E ku ikale o!

I feel like I’m a bit ahead of the curve with this blog update :) Truth be told, I couldn’t be bothered to go see the stilts village outside of Cotonou in the heat. Also I’m a bit nervous about entering Nigeria tomorrow. So here are my musings from the Hai-Vive Guesthouse in Cotonou with decent enough internet and a fan supposedly going at a speed I guess is supposed to make up for the nightly heat.

Max and I left the sleepy Hippo in Accra on Monday, 20. January 2020. Max convinced me (I’ll admit - I wanted to “rush” - as Max would call it - to Togo) to take a slight detour and head up and out to the Volta region of Ghana. I’m glad he did. It was nice to finally get out of Accra and be back on the road again with my bike buddy. We set an easy rider’s pace and had conveniently finished the 100 km to Aylos bay in Atimpoku by the afternoon. We enjoyed the lake (supposedly no crocodiles), afternoon coffee and company of Xavier a Belgian biker on his way up from Benin.

We kept the holiday pace and broke camp after breakfast by the lake and one last swim in the Volta. Again, we had about 100 km to go to Amedzofe. I have to say, the pace of 100 km a day is ideal in my opinion - enough time to enjoy both the places you sleep at and the the ride. Also, not too exhausting so as to need a longer break. The road was mostly dandy despite the very rural countryside. This really is a nice piece of motorbiking country. The road did go bad about 30 km before the mountains and I managed to catapult Diddy Kong out of a pothole breaking my new Chinese (EUR 100) suspension strut we had just put in in Abidjan. Alas.

The road up to Amedzofe was windy and good and we reached Mr. Charles’ Guest House at around 3 pm. Amedzofe is the highest inhabited village in Ghana and has very nice mountain vibes. I kept mentioning the similarities to Switzerland, true mountain boy that I am. It turns out German and Swiss missionaries had been here in the 19th century and built a school teaching in the local language “Ewe”. Amedzofe is the first place in Africa so far where I’ve felt politely ignored by the locals (just like home ;). Our stay was largely made special by the persona of Mr. Charles. He is a very kind and genuine man who had some unbelievable stories. A local boy from the village he became an Olympian 400 meter runner for Ghana. He was educated in England and later recruited by the government to serve in security - enough said. Now he lives out his retirement in his hometown in the mountains. Smoking cigarettes and reading books - what a guy. We had discussions on geopolitics and got schooled on pan African affairs. Truly interesting! The best story was the coming about of his guesthouse: his relatives always came to stay. So Mr. Charles put up a guesthouse sign and started charging for accommodation. The relatives now stay away XD. Max and I stayed two nights, enjoying the company, the monkeys, the hills and peaceful village vibes.

On Thursday, 23. January 2020 we said goodbye to Mr. Charles. I will be back - next time without Harmatam! Max and I parted ways at the foot of the mountain. Max rode back to Accra to meet his friends who were arriving (apparently they tell him he has a Swiss accent now - I feel proud :) and I went on South to the Togo border. We have said goodbye so many times already - I’m pretty sure I’ll see him again on the trail somewhere. He’s scheduled about two weeks behind me, so in case I end up in a ditch somewhere - I know my waiting time :) Safe travels my friend!

Smooth riding on the 160 km to the border. No problems, despite not having a carnet. Friendly officers on both sides. Once across the border you’re directly in the main city of Lome. I found my accommodation the backpacker’s house easily enough (once you get past the huge port and slum) and was pleasantly surprised by the set up. It’s a dorm located on the premisses of a beachside hotel. That’s right, for USD 10 a night I got to enjoy hotel level comforts, breakfast included!

On Friday, I rode into Lome to apply for the Gabon Visa and seek out Togo Toni, a Swiss mechanic famous among overlanders running a full fledged KTM workshop in Westafrica. Toni apparently spends most of his time in Austria but Didier from Lausanne was kind enough to mount my new clutch plates, sprockets and chain that Dad had brought from home. He also fixed my brakes. I will say it was nice to watch a professional mechanic work his magic with the right tools and a sterile workshop. The Swiss quality came at a Swiss price however xD. Didier set me up with a local mechanic whom I bought another suspension strut (from Taiwan this time, also for EUR 100) off of. Max would say: “alles nur Schrott” - and he’s right. My suspension has just the right feathering degree in order to make my stomach feel slightly uncomfortable after about 10 km. I’ll admit, I’m probably overloaded. It’s hard to get rid of stuff though. With all the motorcycle repairs I’ve paid for so far - I’m almost at the price of a good used Honda CRF 250. Which would be more fun and less hassles. Serves me right for buying a 125 cc, EUR 700 bike from 1979 off the internet. Oh well - plenty of things to do differently on my next trip ;). All this being said - I’m not complaining - Diddy Kong is running which is all that counts. I feel relaxed on the road now and am enjoying the trip more and more :)

My Visa for Gabon wouldn’t be ready until Monday which was fine by me. I really liked my accommodation and made good use of the weekend and internet reading my book and newspapers and sending some emails to sort out life after Africa. On Sunday I met Kevin, a French journalist who is looking to move to Togo and work from here. He’s a very thoughtful guy and we enjoyed some discussions on mass media, African politics (well more of him schooling me) and hip hop (he called 90s Rap “classic” - I feel old xD).

On Monday Kevin and I trekked around Lome visiting the voodoo market (CFA 3000 entry - a rip off) with a bunch of “naturally” dead animals for sale (highly recommended right before lunch), a Togolese chocolate start up that Kevin had heard about (mostly dark Götti Paul :) and picking up my Gabon Visa (easy enough). In the evening I got a text from Alex and Suz, the Dutch couple I had met three months ago at the Mauretanian border. They had met Max and heard that I was in Togo. It was nice to hang out and exchange stories. We had met at the beginning of both of our African adventures and the stock taking really made me realize all the things I’ve been able to experience so far. Unbelievable :) They’re going to spend some time working at Sami’s sustainable farming NGO (https://www.facebook.com/kailend/) and are driving back to Holland after that. Safe travels!

On Tuesday, 28. January 2020 I exited Togo and entered Benin (no hassles). People here are just as friendly as in Togo. In the spirit of not rushing the trip, I’ve spent three nights at the haie-vive guesthouse. I got my Kongo Brazzaville Visa sorted (took 20 minutes) and have enjoyed the friendly vibes both local and foreign, the huge local market and the getting my traditional clothing tailored by Felix (yup - I’m ready for the next themed party :). I’ve met Alberto and Anna from Spain coming up from Tanzania in their Toyota and Jelle from Belgium heading down to Tanzania on his push bike. All very pleasant people. Jelle is the craziest guy I’ve met yet. His goal is to reach the highest mountain of every continent only using his own body strength. He’s biked from Belgium to Mount Elbrus, climbed it. Further to Nepal and climbed Everest. Then further to Indonesia, where he paddled a Kanu to Papua and climbed the Carstensz Pyramid. I’m not joking, check this guy out (https://www.jelleveyt.be).

Alberto shared his GPS waypoints for the road ahead with me. Both him and Anna enjoyed Nigeria. This gives me a bit of peace of mind. Nigeria is the one country which is a bit iffy security wise (even Jelle was a bit anxious before heading out - on his pushbike). I’ve made the call though and have decided not to try and get around it by boat. I will head out early tomorrow morning and cross the border. I’ve sussed out where to stay and will not wild camp. I appreciate all the prayers and moral support and will keep you updated on my progress via polar steps.

Hugs all around

Chris