26 October - Cotonou Day 2

We got up and had breakfast on the rooftop at the hotel and had a leisurely morning. The only commitment that I had was to deliver our travel itinerary to the Nigerian embassy. I took off around 11:00 to go there and deliver the papers. She accepted the papers and confirmed that the visas would all be ready around 10:00am on Friday.

I was on the motorcycle riding back to the hotel and I noticed a Chinese restaurant that looked good, so I pulled a u-turn and went back to have lunch. It was an old place with an outdoor dining area upstairs that overlooks the street. It was a great change of food; I had not had Chinese food in a while. The cashew chicken and rice was delicious.

We rested for a while in the afternoon, then around 5:00 pm I was contacted by the Yamaha shop that we visited previously. They had some tires they wanted us to come look at, so I notified Mark and we got a cab to go check them out. Unfortunately they were cheap no-name tires that we could not trust so we didn’t buy them. We had dinner at the hotel in the evening.

27 October - Cotonou Day 3 Moving Hotels

We had decided to stay here in Cotonou through the weekend. Since we had to wait to receive our Nigerian visa until Friday, there would not be any reason to go to Nigeria until Sunday. We could avoid the traffic and stay on the beach here. So we re-located to the Tahiti Hotel on the beach.

It was a grueling 3-mile ride across town (only kidding!) to the hotel. We arrived, and they told us they didn’t have the bungalow that we reserved so the negotiation proceeded on how to accommodate us. We ended up in two separate rooms which was just fine. The rooms had air conditioning and bathrooms but no hot water. Once again, not a big deal. There was a bug net over the bed which I assumed would be necessary in the night. I could see light through the cracks in the front door, so I would guess the mosquitoes could come inside if they wanted….

We had some refreshments at the tiki-style restaurant (part of our hotel) near the beach. They offered a full menu of food and drinks. We had lunch and then settled in during the afternoon. I explored the beach a little bit. The crashing sound of the waves is nice to hear. The water and the sand aren’t very pretty, but it’s a nice big beach nonetheless and it was nice to take a walk in the mornings and evenings when it’s cool.

28 October - Cotonou Day 4 / Pickup of our Nigerian Visa

The plan was to pickup the Nigerian visas at 10:00am. Also, Mark realized that his motorcycle is overdue for a final drive oil change so we needed to search for some gear oil.

Mark and I got on the motorcycles and went for a ride to the Nigerian embassy. I went inside and Mark stayed outside. I checked into the front gate as I had done before and made my way to the immigration office. The same lady answered the door and waved me back into her office. I gave her the papers and she accepted them. She continued to plead with me about not causing any problems for her. She threatened that she was inclined to stop issuing visas to travelers all together because of the problems she’s had with these motorcycle riders she’s mentioned. I assured her again that we will be no trouble and intend to stick to our itinerary and leave Nigera within 6 days. During this conversation she requested additional information from us: our motorcycle registration and a photocopy of the passport of our sponsor. I didn’t have this information, so I would have to leave and come back again.

Mark and I departed the embassy and went on a search for gear oil for his motorcycle. We stopped at one shop who then directed us to another shop near to our hotel. It was a nice car dealership that also serviced KTM motorcycles. They actually had some KTM riding gear and lots of parts. We found the correct gear oil, but Mark had to buy the whole bottle despite only needing about 6 ounces! Oh well, we will donate it to someone who wants it. We got the oil and went back to the hotel.

I had sent a text message to our sponsor in Nigeria to receive a copy of his passport. He responded within an hour, and I asked one of the staff at the hotel to print out 3 copies for me. He told me he would have to run out to a print shop, so I gave him some money and he went out. We had lunch while we waited.

When the guy came back with the prints, he only had 2! I told him I needed 3 but he only brought back 2! He was apologetic. I was in a hurry, so I pressured him to go back out as soon as possible. This time I would follow him so that I could continue back to the Embassy once I got it.

