I had asked the front desk to wake me at 4 am .. She had seem quite pleased to wake me up but not a peep from her...
I lumber down the stairs.. my backpack has gained a few pounds ... even a small stash of beads weighs a ton... oh my luggage!! (i will think of that tomorrow.. Scarlet always was my role model for these things!!)
I arrive at the reception only to find my way out of the hotel locked!! I peer in ... the receptionist is fast asleep on the sofa... Sorry but i had no remorse about pounding on the door to wake her up .. (we did have history.. :) ..and i had a date with a bus!
Dela was there and the gatekeeper let us out of the ground... it was still very dark but with a cool breeze it was actually a nice time to be out...
I was feeling much better that morning .. it made me realize how awful i had been feeling... for the first time my head was clear..
We found a taxi quite easily .. and Dela said, 'To the Metro bus stop, please.' ..at least that is what i imagine he said..
Now this is another huge mystery to me... this Metro Bus stop.... There are three categories of travel here... the tro-tro, the Metro bus and the luxury Voyageurs. Now the tro-tros have their station but these other buses stop on the side of the road at some spot that everyone just knows... no signs... just ancestral knowledge or something!!
I was still very skeptical about the whole thing... and even more so when we arrived and no one was there ...
Dela was positive so i settled in to wait ... soon enough a couple arrived looking for the bus to Ho! ..and after that people started trickling over ... some looking for Ho and others other places that people seem to be able to direct them to no problem! All very mystifying to me... we were just on the side of the road in the middle of nowhere...
Finally the bus shows up... i am first in line to buy a ticket..Dela gets me on the bus tucking my backpack under the seat..
He is staying to do some work for another client that is coming in next week.. so i am going on my own... it is just a bus ride straight back so i will be all right , i assure him... so off he went.
The bus slowly fills up ... the conductor tells us we will leave in half an hour... and hour later she says the same thing....
I get out of the bus to stretch my legs... this bus is like a big tro tro ... the seats are as squished together and as uncomfortable as a tro tro!!
4 hours later!!!! ... the bus pulls out into the morning traffic! So we take a long time to get out of Kumasi... but we are on our way!
All morning long even though i feel much better my cough is quite persistent so i have been sucking the strepsils continuously...
We stop at the first village about an hour later... from what i can gather it is simply a pit stop... there is a washroom there but it is simply a low cement wall that people go into.. i think it is simply troughs ... i need to pee but not enough to brave this unknown..
We start off again... and this is when i start to have severe cramps... really severe... i think i was on the verge of passing out... there was a window just in front of me that sent reviving cool air into my face... i am sure it is the only thing that kept me from passing out... a man tried to shut it, i fiercely held it open... he shouted at me but the others could see i was in trouble and told him to leave it... for ages i passed through this awful time where the world was like an over exposed photograph ... very white.. and i couldn't see well... but i knew there was absolutely nothing to be done.. that i had to go through these cramps....
It was my nightmare that i would be really ill all by myself... Here i was in a bus in the middle of nowhere surrounded by strangers... But it is amazing how that inner self looked after me... i remembered to simply breathe the cramps in and out.. even though i would start to panic , i would resolutely go back to the breathing...
But finally i knew there was only one solution.. I stood up and directing my shout at the conductor said 'I need a toilet!' There was a burst of commotion as they all processed what the crazy white woman had said....(i laugh now!!)
One man came to my rescue and nodded to me ... i just knew he would take care of it ... funny that...
Finally after what seemed like an endless time .. they stopped outside a real Rest Stop with a real washroom... My saviour led me outside and showed me the way ... he even paid the 20 pesawas to the attendant...
I took my time .. and then washed my face with cool water ... and felt so much better having gotten rid of whatever had been so disliked by my body!!
I was a different woman coming on the bus... i thanked everyone for stopping and said i was sorry i had made them wait... They were no longer strangers .. they smiled at me and told me not to worry!!
And we set off again... the whole effort had wiped me out so i actually dozed for quite awhile...
Then we started dropping people ... apparently you could get dropped wherever... we dropped a young man of at a small village where his smart city getup looked so out of place.. we dropped a couple that must have been moving they had so much baggage.. even a fufu pounding stick.. i keep wanting to take a picture of these.. they are really quite beautiful and obviously quite an essential tool here!
Of course every time we stopped we would be swarmed by people selling food.. and as people were starting to get hungry lots of transactions were taking place... which also took time..
Now that i was feeling better (i had wondered if i had simply had too many strepsils!!) ... life just felt so good again.
Even though i was coated in a layer of sweat and squished i was enjoying the ride again.. It had come to me that this bus's only aim was to go from Kumasi to HO with a full load of passengers... there was no timetable to fulfill, no other obligation except to get us to where we wanted to go...
and , you know what, in Ghana that is quite a feat!!
They say it is a 4 hr trip but i left my hotel at 4 am and arrived at Ho at 3:30 pm but i was all in one piece..
...after a quick shower i was back to myself!!
I met everyone at the Office... it was the end of the day but everyone was delighted to see me... i heard Welcome! from every direction..
It was really like coming home!
I walked home with Clarisse and Cathy..
Christianne and Shoko arrived just after i had done the beer run to see my bootlegger (i was there, i wan't there.. i could see in the old woman's eyes that either way was normal.. humbling but good somehow)
We all sat down to a delicious cold beer ... and then supper!
I was so hungry!! i hadn't eaten all day.. nor had i eaten much in Kumasi really.. but i feasted that night..
Kafui had surpassed herself .. i had soya kabobs that were super spicy and a vegetable mix... it was heavenly and i ate and ate....
It was wonderful to be back among friends.
--------
the bus that brought me back to HO... in the station at Ho...
-------
