Several factors delayed our second-quarter ride, but with the team we have, rest assured the delay was only short-lived. We made it happen; Tamale to Wa by bus, Wa to Jirapa by bicycle.

After weeks of planning and liaising with the amazing staff of Royal Cosy Hills Hotel (Jirapa Dubai), we were almost set for our trip. To firm up our plans and arrangements, one of us went ahead of us to Jirapa to check out the proposed camping site and negotiate good deals for the team for camping, Safari, and all. He returned to Tamale with very good news; our hosts were more than ready to receive us.

Now we arranged for a bus that would take us to Wa and also serve as an escort for us for the adventure to Jirapa from Wa. By the end of July, we had firmed up the numbers who would be making the trip. With our bus secured, bikes serviced and ready for the trip, shopping done, we were ready. Fully strapped.

Day 1 - Tamale to Wa

August 4, by 5 am, a good number of us had gathered at our meeting point. The bus driver was delayed a bit. Now we had to pack our stuff with real tact; bags, bicycles, and more. By 6:30 am we were all set and en route; twelve (12) of us.

We stopped briefly at Damongo for some hot Waakye. Waakye tasted much better than we expected. Our JBL Xtreme 2 provided some really good music. We shared some good jokes on our way. In Sawla, our other team members who were joining the trip via another car caught up with us. They were three of them. By 1 pm, we had arrived in Wa. We drove to the STC yard. We had good space to park, stretch our feet, say our prayers, and dress up for our trip. We were joined by two more members in Wa. By 30 minutes past 2 pm, we were all set to cycle to Jirapa from Wa.

Day 1 - Wa to Jirapa

12 cyclists all fully strapped rolled out of the STC yard in Wa and made it to the Wa Jirapa road. The ladies among us gave us good morale while sitting in the bus providing us escort with two other ladies driving the other car. Not long after we got to the Wa airport then we had a distress call from the ladies in the other car. They were having challenges moving the car. After several thoughts, we settled on them joining the bus so we pick the car up the following day. We got to park the car at a filling station after the Airport in Wa. This set us back 15 minutes but we were soon ready to hit the road.

Aikins, our lead sweeper left the rest of us in good hands, Bra Fii and Azindow led the group from the back. Aikins had to get to Jirapa on time to ensure our campsite was ready for us. After 2 hours and 30 minutes, we covered 42km from Wa to Nadowli. By our standards, we were not doing badly given that some new cyclists were making the trip. As a rule, we leave no one behind.

The Nadowli Jirapa stretch was tough for all of us. It took some good motivation, great endurance, and some tough resilience to make it. You are cycling, look up and see a hill, gather momentum to climb the hill hoping for a sweet slope at the other side of the hill. It’s only after you have made the climb that the words of Nelson Mandela hit you for real, “after climbing a great hill, one only finds that there are many more hills to climb”. Literally! That is where we needed all the resilience in us. After another hour and 30 more minutes, we made it to Jirapa town. Some good gnawing of some hot roasted corn and some water to wash it down gave us the extra push to make it from Jirapa town to the Royal Cosy Hills Hotel (Jirapa Dubai). Time check 7:35 pm. Wa - Loho - Kaleo - Gbankor - Sombo - Serekpere - Goriyiri - Nadowli - Kalsegra - Dapuori - Baazu - Jirapa!

After four hours on the road, 68km covered, and an average speed of 17km/h — we made it to Jirapa!

Day 1 - Our First Evening at the Royal Cosy Hills Hotel (Jirapa Dubai)
Exhausted was the word by the time we reached the reception. We couldn’t wait to get done with checking in and quickly head to the restaurant. To say we were hungry was an understatement. We were famished in every sense of the word. There was some good jollof rice, fried rice, banku with okra and some goat, burger, and fries, you name it. We had to be quick about supper as we needed to head to the campsite and set up our tents, take our baths and catch some much-deserved sleep.

By 8:30 pm, we were at the campsite. The campsite was beautiful. There were solar lamps all over, a tank with water for our use, and a security man at the post for our protection. This was VIP treatment at the campsite. At this point, a good number of us were experienced in setting up tents. It wasn’t long before all our tents were ready for habitation. We took turns taking showers at our designated bath area while the ladies were given room to wash down.

We didn’t have the strength to do a bonfire. By 10 pm, we were all tucked in and ready to sleep. There was the odd joke here and there.

Morning Day 2 – Campsite

By 5:30 am, some of us were up and wide awake. Those who had to say their Fajr prayers did so. We all woke up to a beautiful sunrise. We freshened up a bit and headed to the main hotel area. Some jogged, others cycled, whilst the rest went by the bus. Bra Fii was going to lead us in aerobics and do some stretch exercises. This 30-minute morning workout for me was so important for all of us. We needed to deal with the cramps in our muscles after the journey from Wa to Jirapa. The workout was fun, engaging, and very refreshing.

Next up was some mouth-watering yummy breakfast buffet; there was some hot waakye, fried rice, veggies, sausages, some mutton, fish, eggs, you name it. Some watermelon juice, tea, coffee, etc. There was just so much to eat and drink and we ate to our fill.

