Blogpost jan 21, 2019
Safari Adventure!
This morning, we had an early start so that we could hit the road to get to our days activities. We went to our usual breakfast place, and then set out for a long bus drive. On the way, we looked at the local Ghanaian news. In it, one of the notable pieces read pertained to an initiative by former president Mahama who promised to put unity on his agenda as he takes the role of a key player for the National Democratic Congress. We felt this accentuated the feelings of disunity and disjuncture between desires for different citizens within Ghana, especially with the establishment of new regions now totalling 16 within Ghana and the change benefitting some people’s within the country more than others.
The Larabanga Mosque
Eventually on our road trip, we arrived at a historic mosque which is the one of the oldest mosques in West Africa, built in around 1421. The Larabanga community in which the mosque stands is 100% Muslim. In 1992, a Peace Corps member convinced the community that education and faith can coexist together. Because of this, the community itself welcomes foreigners to help support the community initiative for education. The people believe that the construction of the mosque is a mystery, but historians are now agreed that it was but by itinerant Muslim traders, who also left behind a Quran. The Quran is displayed at an annual celebration that brings pilgrims to Larabanga from far and wide. The mosque itself had separate entrances for men and women, just like other mosques throughout the world. Non Muslims were not allowed to go inside the mosque. And Prof. Iddrisu, who is a practicing muslim and recently made thr pilgrimage to Mecca, performed ablusion and made two raka’ats inside the mosque. He was watched intently, to make sure, no pictures were taken inside the mosque.
After looking at the mosque, we looked at how shea butter is made. First, the foundation of shea butter comes from a tree that bares green fruit with a pit. The fruit is to be eaten, so the seed is then exposed making it easier to start the butter-making process. The seed is placed in boiling water for about twenty minutes, and then dried in order to grind the inside of the seed easily. After drying, they are cracked to reveal the seeds which are washed and dried, then ground and cooked with a mixture of boiling and cold water. Hearing about the process of Shea butter creation revealed the necessity of many people from its creation, and a the full support of the community. It’s provided incomes to many families. Shea butter is founds on almost all the body lotion we use in American and Europe. A few of us purchased the butter, for they reap benefits to the hair, skin, and can be used as a water resistant/bug repellant ointment. It also never expires, due to being 100% natural ingredients!
Once done with the shea butter, we visited the location of the “magic stone”. In the community, it is believed there is a magic stone where the founder originally settled himself, and after throwing a spear, decided the location of the mosque he would build. The stone was originally on such a small amount of clay it appeared to be hanging. In the story, the stone would come back to its original location no matter how many times it was moved. Due to the suspicious nature, they built a highway around the stone to avoid the mysterious stone. Today, the location is a holy place.
After visiting the rock, we went into Mole National Park, home of Safari elephants, leopards, antelope, vultures, four types of monkeys and more. We went on an hour long safari and saw thirteen Saharan elephants, which we learned are in truth black in color but they cake themselves in mud to protect their skin from the hot sun, so they appear grey from this.
The elephants live in groups of males and females, so we only saw the males due to the females being pregnant and in hiding to protect their young at this time of the year.
This was the best time to see the elephants, due to the dry season and diminished foliage that led to a better view of the animals.
We also saw antelope and vultures! After the bumpy ride back to the bus, we took off again for Tamale. We ended out exciting day with a take away dinner and a lot of napping after the big adventures!
- Vanessa, Kristina, Morgan, Ella