Burkina to Cote d'Ivoire

Our departure from Ouaga was slightly delayed by the need to obtain visas for Mali through which we may or may not be taking a quick detour via depending on whether we can get permission to cross the Cote d’Ivoire / Guinea border. This border has been closed on and off over the past year due to Ebola and presidential elections in both countries. Ouaga is the last place in which we can obtain Malian visas so we have acquired them just in case… Consequently we didn’t make it to Bobo that day and had to stop and bush camp en route.

Bobo, Burkina’s second city, was in places reminiscent of India with animals grazing on mountains of rubbish. Actually the rubbish throughout West Africa so far has been quite astounding. Sadly the countryside is littered with plastic bags and cities are full of smouldering piles of rubbish.

From Bobo, we headed to the southwest of Burkina, the Banfora region, which is much greener and lusher. Spent an afternoon by some fantastic waterfalls and then a beautiful bush camp for the night amidst these incredible rock formations shaped like domes.

From there a short drive early morning to take a piroque (wooden canoe type boat) on the lake to watch hippos. As it turned out, just the one hippo put in an appearance... Then on to visit a sacred baobab tree whose guardian was quite a unique character! Next was one of my favourite places so far - Sindou peaks which are these stunning rock formations where we enjoyed a late afternoon walk and the fabulous views. We were based here for two nights and also made a visit to a cave village in the hills that tribes formerly used up until the 90s to escape tribal conflicts.

Next stop - Cote d’Ivoire, a country that was once doing relatively well, then was torn apart by civil war which only ended in 2004. One can reasonably anticipate that a border crossing will take several hours even if you already have a visa for the country that you are entering. This one was yet further delayed by a new rule introduced by the Ivorians that you now must have proof that you have had the meningitis vaccination. With typical African logic, if entering by air or any border other than a northern one, it is not required. However, the officials refused to budge and so we had no alternative but to have the vaccination. Once across the border, the roads became very pot holed and dusty thus further slowing our progress. 

Some more longer driving days ahead as the distances between places of interest in Cote d’Ivoire are greater, but there is never a dull moment on a road trip through Africa. There will always be numerous road blocks and police stops to contend with, although to be fair the majority of officials so far have been very friendly. They seem to be fascinated by the truck and use any excuse to get on board and have a look around! One of my favourite sights was that of four cows being transported on top of a minibus! They appeared to be quite content - probably a normal mode of transport for them - but I couldn’t help but wonder how they got there in the first place. I wish I had been able to take a photo but as there was a policeman nearby, I wasn’t able to do so. A definite no-no is taking photos of armed police!

News just in is that the Ivorian Prime Minister has finally signed off our permit to cross the Cote d’Ivoire / Guinea border. Great news as it means we won’t have to make the Mali detour after all so a lot less driving and only three nights of bush camping ahead of us as opposed to five which in fairness was not an appealing prospect given the oppressive heat. The humidity has increased massively in the last couple of days and we are all slowly melting…

Trying to upload some photos as I write this but - quelle surprise - the wifi is a little on the slow side...

A Birthday in Burkina Faso

When I woke up yesterday morning and my tent mate asked me what I wanted for my birthday, I replied a shower and the opportunity to do some laundry. When you’ve been on the road for a while, it is the simple things in life that you crave! I had forgotten just how grubby overlanding is. Layers of dust and filth, wearing the same clothes for days on end, but also seeing and experiencing so many amazing places and things, that ultimately it is all worth a little discomfort along the way.

So my day started in the village of Tiebele in the south of Burkina Faso. Waking up in my tent pitched on a roof top of a mud brick painted house to the sounds of chickens, donkeys and pigs below. A breakfast of pancakes, then packed up the truck and back on the road to Ouagadougou (pronounced Waga-do-goo), the capital city of BF. Arrived there around lunchtime to discover that the campsite we had been planning to stay in had closed down. Whilst Al and Jase went off with the truck to find alternative accommodation, we were left with five hours to kill in Ouagadougou. A blazing hot day, a hectic city, and not the ideal way to spend my birthday it has to be said! However, on the plus side, we have had to stay in a “hotel” for two nights so a bed and a shower - as in a proper shower, not a bucket, very exciting as it has been about a week since I’ve had one of those. And we weren’t expecting to sleep in an actual bed until Freetown in mid March, so what an unexpected bonus. The “hotel” is run by nuns and is university halls of residence type rooms, but it is more than adequate (when you’re used to a tent anything would seem good). It is quite an oasis in the centre of the city.

