From Bolga to Kumasi I took a coach instead of a trotro, partly for security reasons, partly for better comfort. However, I was given a last row seat, next to a huge woman that filled the whole of her space (which was her problem), but also the armrest which should have been shared between the two of us. From time to time I surreptitiously peeped sideways at the largest mass of human flesh I’d ever seen on an arm.
When the lady returned to her seat after a stop, she found it difficult to get over the step in the aisle. As my backpack was encumbering the passage, I felt it to be my duty (and my interest, to avoid a flat bag in case of a collapse) to give her a hand, heaving her up after propping my knees on the front seat. The other women soon interpreted my offer as sexual advances, and asked me without the hint of a joke if I would like to “take the lady”.
In Kumasi I put up at a guesthouse near the STC station and drew my plan for the next day. I wanted to get up early to witness the incredible spectacle of the bats flying over the zoo trees in the early morning. Thousands of animals fluttering frantically blacken the sky, and hang on the branches forming disquieting clusters that weigh them down. When these large bats fly you can see their characteristically-shaped transparent wings, that they wrap around their body when they rest upside down.
I spent the rest of the day at Lake Bosomtwe, a natural basin that originated from the mighty impact of a meteorite. The road goes down the steep edges covered in dense rainforest until it reaches one of the communities scattered around the lake. Investigation has been carried out to find evidence of the impact as far away as in the Ivory Coast. The visitors centre has documentation explaining the findings, and in particular records concerning the variation of water levels over the centuries.
The village people have a funny attitude to visitors because they ask for suspicious donations, but I ignored their request and I was left alone. In the evening I enjoyed some shopping at the most incredible market of the country which I’m convinced is Kejitia.