Trans Africa expedition 15

The people of Ghana seemed really friendly and laid back, they also spoke English which was quite a treat after so much time in ex-French colonies. Apart from the beaches, the real highlight of Ghana was visiting the infamous slaving forts of Fort Metal Cross, Elmina and Cape Coast. The slaving forts built over 300 years ago were interesting but saddening. The dungeons where hundreds of slaves would be crammed were inhumanely small and unventilated - the conditions must have been unimaginably squalid. The slaves were kept in these conditions to 'break' them before they were loaded onto the ships as cargo.
 From the Ghanaian coast we headed inland up to the Akosombo Dam which has formed one of the largest man made lakes in the world. We enjoyed an interesting tour of the dam and then traveled to Kpalimé in Togo. We entered Togo on 3rd April and after spending a pleasant day in Kpalimé headed down to Lomé, the capital. Togo is regarded as the heartland of voodooism, so we decided to visit the famous fetish market in Lomé. The market was packed with bones, dried pieces of animals and other talismans - quite eerie! Some of the skulls looked as though they could have been human! We both agreed it would not be a good idea to upset anyone around the market, we didn't fancy having a spell placed over us.
Next we crossed the border into Benin and traveled along the coast to the capital, Cotonou. From Cotonou we visited Ganvie, the largest and most beautiful of all lake villages in Africa. Inhabited by more than 10,000 people, it is built entirely on stilts in the middle of a lagoon. We caught a pirogue out to the village where we saw the people and their houses at close range. The colorful floating vegetable market was an interesting sight. Back in the capital we had a luxury day at the Sheraton and telexed the overland trip to arrange our rendezvous in Nigeria...

Trans Africa expedition 14

On 25th March, after a fairly tough two day bus journey down from Ouagadougou, in Burkina Faso, we arrived in Abidjan, the capital of the Ivory Coast. We headed directly to the Treichville suburb where most of the economy hotels seemed to be situated. We soon discovered why this area was more commonly known as 'Trashville'. The suburb seemed a world away from the more glitzy CBD area of the city which was just across the water. The hotels were pretty grungy, but it was late so we decided to get one for the night. The neighborhood was dark and a little scary - especially after a women came up to us and warned us that there was a good chance we would get our throats cut by thieves! The hotel owner also begged us not to go out after dark, fearing for our safety. Taking all the advice we decided not to stay out late and retreat to the relative safety of our hotel, only to find that our room was infested with cockroaches!. After quite an unpleasant night, the next day we swapped hotels and went up market a little!

We decided that we would just spend a few days in Abidjan and the Ivory Coast before traveling on to Ghana - we had heard many good things about Ghana. We checked out the center of Abidjan which seemed a modern city with all of the normal amenities. Our highlight was a pool side seafood buffet at the Ivoire Hotel - supposedly the best hotel in West Africa. It was great to sit by the pool side, lit by oil lanterns and listening to live music - sometimes you just need a little luxury in Africa!
On 28th March we caught a 6.30am bus from the Ghana State Transport Corp. bus terminal to Basua in Ghana. It felt very different traveling through the lush tropical countryside after so much time in the desert and sahel regions.   Finally after a bureaucratic 4 hour border crossing we arrived at the beach town of Basua just after sunset. Basua seemed calm and relaxed especially after the hustle and bustle of Abidjan.
(to be continued)

Mountain Gorillas Uganda

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Mountain Gorillas JaninMaj

 

Trans Africa expedition 13

Over the 3 days we visited several Dogon villages including Teli, Wilaya, Ende and Sonnengue. In Ende I ended up being 'school teacher' for the morning. The Dogon people lived an incredibly primitive life - a universe away from the Western World! We got to see the famous cliff side dwellings, some of the exotic carvings, and the famous Dogon carved doors with intricate wooden locks, but the real highlight were the seemingly untouched people!

The trek back out of the Dogon country was a nightmare. Our guide wanted to hire donkeys at a ridiculous rate so we refused and decided to walk. We had a 17km trek across sand in a temperature of more than 40 degrees Celsius. It took us an exhausting 4 hours to reach the main road and the town of Bankass. We arrived severely dehydrated, there were times during the trek that we wondered whether we would make it! In Bankass we separated from our guide and were independent again. We couldn't find a hostel, but we managed to borrow a piece of foam and sleep out behind a bar!

From Bankass we had another couple of days battle with Mali's transport system to get to the Border with Burkina Faso - Mali sure was a challenge to one's patience! After much deliberation we decided that the only way we were ever going to get to the border was to hire a taxi.
On 20th March we crossed the frontier between Mali and Burkina Faso at a remote border post. We only spent a few days in Burkina Faso, mostly in the capital Ouagadougou. Burkina Faso is situated in the never ending featureless sahel region, so we figured there wasn't really too much to see except the capital. We had a cool time in 'Ouaga', including spending the evening in a funky disco in the heart of town and getting a little carried away with the beer!
(to be continued)

Mursi woman removing lip plate

Mursi woman inserting lip plate

Trans Africa expedition 12


The next day we were off to visit Djenné, the oldest and most impressive of the trading towns on the Trans-Saharan caravan routes. We arrived at the stand to catch a pickup at 9.00am and finally caught a ride at 2.00pm - apparently a reasonable wait in Mali! After four hours of a bumpy road sitting on hard wooden benches we finally arrived in Djenné. Mamoud led us directly to the house of another relative where we would spend the night. The Grand Mosque here was even more impressive than the one in Mopti and Mamoud explained how after the rainy season the local people repaired the mud structure.
Next was our highlight of Mali, a 3 day trek to the Dogon villages around the Bandiagara cliff. The Dogon people have lived in this area since 500 BC and have retained their original animalist culture. Their mythology is the source of an abundance of sacred wood carvings, sculptures, masks and ancestral figures.
First we had a 12km trek through scrub to the Dogon village of Teli. The village was built on the flat at the foot of the Bandiagara cliffs. Just above the village perching on the cliff face were the original houses that had been used to hide from enemies. We took a rest to avoid the heat of the midday sun and had some millet beer with the villagers. As normal we spent the night sleeping on a flat roof under the stars. Despite the blistering heat of the day the nights were surprisingly cold, and Paula and I had to huddle together to keep warm. The food was extremely basic but we managed to get some extra calories by downing large amounts of sickly sweet condensed milk!
(to be continued)
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