My First WEST AFRICAN GAME DRIVE!! African Wildlife in Mole National Park, Ghana

So right here we have a baboon. He's on a tree. He's like taunting us. He's like, huh, huh. Good afternoon, everyone. I hope you're all doing well. This is David Hoffman from David's Bin here coming at you from super hot, dry Mola National Park in Ghana, the biggest wildlife game reserve in the country. The national park was established in the year 1958. It's 4,840 square kilometers. And the reason you come here is to see wildlife. Buffalo, monkeys, crocs, elephants. I'm so excited. I'm staying here at the Zaina Lodge, which is one of the first luxurious wildlife camps in West Africa. And from here, we're gonna explore, right? So we're gonna get on a game drive right now at 3.30. We're gonna see my room and we're gonna eat some dinner. Mola National Park since 2007. Every year. Elephant for sure. And the antelopes. But sometimes, I'm amazed to see the baboons, the way they behave. Baboons? Baboons. You have fun with them, you know? People say that there's lions, there's leopards, and hyenas. Lions, they were telling me, it's like really, really rare at this point. Hyenas, though, there is, right? There is. So we just got off the paved road. Now, we're on a dirt road, right? And it's how it usually is in the savanna, right? In the bush, the African bush. Always dirt roads. So sometimes, it will get to a point when they see the animal a bit far, you have to get down from the safari car and walk. So we just entered the lodge. I like it. So the outside, that's like, it looks like how it is in Burkina Faso, no? Burkina Mali. Yeah, it has like the same, no, I just seen photos. It looks very similar, like that mud wall, right? You have a few different areas. I'm guessing that's where the restaurant is. And those are all the different rooms. Okay. Thank you. Now, Hassan will lead you. Wow. So I like to just check your temperature. Perfect. Wow, look at this. So this is the reception area. Huge ceilings, man. I've been to a lot of safari camps. This one's special. I already see it. This is incredible. Wow. So a lot of different areas we could sit, relax. Got the pool right there, a pretty pool looking over the entire thing. Whoa, bro. Here, let me see this. Let me see this. This is incredible. This is why I came. Forgot my bathing suit though. Got a water hole right there. So we can see the elephants in the watering hole, right? Hopefully later. This is real Africa. This is what I missed when I went to South Africa, Swaziland, Malawi, I experienced this. Even in Rwanda, I had a few different experiences similar to this. So I'm freshly squeezed lime juice, bit of salt and sugar, just to refreshen you. Welcome drink, right? Yes, please. I need another. Okay, so the reception area has a lot of different purposes, right? So they receive you, you check in right there. Over here to the right is breakfast, lunch and dinner, right? Looking over the entire Savannah. You got the pool down there. Right here, you have a bar, right? So beautiful. Wow. This is awesome. So the lodge has 25 rooms, 13 on this side, 12 on the other side, and they all look over the entire game reserve. One thing I gotta mention though, when you walk into the room, stay on the path. Don't go off, because he was telling me, sometimes there's animals, you know, baboons, warthogs, they come around here. This is my room right here. And this is my huge balcony slash terrace with an incredible view looking over the entire game reserve two watering holes. And over here, we have our first African elephant. And this is the luxurious tent. You're welcome, Mr. David. This is awesome. Thank you. Great. Wow. So huge tent, king size bed. Over here, we have a workstation, TV, right? And there's no walls or there is a wall over here, right? Yes, the vanity area. So the vanity area is a solid wall. So, but this is a tent. Yes, it's a tent. Incredible. Okay. So over here, lock box. You can put up your clothes if you want to, if you're staying for a few nights. We got the shower. Love it. Lots of space. Lots of light, right? Over here, we have his and her faucets. And this are the organic products made from Shea water. Okay. So it's a body lotion, hand washing soaps as well. They are all locally made. From Shea? From Shea. That's amazing. Yes, please. And this is the toilet. Lots of light, cozy. Man, I love it. Luxurious tent here in