Gael Warnings in West Africa.

[simondippenhall]

During the mornings ride each church I passed seemed full and there were open air gatherings as well...and all along the road, people in their finest Sunday heat. C of E, eat your heart out !


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[simondippenhall]

And noticed as I walked around Kumasi that the local drivers are keen AA members

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[luke scott]

In post 217 you attach a blurry pic of what I assume are two ladies . . . . . and you say the day ended well. Please explain

 

[simondippenhall]

You are reading too much into this Luke

I just meant the Guinness and the sunset were both good !

Really


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[simondippenhall]

Thinking about the route below to Nikki in Benin which an Austrian contact found recently was a good place to enter Nigeria

In fact there is supporting be a ferry at Yeji but google won’t recognise it so should be a more direct route than this shows


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[roadrider]

Another great post Simon

 

[simondippenhall]

Sorry for radio silence but in my Ride around Ghana and through Benin and across Nigeria, WiFi has been hard to find. My ride across Nigeria roughly here....Will try to update blog tomorrow

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[simondippenhall]

My approximate route...Hard to believe it was actually 3 hard days' riding with everything....Sand, water, mud, long dirt roads, endless road checkpoints, lots of friendly Nigerians, mad drivers, and (sadly) even a body lying on the road unheeded


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[simondippenhall]

Yesterday my breakfast stop was an eggbun provided by these lovely ladies

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[Drumacoon Lad.]

You are making great progress Simon. Look forward to some more details and a longer debrief when home. You are getting the most out of that rear TKC!

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[simondippenhall]

Yes I need to update on my tour of Ghana and the ride across Togo and Benin, not to mention Nigeria. Hoping to nurse the TKC as far as Yaoundé unless the rains break in which case a squared off TKC is as much use as a chocolate teapot!

And maybe bring a new tyre back as hand luggage () for Stage 4 of the trip, whenever


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[crumbles]

Your appearance has changed....lol..

 

[simondippenhall]

So from where I left off in Kumasi, Ghana, I had decided to ride north to Tamale around Lake Volta.

It was a nightmare getting through the city traffic to leave, with a 400 km ride ahead (long on African roads!) The roads were narrow and undulating and full of commuter traffic.

I filled up early having learned my lesson and seem to be getting 60mpg or better on Ghanaian roads which are not bad. (How little I knew then!)

It was getting dryer and more dessicated as I ride north...Feels like the wrong direction.

But great termite hills to go with it

This one is at least 4 metres high.

Although it is getting more Islamic as I go north there are still churches - this is Catholic and when I stop to take this photo a man gives me a blessing for my safe journey

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[simondippenhall]

The heat was getting denervating and there were lots of police checks. I found that by rolling up slowly with my helmet open and engaging them in a chat and asking them about the road ahead, they soon lost interest in looking at papers and instead wanted to know about'my amazing journey'

Stopping for shade from the heat and a cold Fanta

When I get to Tamale I find myself staying at the TICCS guest house - a centre for intercultural studies (allied to Catholic church!) which offers basic accommodation. I also ate the worst pizza there I have never had in my life - so bad I formally lecture them on not ever telling anyone it was good (as they had me when I quizzed them beforehand).

The tepid Guinness only marginally improve the situation.

The next morning I went exploring the guesthouse (including the head priest's breakfast room by mistake!) for breakfast. 'Oh did you order it?'
Finally they produced a great breakfast: omelette, oatmeal porridge, fresh mango and bread and jam.

In this way they gained redemption and set me up well for what was going to be a challenging day.

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[simondippenhall]

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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[simondippenhall]

I settle for familiar food by the pool....Which arrives kept warm in polythene

I am expecting a warm few days so enjoy the dip in the pool

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[Edventure]

Loving this ride report Simon!

 

[Jockser]

Probably cruel of me but I did laugh about leaving your papers behind
Coulda been worse though

Any chance we could come to some arrangement on the temperature Simon? I'm sure you don't need all of those 38 degrees you're promised & we could really do with a handful of them. I was out all last Sunday & it never got above 3c according to the dash so I'd happy take a few spares off you especially for the weekends

 

[simondippenhall]

Jochen: you are absolutely right to laugh at my am esiac tendencies!

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!

 

[simondippenhall]

And after a Calabar meal I just checked the bike:
Battery a healthy 12.9volts
Oil and brake and clutch fluids all good and changed in the last 2,000 miles as was the driveshaft oil.
Tyre pressures good and front tyre has a long way to go, rear will probably do a few thousand I I am careful.

I will probably regret saying this but I am amazed how the GS is holding up after 80,000 miles... Especially through the car sized potholes and the endless miles of corrugated dirt roads not to mention all the speed bumps!����