He hopped on his scooter and I followed him down the street from our hotel and then he took a left onto a sandy road which led us into one of the local neighborhoods. I could tell this was off the beaten path, because everyone paused to watch me ride by, and the area was less developed than the main streets of the city. We zigged and zagged down a couple sandy streets and then stopped at a print shop, which was a small store with a guy and a computer. He printed the third copy for me, I said thanks, and then took off for the Nigerian embassy.

Navigating my way out of this neighborhood was difficult. I followed GPS down two streets only to encounter a dead end due to construction. I felt a little self conscious every time I had to make a u-turn in the street lined with locals staring at me. The second time I had to make a u-turn I dropped my bike! I must have rolled over a fist-sized rock that caused me to loose my footing. A couple guys came over and helped me pick the bike up. I was slightly embarrassed, but its okay— it happens.

I made my way back to the Nigerian embassy to find a queue of 8 people in front of me. I was a bit anxious because I was eager to close the deal on this visa. I waited patiently, sweating in the sun and humidity for about 20 minutes until I was waved in. I checked in with the guard, who knows me by now, and he let me skip the line to go inside.

I waited inside the immigration office and the lady helping me opened the door and waved me in. I handed here the documents she requested, and she told me that she had a phone call with my “friend” (our sponsor in Nigeria). When texted him on WhatApp I had mentioned that we were having some difficulty, so he must have called her to re-assure. It seemed she was in better spirits. She handed me our three passports with visas and wished me well on my journey. I expressed my gratitude and told her we will have nice time. Done! I was so relieved that this was taken care of. Up to this point it was the most challenging visa to obtain.

On my way back I had some errands to run. I stopped at a phone store to get a SIM card because the wifi at our hotel is very bad. It was quick and only cost about $6. This will cover me for the next couple days in Benin.

The rest of the day was spent at the hotel. We hung out at the on-site restaurant and dealt with continual power outages in the evening. Thankfully the power was stable overnight.
 

29 October - One more day at the beach

We decided to stay the weekend here in Cotonou because we could not go to the embassy in Lagos until Monday. It would be less hassle to stay here than stay in Lagos for the weekend.
 

30 October - To Lagos Nigeria

It was a brief 20 miles to the border, and an easy border post into Nigeria. Very similar to our entry into Benin, the exit border post was a building with covered parking that contained both Benin immigration and Nigeria immigration and customs. It’s a simple 1-2-3 process. There were a couple fixers hanging out with us who eventually wanted parent but I told them in advance that I would not be paying for their help. It’s so easy they are not needed…Sometimes they hang with you regardless and end up disappointed.

The ride to Lagos was punctuated by very bad gridlock traffic jams on multiple occasions going into the city. Coupled with high humidity, dust, pollution, and temperatures over 90F, it was miserable. Also I was lightly rear-ended by a taxi van! We made our way into the city and to our hotel on Victoria Island. We had to skirt a couple road construction detours, then blow off an unofficial road block, but we made it. It was a nice place with only a few rooms. The facility was nice with walled and secure parking.

In the afternoon I took a walk to the bank that was on the same block to get some cash. The ATM’s in Nigeria are notorious for only dispensing 10,000 Naira per transaction (that’s only about $20USD!). The first ATM we tried was having technical difficulty, so we took a walk further down the street. We did find a couple that worked, so I stood there and made repeated transactions until I had sufficient cash. For dinner we went to a nice restaurant just down the street. It was more expensive than expected, but the food and service were top notch.
 

31 October - Cameroon Embassy in Lagos

We had breakfast at the hotel, then gathered our things for our walk to the Cameroon embassy just down the block. We arrived around 9:00am and were greeted at the lobby by a nice soft spoken man. He handed us some forms to fill out. We fumbled over the questions about reference addresses in Camerron, but learned we could use the hotels that we would be staying at. We then paid (quite pricey at 220 Euros) and were taken upstairs to a second waiting room. There we were taken one by one into the office of the guy who was printing the visas. A few simple questions and an hour later and our visas were complete! We were pleased that it went well.

