Voyage to Volta

We didn't waste any time getting out of the city. At the dawn of our first free weekend, Kendal, Alex, Annie, Kiki and I took off for the great unknown. Rising at 6am to head for the tro-tro station, hoping to catch a bus, we set out for a remote village 3 hours drive north, near Lake Volta. As there were too many of us to fit in a taxi, we split up. When we arrived at the most chaotic scene any of us had ever experienced and realized that our taxis had taken us to different locations, we learned a very elemental lesson: never take off for a trip without exchanging digits with everyone in your group. After waking our professor and wandering through a sea of locals asking if they had seen any obrunis (white person or foreigner), we finally reunited. Overjoyed at our reunion, we boarded a very large, coach-style bus headed for our destination of choice. Unfortunately, it wasn't until after we had purchased the non-refundable tickets that we learned the bus wasn't leaving until 12:30pm. It was only 8:30AM at this point. So Alex and I ventured back into the madness to find a smaller tro-tro that would fill up in less time. We found one rather easily, wooden sign proclaiming its destinaton, and were informed that it was leaving in 20 minutes. Hastily, we rushed back to our friends and abandoned our prior vehicle only to sit on the new tro-tro for another hour in the most sweltering heat you can imagine, with vendors tugging at our sleeves and begging us to buy their goods. The relief we felt when we finally pulled out of the "station" (that was more like a market with vans interspersed) is beyond what I can explain in words. The breeze was heavenly.