Gael Warnings in West Africa.

Back to catching up on recent days:
After my long and forgetful day from Ghana to Togo I resolved to have an easier day, crossing due East into Benin and stopping at Nikki just short of the Nigeria border.

I quizzed the heck out of everyone I met at Kara about the quality of the road and in the event it turned out to be adequate tarmac (lots of potholes of course!).

Soon I am at the relaxed Benin Border - I am sad not to be heading South to enjoy the Benin beaches but I am a man on a mission.

More selfies requested by the Benin frontier police


When I arrive at the dusty town of Nikki I have a reassuring target on my gos of the hotel Nikki. It becomes less reassuring when I find out the hotel no longer exists. A friendly local leads me on his moto to another very tacky place which doesn’t even have running water ‘because it’s the dry season ‘.

Finally down a series of dusty and sandy lanes I am brought to this place - at least it has water!

and a brilliant sunset


Next door is an open air bar with a Real Madrid match on so the audio equipment is moved in the traditional way
.


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simondippenhall said:

As to temperature, why don't you fly down to Yaoundé in a few weeks and ride my GS though Gabon and the Congo. That'll warm you up!

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Oh believe me I'd love to but some of us still have to turn up every day to earn our petrol tokens

Edventure said:

Loving this ride report Simon!

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Thanks Ed...I appreciate the feedback from you!


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From Benin to Nigeria (and nearly not!)

In The hotel in Nikki I ordered breakfast of an omelette for 07h00. I slept adult and did not get into the ‘restaurant ‘ until 07h15. But there was my omelette....and clearly had been sitting there since 0700

Rode back to the tarmac and hunted for petrol but because Nigeria is 22kms away and petrol much cheaper there, there is no supply here.

Then I spotted that I was missing one of my gloves! Often start the day with then fixed to the mirror stems until I refuel. So I rode all the way back to the hotel scouring the verges without success and back into town again.

Just as I was resigning myself to the loss, a young lad rode up on a Moto and handed me the missing item . Because I (as a Moto traveller from afar) am such a rarity it feels like people look out for you!


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The exit from Benin starts well, but the Chef de Douane won't be there until '9.15' so I am asked to come back later.

I have my doubts about this but head in to do the police exit from Benin...And get a nasty surprise.

The eagle-eyed policewoman says: 'your Nigeria visa has expired!'.

I look and see the idiot in the Ouagadougou embassy has dated it 5/1/2018 not the correct date of 5/2/2018 so she is right! Fortunately I have kept the payment receipt which shows the correct date!

All thoughts if going back to see the late sleeping chef de Douane have disappeared as I steel myself to a difficult entry to Nigeria over the bridge.

When I get there, the Nigerian immigration police are relaxed and just take a photocopy of the correctly dated receipt for their records.

Then I roll in to Customs. Once I explain the moto is old and of limited value they say it is of no interest and issue no documentation. I ask them to give me something to show they are aware if the entry so I can show it if challenged on the road but they say that's unnecessary.

Thanks comes back to bite me the next day but for now I am free to travel in Nigeria. They introduce a moneychanger who exchanged CFA for Naira but could do nothing with all my Ghanaian cedi (and the border post I left Ghana by was too small to have moneychangers!).

First views of Nigeria


One of the smaller of many speed bumos



There were countless checkpoints too...This list immediately picked up the visa date issue but when I told them the embassy clerk must have been thinking about his girlfriend not his job they laughed and started taking photos.

All these checkpoint guys have guns or machine guns so I feel I should take them seriously. Whilst the guy to my right was very pally with me he broke off to bully some passengers from a minibus they had also stopped.

Over the past few days I have experienced checkpoints by police, immigration control, customs revenue protection, special traffic operations, road safety officers (who wear red leather trilbies like Yogi Bear wears which makes it hard to take them seriously except they too have guns!)

So I re regularly have to open the panniers and explain the contents, show my passport, show the vehicle title documents, etc etc....Quite a contrast with the more relaxed countries I have been through since Morocco (which is also heavy-handed).

The road from the border down to Saki is a real shocker and I feel like telling all these guys obstructing the traffic with their checkpoints to grab a shovel and do something productive like repairing the roads. And the last 29 kms to Saki, a route recommended by a Nigerian contact, goes from car-swallowing pot holes to a rough dirt road.

So I am glad eventually to get to Saki where I buy a cold Fanta and rest in the shade as it is pretty hot. The drink vendor assures me the next 50 kms is also very bad but as it's only 1.30 I am keen to press in to Iseyin. He says it will take less than 4 hours which horrifies me for 50 k!