When we crossed the border from English speaking Ghana into French speaking Burkina Faso, it was immediately noticeable how much poorer BF is. A landlocked country with not much in the way of natural resources, most people get by on subsistence farming. It is very hot and dry, as was the northern part of Ghana. I last wrote when we were about to leave Kumasi, Ghana’s second city. From there, we spent a night bush camping (i.e. zero facilities) by some waterfalls, then it was on to Mole National Park for two nights. Whilst Ghana can not compete with East or South Africa for safari experiences, it was probably better than I expected. We did a walking safari one morning which ended with us standing by the water’s edge watching the elephants come to drink and bathe. The elephants and the warthog are very habituated to people so you do get very close. The warthogs were all over the campsite, as were the rather less welcome baboons. There were also a few different types of antelope around - bushbuck, hartebeest, impala and waterbuck.

From Mole, we drove north towards the border, spending the night at a lovely quiet bush camp. To be honest, it is sometimes easier to bush camp because you have no expectation of being able to do anything other than have a wet wipe wash. Whereas if you are staying at an actual campsite, you start to envisage running water, showers and toilets, only to get there and discover they aren't working which is always a disappointment. Our driving days are generally punctuated by stops in towns to buy fresh food, explore the markets and visit any other sights of interest along the way. We are split into four cook groups so every fourth day is a shopping / cooking day. It can be quite a challenge to buy foods depending on where you stop. Most of the time you are shopping in local markets as supermarkets are only found in large cities. We’ve all had some fairly horrifying meat purchasing experiences as you watch a guy hacking hunks of beef off a carcass on a dirty wooden table in a hot market with flies buzzing around. Having said that, no one had been ill, so it would appear that if you cook something for long enough all germs will die!! And amazingly, despite the limited resources, there have been some very good meals produced. 

The border crossing from Ghana into BF was typically African - slow and painful with lots of waiting around for no apparent reason. Bizarrely, it took a lot longer to get our passports stamped to leave Ghana than it did to purchase visas for BF and enter that country. After crossing the border, we spent two nights in Tiebele which was a new stop for Overlanding West Africa. It was a really interesting place and our local guide there showed us a lot of the area and explained the history of the painted houses. We also saw pottery making, gold mining, farming and traditional dancing. Now we are in Ouagadougou for two nights. A chance to be away from truck life, have some internet and eat out in restaurants. Birthday dinner last night at "Le Showbiz Restaurant” complete with wine and cake, and now for a relaxing Sunday catching up on chores such as laundry, sorting out photos, and internet. Tomorrow we head to BF’s second city, Bobo, which will be a very long driving day...

Ghana - forts, castles, rainforest and beaches

A very speedy update from Ghana! Was planning to write a blog update later today but have just discovered the internet cafe closes in an hour's time and won't reopen again before we leave town..

Since leaving the capital city of Accra, we headed west along the coast to a place called Elmina where we spent two nights camping on the beach. A beautiful spot - palm trees, white sand, and warm water, although we were mostly out and about visiting various places so only found time for a quick swim on the final afternoon. Whilst the weather is hot and the sea was warm, the skies are very hazy rather than sunny. Apparently this is typical of this time of year when the Saharan winds blow a dust over West Africa. Whilst we don't feel the winds this far south, the sky is grey and hazy.

