibly also a reflection of the “empty forest” syndrome reported by WWF researchers.)

On an afternoon walk with guide Christopher, we watched within 10 feet of African elephants as they sucked the dust from the track and sprayed it onto their bodies-apparently to protect against ticks and parasites. They were surprisingly quiet, their movements slow, deliberate, even. After several minutes of dusting themselves, they smoothly turned and retreated back into the woodland, gently trampling back over shrubs and smaller trees.

An older male guides a younger elephant, estimated to be about 20 years old, back into the woodland. The elephants' life span is about 70 years.

Christopher took us to the Mole village settlement, built to accommodate all the park’s guides, wardens and their families. Amid the single storey housing children played, men sat with cards and opportunistic baboons, in search of an easy evening meal, ran, scaled walls, scrambled over zinc rooftops or sat and observed. The warthogs rolled happily in the mud. A kob (small antelope) stared at us from the football field.

A baboon eats the entire cabbage he has stolen from a nearby house- we heard the shrieks of dismay.

Quite Interesting. (QI)

Question: remembering that in Saudi Arabia women are not allowed to drive, where in the world are only women, but not men, allowed to ride motorbikes?

Answer: Bawku Municipal District, Upper East Region, Ghana. Since 2010, in response to the latest outbreaks of violent disruption, attributed to historical conflicts between two tribal groups and also criminal individuals, a complete ban on all males riding or travelling as passengers on motorbikes was decreed, and is enforced by Ghana’s National Security Council.

Map of Ghana- Zebilla is mid-way between Bolga(tanga) and Bawku. Photo BBC

Photo-internet

I travelled to the town of Bawku, some 40 kilometres east of Zebilla, along the main tarmac road leading to Burkina Faso, with my work colleague Haruna, and his family. I was to be a guest at a Baby Naming ceremony of his great niece. 

Many streets of Bawku are lined with trees, giving welcome stripes of shade. The town bustles with trading, as a destination, a passing through place and home for three to four thousand students of the High School, the Technical School and the Vocational College. With men cycling in twos and threes, women scarved  and brightly clothed from head to foot sedately cruising on their motorbikes, there is a quietness, a slower pace than Zebilla, with an echo of Amsterdam, but in brilliant sunshine and heat.

Photo-internet

The Baby Naming- for the child Naida-required my greeting the beautifully dressed infant, housed in her mother’s room with her mother and giving my best wishes and a small token gift. I was then seated, on a chair, rather than the mats on the floor, within the extended family’s square, enclosed courtyard, to listen to the chatter of the women and young children as they took their share of the prepared food and admire the brilliant colours of the clothes worn. The men and older boys talked under the hired gazebos, sitting on the hired chairs, outside the compound. It was a pleasant social gathering. I was introduced to Haruna’s mother-in-law, who sat on a small low wooden stool in one corner, quietly watching the proceedings, receiving her sons and daughters, her grandchildren and other visitors.

Proud mother and beautiful baby.

The family's courtyard, hosting the baby naming. Guests enjoy  food cooked by the sisters. Time:- around 9 am.
The men are outside, under the hired gazebos. The cooking began at 4am.

The great grandmother (second right) with three of her eight children, and one great- grandchild peeping over the heads.
Haruna's wife, Haleema, is second left.

During our journey we learned of the death, the previous evening, of Haruna’s elderly Auntie, who had been ill for the last two years. And so, collecting our portions of the food, in typical “take out” small plastic bags, we set off again, calling first to see Haruna’s invalid mother, offering condolences for the loss of her sister, and then on to the funeral, at Auntie’s home.  (As a Muslim, Auntie would be buried within 24 hours of death.)

With no time to arrange for catering, hospitality being so important and prided in African culture, only well water from the family’s own courtyard, was available. Food for guests would feature at subsequent memorial events for Auntie, the first being the following weekend. 

Again, the women, never less than fifty at any time, were seated about the inner square courtyard of Auntie’s family’s courtyard, mostly on unrolled prayer mats, while the males congregated outside sitting in reserved, allocated` areas among the parked bicycles, motorbikes and occasional car. The women wore long scarves to cover their heads, the men caps, but otherwise all were in everyday clothes. 

Auntie’s corpse, shrouded and in her room, laid on the floor, was to be seen, prayed for, by each adult, and so I was ushered in to take my turn. The room was small, and with a dozen mourners present, was crowded, dark but not gloomy, or over laden with grief. Following the lead of Haruna, I knelt, composed my thoughts and paid my respects for a precious life now finished.

The family was controlling arrangements. Everyone else filled their time patiently, talking quietly but cheerfully enough. Some hours later, when an absent son, trying to reach Bawku from Accra within the 24 hours, gave his consent to go ahead without him, the final rituals began.

While Auntie’s body was washed and prepared for her coffin by immediate relatives, her eldest son led the women in chanting song and prayer. After moving outside to the men, the women gathered themselves, the prayer mats were rolled and all flowed through the connecting passage to the sun-baked outside. Here, men and women segregated, praying took place.  At least one hundred and fifty mourners had gathered now, in row after row, kneeling. Then silently, fluidly, all stood, moved back calmly to line the entrance of the family home. Auntie’s body, now in its green steel box coffin, was carried out and the men left to take her to her final resting place in the cemetery, the women waiting back in the compound.

The event to my eyes was respectful, accepting of death, with visible signs of grief from some.

Image- internet