Nonetheless I press on, reasoning that I can take it as slow as I need and cadge a bed in a village on the way if I run out of energy or light.

The road started as a giant sandpit but once I had played my way through that along with the cars the road was surprisingly good, rolling it's way though the hills with a manageable number and size of potholes.

So in half the time, under 2 hours, I had got to Iseyin. I realise now the driver is vendor was the only 'person in Nigeria who has understated (!) the road quality to me... Usually I will ask a policeman how the road is ahead and he will say fine and next thing I am working my way around cars and trucks stick in giant potholes!

After trying a few different hotels in town I settled on the Greenland. At least it was cheapish....But like many places in Nigeria the power went off early and my luxury executive air-conditioning room became bloody hot and I slept poorly.


My supper that evening taught me why pepperfish soup is called that


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Simon my mate rode through Nigeria last year and made friends with a big biker group there. They really looked after him. I've messaged him to get details for you in case you want to or need to contact them.

Simon, do you think your stomach & body in general hardens up to the food /conditions with such a varied diet & body in terms of heat, riding conditions, sleeping conditions ( or not ). Not to mention anxiety at border crossings.

Without doubt stunning pictures & report but it's so far away from NE Hampshire & the safety of life in blighty..

Sadly health / wealth limit me to UK / EU & can only dream of such a great trip. But I get to go in some way by your report..

Cheers Ash..

Ride safe..

luke scott said:

Simon my mate rode through Nigeria last year and made friends with a big biker group there. They really looked after him. I've messaged him to get details for you in case you want to or need to contact them.

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Thanks Luke...Help always welcome although have had an intro to the very helpful Ogobonnaya Kanu who runs a group here and has given useful advice so far.


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Ash: good questions and I hesitate to say that 'you get used to it's because I might be bowles over tomorrow by some horrendous Delhi belly (as I was early in in Iran 16 months back!).

I am only drinking bottles eater which is freely available (and checking the seal is good in the top!) but eat at a lot of roadside stalls eg fried plantains, rice and fish. Try to avoid meat as it's pretty chewy and eat eggs for protein.

The heat is a bit more manageable now in Calabar although it's very humid. Main concerns when the rains will begin....

Freshly fried plantains and egg sauce for breakfast this morning



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Simon, my mate says have a look at @rykersride on Facebook. Join up and leave a message on it. Most members are in Lagos but he says there are groups and individuals throughout the country that will have bike contacts in neighbouring counties.

simondippenhall said:

My plan was to ride from Tamale in Ghana to Kara in Togo, a big city I had passed through on my way south through Togo to Lone and one which reportedly had good choice of hotels. My Ghana map showed a good road (as did the Michelin West Africa map.

And indeed it was fine until Yende where this was my view:

And that dirt road ended up getting progressively worse over the next 70 kms.

I don't mind dirt roads like this but the issue is they are variable especially at junctions or villages and a fully loaded GS can suddenly be a handful.....and when I finally approach the Togo border it becomes thick sand. I do a gut churning slalom at one point and am convinced the bike is going over so I apply more speed and the bike straightens out....

I savour the brief relief of a tarmac bridge

Boy am I glad to get to the sleepy border post

And they are glad to see me as they admit they don't get much traffic....Even though this is supposed to be the main route from Tamale to Kara, both major cities.

I am so overjoyed there is tarmac ahead (I quiz them hard on this as the last 70 kms of dirt and sand has been quite enough for one day!).

So I ride off dodging the potholes which are plentiful and enjoy the ride. Going through the first village 30 kms on a man tries to flag me down but as he has no uniform I choose to ignore him and continue on.

At a further checkpoint 10 kms layers smiling policeman stops me and says:'you have left your papers at the frontier!'

And indeed, amidst all the photos and chatting and my relief, I had left my folder of papers at the customs!

Cue a 40 kms ride back....Not a day I would have chosen to add 80 kms to my ride but there you go! And the irony is that Togo Customs not interested in recording my Moto as I already have a passavant from earlier visit.

I am interesting to all and sundry

Finally I make it to Kara.I stop to get cash and ask advice on a good hotel. A kind gentleman guides me on his moto to the hotel Kara which has air-conditioning and a swimming pool even if no WiFi. 2 out of 3 is not too bad!

View from my balcony to Kara escarpment

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Gerry would be proud of the 'get out of the slalom'.