Ghana. You have to stay at Zaina. Yes, and one of our unique thing is this cooler box. So if I open you, you'll be surprised what you see inside. This is your local fridge. That's what we do. Every day we refill this ice. All right, my friends. It's time for the game drive. Let's go see some animals. You're my guide today? Of course, yes. Awesome. And you're my ranger of wildlife. First game drive. Thank you guys so much. I'll see you in two hours. Let's do it. Woo! We expect to see eight different species. Eight? Sometimes we see more than eight. Sometimes we see less. That include the elephants, the ronin troop, hatterbeest, waterbuck, cub, bushbuck. We have the three primates, the baboon, the patas monkey, the green monkey, or the velvet. These are what we are targeting this year. Perfect. Sometimes, depending on the location, we choose to. If we don't, we are not going to go further. Because I'm the only person staying at the lodge right now, there's no one else in the vehicle. I have the whole thing for myself. So, what I love about this vehicle is that you can actually stand up and look through here. Right? Wow. So, in case there's animal over here, you can walk around, you can look around. This is great. Wow, so much air. Plus, you have a cover, so you don't feel the heat that much, right? Woo! Look at this. We're on safari. Yes. Cub. K-U-B. Cub. Yes. Antelope. Yes, and they are from the family of Bovida. This structure that you see over here is a satellite camp. We have several of these structures dotted around advantageous places in the park. First 30 minutes, we've seen a few different antelope. You know, I've been on many gaindras before, and I know how it works. For two, three hours, in the morning or in the afternoon, and you look for animals, but you might see nothing, and you might see the whole entire Big Five, you know, obviously, if you're down in Kruger. But, yeah, I mean, a few different antelope. Now we're going to a watering hole, and there, oh my gosh, the African massage is wild. And there, we'll see, hopefully, elephants. You know, this is a dry season. During dry season, the best place to see animals is at the watering hole, because there is no rain. And if you do come in summer, you know, it's rainy, so it'll be lush, there'll be a lot of animals, but it'll also be rainy, so that's not good either. I personally like, in the dry season, that's the best time to go to Africa. African savannas. Ooh, ooh, ooh. This is wild. And yeah, we should see something soon. So definitely do two or three game drives when you go to any national park, because you need to have multiple chances to see animals. I've gone on game drives where I've seen zero, and then I've gone on game drives where I've seen everything and more. Oh, what's that? So lots of antelope, right? Forever antelope. Show me an elephant, my man. Show me one. We might spot a leopard up in a tree somewhere. Right here with some juvenile water books. It's very small, confronting us. So we just passed the watering hole where they always see the elephants and their babies, but unfortunately we missed them today. None, not one. Hopefully we see them on the way back. Maybe they're hidden. I mean, it's like this hit or miss every single time. On a game drive, I know we'll see antelope, but I really wanna see elephants. Elephants, hyenas, whatever. Give me a baboon, I want a baboon. Is there anything up there? Nope. So right here we have a baboon. He's on a tree. He's like taunting us. He's like, huh, huh. He's alluding. Two different types of vultures? Yes, we have one African white bat and a hooded vulture. And right there we have Pumba, the warthog. But no Timon here. There's no meerkats in this savannah. So we made it back to the lodge just in time for sunset. Wow, man. That is gorgeous. Thanks, my man. Thank you, thank you so much. Thank you for the experience. Woo, hard to get out of this vehicle. Okay, so I'll see you tomorrow? Yes, please. Thank you. Thank you so much. Thank you, thank you. You're welcome. Yeah, so usually they do like sundowners out there, but because of COVID times, they're not doing that right now. So the best thing to do is come back to the lodge, go to the bar, get a view over their entire thing with a little drink. Thank you. You're welcome. All right, let's enjoy the sunset. It's going fast. Literally when it hits like the bird, it's gone. You come, you