Ghana Part 4: The Green Family Heritage Tour

The trip to our final destination, Bolgatanga, kicked off with a fizzle...  A 9am departure time was delayed because our bus driver was asleep after just completing the trip FROM Bolga the night before.  Apparently there was only one driver.  10am came and went... 11... 12... 1... and then finally around 2:30pm the bus started north!

The stationary bus...

We bumped and swayed upcountry well into the night.  Around 11:30pm I woke and we were unceremoniously dropped in a dark parking lot.  A taxi took us to the Christian Social House where we were assigned a room with questionable looking beds.  Too tired to really care, we draped whatever we had down under us and passed out until morning.

We woke and shared a massive bowl of what can best be described as a delicious Mexican jambalaya and embarked on the 

"GREEN FAMILY HERITAGE TOUR!"

Comparing our Lonely Planet map to a map that Lindsey's father, David, drew based on 30 year-old memories, we walked in the general direction toward the 'Green Compound.'  David had made a note to look for the road that had a 'school or hospital or church' on the corner.  Riiiiiiight.  After walking for some time we turned off the 4 lane highway (which apparently was a dirt road when the Greens were there) and kept a vigilant eye peeled for anything that might give us a clue where Peggy and David once lived.

Hospital this way!

The dusty roads and dry brush gave no clues.  We were armed only with hand drawn map and a half dozen photocopied Polaroids.  With no clues, we enlisted local help.  We asked an old woman if she knew where the huts were.  She was half def and had cataracts we soon discovered.  She called her friend over.  Her friend called her brother over and so on until we had attracted a crowd of 20+ people all discussing what these crazy 'obrunis' were doing.  Finally a man in his early-forties (making him around 12 when Lindsey's parents lived there) recognized the buildings! 

Following our leader

He led us through the Bolgatanga suburb, up dirt paths, through backyards and finally through some trees where we broke into a clearing to the GREEN COMPOUND!!! We found it!  The distinctive round concrete huts with corrugated metal roofs stood abandoned, but they stood nonetheless! 

The Green Compound
David and Peggy lived in the hut on the left.

We shot a couple of pictures and made our way back towards town for a celebratory beer and lunch!  For Lindsey this was a sweet little glimpse into her parent's life.  They would have been about her age when they lived in Bolga and while the city has changed dramatically in the past 30 years, there was a surreal feeling that we broke through that tree line and stepped into 1982.

I still can't believe we found their home.