Moving along, our route followed part of the ancient caravan trail through territory inhabited by the Gurunsi, Dagarti, Talensi and Kassena (a subset of the Gurunsi) ethnic groups. these people all live in communal, fortified villages. The Gurunsi and Kassena people are known for the murals decorating the walls of their mud huts. Most of the smooth-walled, mud-brick homes are covered with geometric artwork created by the village women.

The villages consist of narrow streets with houses grouped together in harmonious round formations. Both the Gurunsi, Talensi and Kassena decorate in a similar fashion.

The Gurunsi/Kassena are famous throughout the world for the beauty of their mural decorations, which adorn the outside their round clay huts. The women are responsible for painting gorgeous frescoes on the walls.

The Talensi have large fortified homes that can accommodate a clan of up to 100 people. Their structures are made of mud and wood, resemble walled labyrinths and have only one entry door. Inside are narrow passageways, small stairways and oval-shaped rooms and terraces.

We took a one-hour hiking excursion up to Tenzugu, a famous religious shrine with a renowned oracle situated among stone pinnacles. The Ashanti tried to destory this shrine but couldn’t stop people from going to it. The local people consider this area a domicile of the gods.

The Christmas festivities began… after making camp. We became quite adept at erecting our tents without poking each other in the eye…