By 10 am, we were back at the campsite. We took turns to bathe and prepare for our Safari. At 11:30 am, everyone was just about ready to go for the safari. We lazy-ed about a bit while we waited for the truck to give us a good tour. At a few minutes to 2 pm, our truck and Abdul-Aziz Pelpuo— our amazing tour guide—were ready to give us a treat.

Day 2 – Afternoon Safari

A few members still had the energy to ride their bicycles for the safari. Some of us settled to enjoy the ride on the truck. It was so much fun. First was to see the Zebras, amazing animals. Then the largest species of antelopes in the world is called the ELands. The Elands were very sensitive to our movements and quickly left the scene once they sensed our presence. We were able to capture a few shots. From there, we made it to the lake. The view was so amazing and the breeze was even better. We didn’t want to leave the place. You can bet we will return to enjoy the sight and breeze of the waterfront as soon as possible. Our guide cautioned us that there was a lot more to see ahead.

We made it to meet Magdalene and KK. These are baboons. Just as our tour guide was explaining to us how they got their names, Magdalene grabbed Aikins by the shirt and was pulling him strongly towards the cage. Thank goodness for the cage. Her grip was really strong. Aikins let himself free though. So long story short, Magdalene had pulled the wig of a tourist sometime back. Guess the tourist’s name?!

Next up was to see some wild ducks. We missed the geese narrowly. And hey, you know how the world’s most expensive coffee is made? It’s made from the poop of the Civet Cat. Yes, you read right! The coffee beans are ingested and digested by the civet cat. The feces are collected, processed, and sold. Guess who saw three civet cats while on tour? You guessed right.

We thought we had seen it all then boom; our next sight though. The Lion King himself in his full majesty with three female Lions. White Lions. They are a rare colour mutation of the Lion family. The Lions lay calmly until the noise from a Motorking (tricycle) got them up and stretching ready to pounce on anything. Well, the electric fence around gave us a sense of security. We were told by our tour guide the Lion is highly polygamous and can mate about 70 times in a day but each session lasts about 30 seconds. Well, he is King Lion for a reason. Then, there were some pretty large Ostriches. These birds have both feathers and skin. Isn’t nature just beautiful? The Alpaca was next; then a Tortoise and then some Warthogs. The Hippos refused to come out of the water to say hello to the Tamale Cycling Society. Maybe some other time.

Day 2 – Lunch and swimming

All too soon our safari was over and we made our way to the main hotel building. It was time for lunch and some swimming lessons. Bra Fii took the time to give us some Swimming 101 lessons. Very useful lessons. Then there was late lunch for most of us. A funny incident happened at the restaurant but that is a story for another day.

Day 2 – Bonfire night

After our late lunch, we waited for our ladies to wash down then we headed back to our campsite. Now we had to get our bonfire set and prepare to grill some fish, goat, beef, and more. The night was about to get even better. It took a while for our bonfire to be ready. Aaron led the grilling team with some good help from Papafio and the rest of the team.

We got word from the hotel that some guests wanted to join us for the Bonfire. We were happy to host them. We gathered around the bonfire, passed a sage around, introduced ourselves, and shared a couple of interesting things about each other. Everybody had something to share and it was a good learning experience for us all. Then there was a game with numbers. We were all supposed to take turns counting numbers from 1 and then you had to clap at every multiple of three instead of mentioning the figure. This was so much fun and generated some good debates. Aaron and Walter, one of the guests from the hotel, were the final two. Guess who carried the day? It was not Aaron.

We shared some more thoughts on empathy and responsibility. Every bite of meat and fish was tasty. And oh, there was some hot tea and coffee. The bonfire, the clear full moon sky, the chirpings of the birds, and the many jokes and deep thoughts shared, please take me back to that night. The guys at Royal Cosy Hills will say: “There is no Wi-Fi in the mountains, but you will find a better connection”. The chit-chats continued till we all retired to our tents.

Day 3 – Some rain and the morning sun; Tamale calling

The lighting, a bit of thunder, and then some showers of rain woke us up at about 3 am. Fortunately, we were prepared for this after our experience camping at Botanga earlier this year. We came along with some large polythenes to prevent water from getting into our tents either through the ground or through any openings. The rains were not that heavy and shimmered after a while.

Naturally, we woke up a little later than usual. It was our final day and had a lot of packing to do. First was our stuff, then our tents, then to clear the campsite so it’s squeaky clean. Slowly, maybe somewhat sadly, we were ready to leave our campsite. We had our breakfast earlier. You know it was yummy.

We gathered around the reception area and took our last set of pictures, signed out nicely, and headed out to Wa. A few people got off in Wa and the rest of the team continued to Tamale. The journey back was long and tiring. By 8:45 pm, we arrived in Tamale, back to base. Everyone would get back to their homes.

The whole experience at the Royal Cosy Hills Hotel was amazing, to say the least. The staff did everything to make our stay comfortable and memorable. From the delectable food to the inviting ambiance, the tranquil surroundings, the presence of animals, and the refreshing pool – every aspect exceeded our expectations. We would be back soon. Let me hear you say, we go go; we go go!!