relax. You don't have to go on a safari if you don't want to, but I highly recommend it. That's why you come to wildlife game reserves to go out, see the animals, to hit or miss every single time. But I mean, this is to relax, you know? You enjoy your time, you see, you chill. And I am beat, because today I woke up at five in the morning to drive all the way out here. I drove eight hours from Kumasi, long drive. All right, guys, let's go film the kitchen. They're about to make my dinner. They're making you pork chops with fried yam. With grilled pork chops, actually. So pork chops with fried yam. I haven't had pork chops at all on this trip. I'm crying. I really love your matching outfit. So our dinner is the pork chops that are baking in the oven right now, and they have a sauce on top. It looks delicious. Over here, we have the yam boiling as well, right? And this is the tomato soup as a starter. It all looks good, my friend. So my friendly chef here is making some snapper, fried snapper, that's for somebody else. She's also making me a Greek salad, and I'm not having boiled yam, I'm having fried yam. So just put it here. She also added some water so that it comes out a little softer, right? Good because of that. Woo, look at that. I love it. It's like India, it's like the oil just pops. All right, guys, dinner is served. Starting off with delicious tomato soup. We have a Greek salad with some beets, and then we have the baked lamb chops with some delicious yam fries. Gotta try one. Mm, still really hot. Okay. Is that cool? Mm-hmm. Here we go. Oh yeah, that's good. You know, I've been eating so much street food. This is a whole different world right now. Completely changed, right? I've been going all in, in Ghanaian cuisine, literally eating fufu, tenke all day. And yeah, here we go. Mm. Oh, creamy. Mm. A little sweet too. Next, I got my Greek salad. You know, my wife is Greek, half Greek. I love Greek salads. Fried cheese, tomato, black olives, sweet. Mm, that sauce. You know, I'm huge into salads, vegetables. And for some reason, here in Ghana, they don't, you know, they do consume vegetables, but it's more like always in a stew, which basically the vegetable is broken down, so you don't actually get the whole thing, right? You don't get like this. You get the joy, the crunchiness, oh, the moistness, and the main course. So I asked her for some spicy sauce. Mm-hmm. Thing is that if you ask for spice in Ghana, it's like Thailand. They go crazy with the peppers. And here we got it, pork chop. Wow, that's huge. I don't actually eat pork a lot. I eat way more lamb and goat and beef, but pork, very rare. Mm-hmm. Oh, man. It's like she used like a soy glaze. Mm, and the caramelized. Mm-hmm. Loving the yam fries. Yam, root vegetable. Obviously, we saw this on the way up. It's like a billion yams for sale. That's good. Mm-hmm. More spice, always. And the last thing we gotta try are these vegetables. So she put like the fish oil. Mm-hmm. Mm. It's almost like that Chinese Szechuan taste. Mm-hmm. I love the crunchiness. Mm-hmm. A little spicy. Same time, a little sweet. Oh, my God. That was good. And yeah, guys, this was our experience tonight. We got here a little late, Timon National Park, the biggest wildlife game reserve in the country. It's an incredible place. If you come from Gumasi, it's an hour drive. If you come from Accra, you get to fly Accra to Tamale one hour and then three hour drive in. And when you get here, stay here to Zainer Lodge. Super luxurious place. It's the number one place to stay here. There is no other big lodge like this. This is incredible. So they have 25 luxurious tents like the one I have. Really, really beautiful. I'm gonna sleep like a baby tonight. I can't wait. What you can do here is relax by the pool, get a drink right here, have breakfast, lunch, and dinner here, and then go on game drives twice a day. They also have like a walking safari. So if you want, you can go on a walking tour and go see the hide with a ranger. And yeah, that's what you could do here, right? So that was my first game drive in West Africa. Tomorrow, I have an entire day to explore. So I hope you enjoyed this video. If you did, give me a thumbs up. Leave me a comment below. Subscribe to my channel for more awesome travel content. I'll see you in the next travel food adventure here in Moen National Park. And guys, drink a lot of water. This is super dry.