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simondippenhall said:

Ash: good questions and I hesitate to say that 'you get used to it's because I might be bowles over tomorrow by some horrendous Delhi belly (as I was early in in Iran 16 months back!).

I am only drinking bottles eater which is freely available (and checking the seal is good in the top!) but eat at a lot of roadside stalls eg fried plantains, rice and fish. Try to avoid meat as it's pretty chewy and eat eggs for protein.

The heat is a bit more manageable now in Calabar although it's very humid. Main concerns when the rains will begin....

Freshly fried plantains and egg sauce for breakfast this morning

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Click to expand...

Just loving the blog, keeps me laughing and amazed at your incredible journey.

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Thanks Rachael!

It's been a busy morning, perhaps fuelled by that robust and spicy breakfast.

I set off to get cash to pay for my visa and by 0930 my main credit card had been eaten by the ATM .

I went into the branch and everyone was helpful and friendly and glad to assist me in resuming my journey (my visions of a cashless trip receded!

Got to the very quiet Cameroon consulate by 10h00 and by 11 I had this:


This despite their nominal 48 hour turnaround and me using 10 year old photos!

Then back to the hotel where after numerous attempts we ma aged to get a credit card to pay the bill.

Buiyu y all this I rode to the old colonial museum which is set fabulously on a hill over the Cross River - sadly another major slaving port of the past. No photos hallowed inside but I did spot this great old moto




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It clearly had not been ridden in a while but reminds me of the velocette my dad had as a teenager (lucky lad!)


These friendly ladies wished me a good visit and it certainly was an interesting place and worth the 20 pence entry fee




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So back to catchup mode before I leave on the next leg...

Iseyin to Benin City
This was a pretty chunky day, not helped by the absence of breakfast and then meeting first up on the road an aggressive group of Customs enforcers who demanded to see all the vehicle documents and for very excitable that I had no import documents from Customs, despite my explanation of what the order Customs had said. One accused me of smuggling the bike in and bribing the customs so the shut him up I ‘promised’ I would go to the Customs in Ibadan and square it away. This and a £2 dash (the officer started whining about ‘the government does not take care of us so think of me’) seemed to settle things and I was glad to leave them behind.

But my spirits lift later in the morning as I make progress and am then stopped at another checkpoint by a young policeman called Sunday Lucky - I checked with him this was indeed his name, what a delight!

My spirits are also revived by the egg bun featured in an earlier post and I work my way around the big city of Ibadan reasonably successfully, especially when I work out my next destination Lleju Ode is pronounced Bode!

After Bode I join the high speed expresses to Benin City. I note that like in Lome most lorries use the Centre lane (but not all!) so overtaking is on the outside in most cases.

Although it’s an expressway there are rough patches and to my distress even a body on the road. (My friend Anne who lived in Nigeria for many years explained to me, not entirely comfortingly, that unclaimed bodies are picked off the road weekly).

There are still checkpoints which are great opportunities for roadside vendors of everything imaginable!

It’s such a hot day that by the time I get to the jammed outskirts of Benin City I pull in at a fuel station to grab a cold drink and cool down.

I consider just finding a hotel nearby but decide I should recall battle on to the Central Hotel by Agbado market...so I do.

Once there, I found that the hotel which was tired as reported in 2009 by Lonely Planet has had no maintenance in the intervening decade so now is a real dump. But it’s a friendly dump with a secure off street park and I am knackered.

They no longer serve food but the friendly receptionist walks me to a local restaurant 800 metres away called Mr Bigg where I stuff myself with MaeMae and sauce, not having eaten much that day.

I then go to buy a Nigeria SIM card which is a major exercise- retinal photo and 5 fingerprint scans, all included in the 60p cost of the sim! But given the absence of any WiFi so far in Nigeria I am keen to let Kit know all is well.

As my SIM is being set up on the busy street corner, the heavens open...the first African rain I have seen since one rainy night in Mali
in October. I sure hope the rains aren’t early!

The state of the phone in my room is pretty representative of the whole hotel!


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Thanks for your reply Simon..

The things you spot on the way out for a bite to eat

Calabar is an interesting and relaxing place to be, set in hills over the Cross River





But now it’s time to head to Cameroon, and hope I can get the moto in without a carnet de passage


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Calabar! Memories of primary school and spinster teachers force feeding us on Mary Slessor and the Scottish Mission in Calabar. Keep it up young man!

Just when you think Simons report can't get any better....... it does

Fantastic RR as ever Simon - you’re keeping us all going