This morning we ate breakfast at the Premiere Palace Hotel and started our long journey to Mole National Park in the northern part of Ghana. As we traveled we left the more tropical southern Ghana and moved into the transitional zone and savanna ecosystems. There was shorter more grass vegetation with fewer trees. The homes of the village in the north were also more round and made out of mud instead of wood. We arrived in Mole mid afternoon after several hours of bumpy, wash board, dirt roads. After arriving we enjoyed a couple hours to relax from our long journey and take a dip in the pool.
We then split up into two groups and took a walking tour of the park. Mole National Park covers 4,840 square kilometers and was established in 1958. The park is also home to over 90 mammal species and 300 bird species. On our tour we were able to get close to see elephants, crocodiles, antelope, deer, monkeys, and warthogs. Besides these species the park also is home to buffalo, roan, kob, heratebeest, waterbuck, lions, leopards, and hyenas. The park tour guide informed us that spring and early summer are the best time of year to come because animals migrate to this part of the park during the rainy season.
It was very interesting to get up and personal with the animals. The environmental effects of many animals were very obvious; take the elephant for example. The ground in this area was quite dry and you could see the compression of many animal prints and tracks throughout the park. There were also large holes or dug out nests which you could see were built by the animals.
After the tour in which we walked around the guinea savanna, we enjoyed a group dinner at the hotel overlooking the park before crashing.
Click Here to view a map of our travels today.
