A Million Minutes in Africa

After leaving Mole National Park, we headed to Larabanga, famous for its Sudanese-style mosque. It supposedly dates from the 1400s, but there is no documentation from those days that supports that claim. An agressive crowd of “guides” led by a guy in parachute pants (a sure sign of sleaziness, according to our friends) assailed us for admission fees in addition to “voluntary contributions.” This was the least appealing interaction we had with Ghanaians during our whole trip. We were not allowed to enter, but we were allowed to take photos of the exterior.

Parachute pants guy tried to shoo away the hangers-on, but these kids still hung around.

The wooden posts sticking out of the mosque are structural supports, according to parachute pants guy.

Nearby, a girl in a school uniform gave a smaller child a piggy-back ride.

We left Larabanga and drove to Paga, on the border with Burkina Faso. Paga Pio’s Palace is the compound of a local chief. We got a tour of the mud buildings around a courtyard. One of them contained a tiny kitchen, pictured here.

It must’ve gotten mighty hot in there because there was only a tiny hole in the ceiling for ventilation.  The opening to the outside, which was only about 3.5′ tall, was located in the next room.  In the kitchen, there is no chimney from which smoke could escape.

We asked if people still had kitchens like these. The guide laughed and said no. However, on our way out of Paga Pio’s Palace, we glanced in another mud building and saw what looked like a working one of these kitchens.  Hmmm.

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