Never Again...Probably

April 26th

Murphy’s Law basically states: @#$% and (*%$W#@$.

That pretty much sums up the trip to “Techiman” to pick-up the poultry. Why is “Techiman” in quotes you may wonder… well “Techiman” like most of the trip was mis-information.

As soon as Karim and I get into Techiman we call the vendor and he lets us know…or decides to tell us the truth at this point…that he is actually in Kumasi and so are the birds. The vendor swears he originally told us Kumasi, but in separate conversations, in which I remember clarifying location in mine, both Karim and I were told Techiman. Our bus parked in Techiman and quickly we looked for a Kumasi Lorry.
The morning bus left at five in the morning, it is now roughly 11:30 and we are getting into Kumasi. Call the vendor again, wait 30 minutes for him to meet us, he kindly drives us to the Metro station (he should, now that he also managed to sell us vitamins and has a substantial amount of our money), vendor tells us that if we buy a seat for the birds we can take them on the bus – he swears by this and leaves us at the station.
Metro won’t take the birds no matter what. Karim finds a taxi that will take us to a bus that will. Ticket seller for this bus happily sells us a seat for the birds and tells us the bus will leave at 2pm….we leave at 4:15. All the while we are sitting on the bus Karim's phone is breaking and he is using mine to call the vendor and ask questions to make sure the birds will survive the trip.
We have our birds, I have managed to snap a few pics, and we are on our way. What else can go wrong during this trip? Did I hear someone in the crowd say flat tire??
In the middle of nowhere that distinctive and ominous sound fills the bus. FLAT TIRE! Tires only go flat when you are in the middle of nowhere. Luckily there was a spare, though the jack needed some minor repair work before anything could be done. Apparently several of the men, including Karim, had noticed that the tire was bad and had brought it to the attention of the driver and other misc staff. Everyone was told it would be fine and no worries. Ha.
11:30 at night. Finally back in Tamale. Karim and I now have to part ways because I now I have to prepare to travel to the Volta for a volunteer conference. I leave Karim with the birds, two seats on a lorry, and money to pay for the fare and the week’s vaccines. I also leave him with explicit instructions to make sure I get receipts for anything he spends that money on. My fingers are crossed.
On the plus side of this trip…all the mistakes were made. If there is a second trip, it should be smooth, right????
You may have to wait a week for pics on facebook (cuz I am too lazy to post them twice and don’t have the right cord with me now) Love you all. Pray the chicks make it to Karaga. (oh yeah another part of our misinformation trip…those birds don’t look like guinea fowl to me. They look like a bunch of chickens)