By then it was lunch time and we went across the street to a restaurant located on the 5th floor of a high-rise apartment building. It was very nice and we had a table with a view of the city outside.

After lunch we parted ways because I had several errands to run. I went down to the MTN phone store to get a SIM card, and then get some groceries. Everything was within walking distance on the street near our hotel. I made my way back to the hotel and rested because I was sweaty from carrying groceries for a quarter mile down the street.

For dinner we walked out in search of an Indian restaurant that we never found, but we ended up at another local restaurant that was nice with a more varied menu. I got Chinese fried rice.
 

1 November - Benin City Nigeria

We made a plan to leave early to beat the traffic, so we were on the road by 6:30am. It worked out nicely, and we were able to escape the city limits without much trouble. We did notice that over half of the gas stations in the city were out of gas, so the ones that had gas were very crowded. We didn’t have any choice but to get in line, but we ended up scooting our way to front of the line courtesy of some nice people. Surprisingly the price of gasoline is about half of what we’ve been paying everywhere else. You would think that with low supply they could charge more….

The ride to Benin city was nice. The road was smooth and the traffic was okay. The hotel was in the city center. The place had been recommended on iOverlander. It was cheap but okay for one night. The on-site restaurant had limited supply of food so we had to consult with them on what to order.
 

2 November - Enugu

We headed northeast for Enugu from Benin City. We passed through a couple other cities so there was intermittent traffic jams. The highways are in good shape but within the cities there are often lots of potholes. We stayed at a “boutique” hotel in town and it was okay. It was a good location with secure parking, always a plus. It looked nice on the surface, but we quickly had a few issues. Nothing major.
 

3 November - Gboko

We had a good rest and departed early the next morning. We had breakfast delivered to our room, which arrived 15 minutes late. Once on the road we got out of town, getting gas on the way out, and then headed north. I followed an alternate suggestion by Google Maps which turned out to be a bad quality road that became worse, so we had to re-connect with the main route. No harm done, it just added some time.

You cannot determine the road surface type from Google Maps. I have been using Ride With GPS to plan my routes, and it does provide road surface information, however it is also not always accurate. I’ve learned to plot the route via Google Maps, and then calculate the average speed from its time estimate. For example if the average speed is 40mph, that’s great. If it’s 20mph it may be slow due to road conditions, such as poor quality of road.

Arriving in Gboko we stayed at a big hotel in town. It was a bit hard to find at first because we had the wrong coordinates. I stopped to check my map and eventually figured it out, so we headed to the correct location. It was a big place with few people. The room was okay, with air conditioning and hot water. However the hotel was in poor condition and the restaurant had terrible service. They did not have 90% of what was on the menu, and after we ordered, they had to call the cook to go shopping for the ingredients and come make the food! They had good intentions but the delivery of the service was bad.

I took a walk with one of the young guys that works at the hotel because I wanted to go to the market for some groceries. He took me down the street about a quarter mile. Here I found all the staples I was looking for. I got peanuts, fruit, peanut butter and chips.
 

4 November - Gboko to Bali

We were a little apprehensive about this route today because there were rumors of poor road quality and security issues between Katsina and Takum (the first 50% of the trip). A little more research revealed that the security concerns were old news and we should be clear to take the route.

As it turns out the road quality was not as bad as expected, and there were many security checkpoints along the way (a good thing). The guys at the checkpoints, either police or military, were always friendly and liked to chat with us about our trip. We stopped half way through the day at an abandoned shelter along the side of the highway for lunch. We ate our snacks and waved at the passers-by. Almost every vehicle honked and waved. There are also many transportation vans full of people on the road. Some overland travelers go by this mode.