There are several forts and castles along the coastline where the slave trade once flourished. This was where the slaves were held for months on end before being traded and shipped overseas. Very interesting and humbling to visit when one considers the unimaginable suffering that once took place there. On a brighter note, we took a trip inland to a great area of unspoilt rainforest which had canopy walkways in the treetops. We also saw the coffin makers at work. In Ghana, many people are buried inside the most incredibly intricate coffins carved out of wood. Shapes range from cars to tigers to a coke can!!

We are now in Kumasi, Ghana's second city, and home to West Africa's largest market. Arrived here yesterday late afternoon and we are camping rather randomly in the grounds of the Presbyterian Mission for two nights. Today is very much a free day in terms of deciding what we do be it visiting the market, cultural centre, relaxing, etc. We will leave tomorrow morning to head north towards Mole National Park which is apparently home to lots of elephants so looking forward to seeing some wildlife.

Accra, Ghana

Arrived in Accra late on Saturday night after flying from Heathrow via Lisbon and then on to Accra which is the capital city of Ghana. The trip officially started on Monday morning, although several of the group met before that as most of us were staying at the same hotel. Fourteen of us, plus our two drivers (Al and Jason), will be traveling via truck from Accra to Freetown - a 42 day trip taking in Ghana, Burkina Faso, Ivory Coast, Guinea and Sierra Leone. Many of us will continue on subsequent trips north towards Morocco whilst some passengers will leave in Freetown and some new ones will join. For this section of the trip, we are a largely British contingent, although we do have a token Aussie, Kiwi, Canadian and Uruguayan. Apart from a couple of people who have travelled together before, we are all independent travellers so I’m enjoying getting to know new people. Everyone is extremely well travelled so all have interesting travelling stories to share.

After meeting on Monday morning, unsurprisingly there have been lots of administrative matters to sort out before we can get on board the truck and on our way. Despite having travelled extensively in other parts of Africa, I can see already that West Africa is going to be a whole different ball game from a logistical point of view! Obviously, visas are required for all the different countries we are to visit and whilst some we were able to obtain in London prior to travel, many have to be applied for en route. So our first task on meeting as a group was to complete applications for our Guinea visas. That was a fairly painless process as we were not required to attend the Embassy in person but sent our passports, applications, passport photos, visa fees, etc off with a local guide. He magically reappeared that evening with our passports complete with Guinea visas!

However, we also need to get visas for the Ivory Coast before we leave Accra and that particular Embassy has chosen to make the process rather more painful. Firstly, you have to make an online payment and print off proof of payment. Sounds simple right? Not when you are in a country that barely has workable wifi. The wifi at the hotel is pretty much non-existent although we are told that it is the best wifi that we will have for some weeks to come!! So based on that, you may not be hearing from me very often.. Anyway, after time spent in internet cafes we all managed the first part of the process yesterday. Then today, we had to go in person to the Embassy and submit our applications. Those visas will hopefully be issued tomorrow afternoon, but Jason is going to stay behind to collect them so that we can continue on our way and not waste any more time in Accra. Hopefully he will catch up with us at some point with our passports!!

After stocking up on food and drink, we are now ready to head out of town first thing tomorrow morning. Really excited to be getting back on the road and seeing what else Ghana has to offer. We will be heading west along the coast, and camping on the beach for a couple of nights before heading towards the northern part of Ghana.

Aside from all the admin, there has been time to see some of Accra too. It is a typically dirty, dusty, sprawling, bustling African city. Friendly people, but very anti-photographs so not easy to get pictures of street scenes for example without upsetting someone! No taxi driver seems to have a clue where anything is, although inevitably they will say that they do and then get hopelessly lost! Some of us did a walking tour yesterday and visited a local school and the markets. Music seems to be a big part of Ghanian life and school assembly at the end of each day includes lots of drumming and dancing which was great to watch. Certainly seemed a lot more fun than my school assemblies! The local markets are fascinating with masses of spices. I was particularly intrigued by the bowls of dried chameleons which apparently have great medicinal qualities…

Whilst I could undoubtedly rattle on for longer, I will leave it there for now because I’m not entirely sure that the wifi is going to allow me to post this…fingers crossed.