We spent the day in Tamale! We got up this morning at 5:00 and headed to Tamale; we wanted to be the first people in line at Japan Motors to get the blue van serviced. We also needed them to check the instrument panel on the red truck as well as the brakes. Steve drove the van and I drove the truck. Japan Motors had just opened when we arrived. Around 1:00pm the van was ready to be picked up. The problem came with the red truck. They kept telling us that the mechanic was working on it but when we went to the repair yard to get our suitcase out of the truck guess what? The truck was just sitting there and had never been looked at yet and that was 1:00. We questioned the delay and was told that the mechanic had to finish the car that was in front of us. Finally, at 4:00 they told us that the problem was in the instrument panel and that we would have to have it replaced! Really! Is that not exactly what we told them was wrong with the truck? The truck is 10 years old and this is the first real problem we have had with it. The problem with an older vehicle is that finding new parts is difficult. They checked with the other parts departments across Ghana and no one had one in stock. They said that they were going to have to order one for us. Who knows how long that will take or how much it will cost! They put the truck back together and told us to drive it until they found a new instrument panel.
By the time we got out of the office it was almost 5:00. We did not have enough time to get back to Yendi before dark and it had started to sprinkle. We decided to spend the night in Tamale and return to Yendi in the morning! We were able to get in our vehicles before it started raining heavily! There are no words to describe the chaos that happens on the roads when it starts to rain! Motorcycles appear out of nowhere; bicycles and riders pollute the streets! Pedestrians are running from kiosk to kiosk trying to make their way home. No one pays much attention to the laws of the road! People will be riding against the traffic! The good part about the rains here in Ghana is that the heavens open up and pour rain for about an hour and then there is a break before the rain starts again.
By the time we got to the hotel it was still raining heavily so we came in the back door of the hotel and passed through the kitchen into the dining room. We decided to go ahead and order our supper! Varsa, the lady that runs the hotel and the kitchen told us that she was happy that we came early because yesterday was the celebration of their elephant god. Her and her family are Indian. She said that at 7:00 pm she was going to go and pray. We told her that she could fix us something easy but she said that she would have plenty of time to cook whatever we wanted. She and her husband are so sweet!
Hope you have a great day!
In HIS Service,
Steve and Kandie
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