Arriving in Bali, we navigated to our hotel. The directions had us immediately turning off the highway onto a road that looked more like a footpath between he houses into town. Mark and Ranee waited at the road for me to investigate. I found the hotel. It was a bit basic without AC. It would be difficult to access for Mark and Ranee on the big bike, so I decided to look at the second hotel option which was located directly on the highway.

When I went to retrieve Mark and Ranee, they had drawn a small crowd on the side of the road. They were entertaining them by singing happy birthday to one of the people. I think I arrived just in time because they were getting overwhelmed. We went down the road less than a quarter mile to the hotel. It was nice place with a courtyard for parking, electricity and AC (or so it seemed).

We checked into the room and asked about the non-functioning AC. They said that it doesn’t come on until 10pm. They could run it sooner if we wanted to buy gas for their generator. Because the room rate was inexpensive we could tolerate spending more to get AC. We paid for the AC to start at 6pm.

At the same time we were sitting out in the courtyard drinking beer, and we also ordered some food. The hotel could make us indomie (a seasoned instant noodle like ramen) with eggs. Additionally there was a stand outside on the street grilling chicken so I walked out there and picked the meat we wanted to eat! The lady promptly threw the meat on the grill and she brought it to us shortly after.

By now it’s 6:30pm and the AC had not yet come on at our rooms. Mark and I hung out in the lobby and pressured the staff to fix the problem. After all, we had paid for the generator to run from 6 to 10pm! It finally came on around 7:10pm and ran until 10pm, at which time the AC stopped for the night. There was electricity to the lights and ceiling fan, so the ceiling fan with open windows would suffice for the rest of the night. It was frustrating because we didn’t get what we expected. I did sleep fine however.
 

5 November - Bali to the Highlands of Nguroji

We had a leisurely morning because we had a modest day planned, only 118 miles. The cook at the hotel made us fried potatoes, eggs and coffee for breakfast. We were all set and departed around 9:00am.

The day’s ride was excellent. The first half was very nice paved highway along the valley as we got closer to the mountains. There were many security checkpoints, but the officers were always friendly. The 20 mile ascent to the top of the Mambila plateau was slightly challenging. The paved road had severely eroded in some places, revealing huge ruts and washouts. It was a challenge but easily doable for us. The treat at the top was sweeping views of the valley below and mountainous terrain in the distance, along with cool and dry air. The cool temperatures were so nice compared to the past few weeks we had spent at lower elevations and near the coast.

We arrived in Ngurogi, which would be our launch point for the border crossing to Cameroon. We bought gas on our way in and went to the hotel. It’s the only place in town, so there’s no choice. The staff was friendly and the parking was secure. Although the rooms were very rudimentary. Simply a bed and a squat toilet with no running water. Water was accessed from a well on site.

After we settled in, I solicited some advice from one of the guys hanging out at the hotel as to where I could get some groceries. He offered to take me for a walk through the town market to find some things. We went out and got some fruit, water, and hard boiled eggs(for breakfast).
 

6 November - Off-road Adventure Across into Cameroon

We departed Nguroji at sunrise so we could maximize our day. Our destination was Banyo Cameroon by way of a notoriously bad road that has mud, steep climbs, rocks and several water crossings. It would be a nightmare if wet, but luckily conditions were ideal now and it was very dry.

This route originates in town just off the main traffic circle and heads northeast. The road was immediately rough, with rocks and ruts, but then lead to more tame terrain a few miles in. The 20 miles meandered along the grassy hill tops and provided amazing panoramic views of the valleys below.  We passed by a few villages, people walking along the road and cattle herders moving their livestock along the road. As we got deeper into the route the terrain became more varied with rocks and ruts, and we had to skirt past a slow moving truck.

One one big climb Mark stalled his bike and could not get it going. His clutch would not engage easily. It was shuddering and stalling the bike. Ranee got off the bike, and we also unloaded all his luggage to make the bike lighter. After that it was more mangeable. We determined that he’s overloaded (but we already knew this!). He also made a change to the power mode of his engine, switching from ‘Dynamic’ to ‘Enduro’, in an effort to make it easier to control. This did help significantly.

