North of Kumasi - getting there

The journey from Accra to Bolgatanga should take 14 hours. In my case, it took 26. Firstly, the bus was delayed five and a half hours leaving Accra because 'there was something wrong with the tyres'. So at 2.30pm, we finally left and ambled our way north, the stops along the way offering less and less in the way of food and comfort facilities the further we went and the later it got. Nigerian dramas were substituted somewhere along the way for blaring gospel music. By 6.30pm when the sun had set, all the lights were turned out and we spent the rest of the journey immersed in pitch darkness until the sunrise. I drifted in and out of a sleep, rudely awoken by the radio, the urgent honking of the bus, or when we came to a comfort stop. In this blurry world of drifting between sleep and consciousness, aware of the cold and the dehydration fuelled by fear of the worsening toilets, the bus ground to a halt somewhere between Kintampo and Tamale. Every male passenger got off and after about 20 minutes when it became apparent they hadn't stopped to relieve themselves, I got up to find them gathered round trying to prise open a side panel on the bus. Turned out there was a puncture. Clearly that problem with the tyres was fixed well! Two hours and a spare tyre later, the bus creaked on. No such thing as keeping the aisles free, more of how many bunches of plantain, barrels, cases, shoes needed to be negotiated to stumble in and out of your seat. The aircon was cranked up to freezing, so I was glad for a blanket. Ironically, as we left Tamale, the driver turned off the air con, which was when it was needed most as the hot dry sun beat through the windows creating a greenhouse effect and making the bus and its passengers of 26 hours smell interesting. Perhaps it was a tactic to acclimatise to the heat outside.

No heavy lifting, or water sachets!