On the way to Burkina Faso

My internet access has been a bit limited so I will try to back step a bit; I left Accra for the 16 hour bus ride to Tamale in the northern region of Ghana. Before I left I made a guestbook for Japhets guesthouse and presented it to him as a gift. It is meant for people who come to visit his NGO to write their experiences and share them with future visitors. He loved it and I headed off on my journey north.


The landscape changed dramatically and I had a good first hand experience on the buses not running on a schedule; Everyone has an opinion on the best way to get to Ouguadougou. While I waited for the evening to arrive I went to the cultural center and was able to catch some dancers from the northern Ghana region practicing for an event. It was incredible to see the clothes, colours and stories with the dances.

Then I tried to make my way to Burkina Faso. First one I tried was to catch the night bus that will make an unofficial stop in Tamale and see if there is space; After spending a few hours attempting that and not suceeding I decided to get a hotel for the night and try again to take a few buses across the border. After trying at a few hostels it seemed they were all full. My taxi driver took pity on me and offered me his sofa in the modest one room home with no running water or electricity; I arrived and his wife offered me some fufu and I crashed.

In the morning when dawn had just errupted I headed down the rural road to find the bus stop. I arrived and took the next bus to Bolgatanga on the border of Ghana and Burkina Faso (previously called Upper Volta). I took a bush taxi from there to the border where I walked across. It was a long dusty road with vendors lining each side and I began to hear French spilling off the peoples tongues. It was a little surreal walking across the border because I wasnt really sure where it was.

Once I arrived, I caught the first bus for a 3 hour ride to Ougua. The people on the bus found me very interesting and tried very hard to communicate with me in the regional language. They even pulled out a Bollywood movie (I am starting to love the Universality of Bollywood). I phoned Henris sister and arrived in the hot sun of Ouguadougou;