I crashed into the bushes on the first big hill climb because I was riding in a rut, and that’s never easy. Along the way, Mark did struggle with his bike more, with several falls. The weight of his bike made the riding very challenging.

We stopped for a picnic lunch mid-day and refueled our bodies. We had made sure to have good nutrition with us. Eventually we made it to Kan-Iyaka border post after a couple security checkpoints along the way. This was the first stop on the Nigeria side where we would get our exit stamps for immigration and customs. First stop immigration where the officers were chatty and very slow. It turns out that the man recording our information has poor eyesight and that’s why it took him so long to write our information down into his ledger! His boss just sat in the corner and chatted loudly with us and others in the office. We were anxious to go as we were losing daylight.

Next stop was Nigerian customs were we could get our Carnet de Passage stamped out of Nigeria. It was a quick transaction and they offered us “ground nuts” (peanuts) while we waited. They were happy to meet us and came out to look at our bikes and take pictures with us.

We headed down the road for one more health checkpoint. We had to provide our vaccination cards to them! I don’t understand why they need to do a health check on exit from the country!

Just across the border there was a small town where we checked in with Cameroon Customs. Mark and I crowded under the grass hut where the two officers, one male and one female, were sitting on wooden benches. The lady officer took our bike registration and wrote us each our Passavant, the permits for the motorcycles. Surprisingly we didn’t pay anything for it.

Just a couple hundred feet down the road (under another grass hut) was the immigration checkpoint. Here we were advised that they would not be giving us an immigration stamp, because it’s not necessary. We also confirmed that this would not create any issue upon exit from the country. Later I confirmed all of this by chatting with some other travelers by text message on WhatsApp. The officers reviewed our Cameroon visas in our passport and wrote down our information.

Before we could depart from this checkpoint the officer wanted to take a look in our luggage. We had to open every bag on our bike and explain the contents. This was adding more delay and I was getting frustrated as the sun crept lower in the sky. They looked at my bike quickly, but It was painfully slow to watch them go through Mark and Ranee’s bike because of how much luggage they have. It required them to untie and unmount some of the baggage.

We completed the shakedown and were released. We were advised there was one more stop down the road. It was another police office that would record our information and take a photocopy of our passports. This makes SIX stops we had to make to complete this border crossing. We were very tired and still had 20 more miles of off-road riding to get to Banyo. Our optimism was fading along with the daylight.

We continued down the road and encountered a couple rocky hill climbs, for which Ranee dismounted and walked. Mark dropped his bike on a relatively easy incline, and he was understandably frustrated about it. We continued on, the light faded more, and we were now riding in the dusk by the lights of our headlights. One more hill climb and one more fall from Mark and I decided it was time to camp.

We were in a relatively flat wooded area on top of a hill, so I took a walk straight out into the bush from the road and found a nice clearing about 100 feet away from the road. It was obscured by the bush and would be a nice place to camp. I walked back out and waved Mark in to bring the bike to the camp. I walked out and retrieved my bike which was parked just up the road and I joined them.

By now it was dark. Mark and Ranee began setting up their tent and I took a walk down the hill towards the sound of a babbling brook where I could filter some water for dinner. Our water supply was totally depleted and we needed more. I filtered 4 liters of water which would be just enough to get us through the evening and breakfast coffee. I set up my stove and started the hot water for dinner. I had a cup of tea and some ramen noodles, and they had a dehydrated camp meal—looked like some kind of pasta.

We were relieved to be relaxing now in this beautiful place. The clear sky with a full moon, cool breeze, and nothing but the sound of crickets was very calming. We sat around in our chairs discussing what just happened. We were all worn out and maybe slightly bruised, but in great spirits. We would sleep well.