Ghana

Ghana…  When life was hard traveling through Guinea and Ivory Coast we all dreamed about Ghana. We heard about the white sand beaches, the other travelers, cheap beer and English speaking. Crossing the border was again very easy. We had to get out fill some paperwork, get stamped and our picture taken. All in all it took around two hours to cross. From the border we drove about three hours to Busua. We were going to stay two days at Alaska beach resort. So far the only difference Ghana is to the rest of West Africa is all the hundreds and thousands of churches and English signs. The locals speak their own dialect and most of them don’t speak English at all so that was different then I thought. I thought it would be like Belize. Don’t get me wrong it was still nice to be able to know what I was ordering and how much it cost. The beaches in Busua were absolutely amazing. We were told to live it up here; these will be the best beaches in West Africa. No rips, no litter, and fun waves to body surf. The two days went by pretty fast. Just down the beach was a restaurant we were told had Mexican food J J J. We spent the day body surfing and in the afternoon we all got our first burritos which were to die for. I could tell I was really going to like Ghana.

We left Busua and drove to the famous Big Millys. Arriving at Big Millys was a huge culture shock for all of us. We had spent the last 3 weeks being the only tourist or white people and now we arrived on a Sunday and the place was packed with them (finding out they are all volunteers). Myself, Ben and Steph upgraded to a 3 person a/c room for $10 U.S. a night. Since I was sharing the room with them we had to come up with some ground rules hat or towel on the door handle means for me to come back in 30 minutes or so. For the first two days we stayed there the people who didn’t get the Nigerian visas spent the day in Accra (40km pain in the ass to get to) trying to get them. Everyone was successful thank god. Now all along West Africa we were told Angola doesn’t issue visas and most likely we were all going to fly over Angola. Suse who just spend 4 years in South America (speaks Portuguese fluently) was able to basically get on her knees and sweet talk them in issuing us. We had to deposit money ($160 US) into their bank (that way the money is there account and it would be hard to refund us) then get a letter from our embassy with a stamp as a letter of invitation or introduction. Myself, Brittany and Jareb took a taxi to the bank then went to the American embassy. The embassy was closed from noon to 2pm for lunch so we waited and ate lunches ourselves (fufu-Ghana dish which made me almost puke). At 2pm getting into the embassy was easy. We were the only American with 200 Ghanaians trying to Visas. After 30 minutes of waiting we talked with a lady who looked at us like we were insane and was no help whatsoever. She said they don’t do those types of letters. I asked her if she could write a letter stating they don’t do those letters she said WE DON’T DO LETTERS! We left with no help at all. We later talked with Suse and she said not to worry. Basically everyone but the Aussies was unsuccessful. Suse said we could try again on Monday before we meet with the Angola embassy. That night Steph had chills and was really cold. Brian also spent the whole night puking his guts out (he was drinking the water) the next morning we were going to leave for Kumasi but both Brian and Steph were in no travel shape. They decided to go to the clinic down the road. Brian was going to get a something so he could hold water in and Steph was going to get tested for Malaria. Noon came along when Suse got the phone call. Brian basically had food poisoning, and was on 5 bags of trip and they wanted to keep him overnight. Oh yea and he had type 1 Malaria. Steph had type 2 Malaria and the doctor had no idea why she was as chipper and she was. Needless to say we were going to stay at Big Millys until Monday. On Saturday we did the previous mentioned centurion. Jareb lost, but beat Brittany so I lost $20 buck but didn’t have to pay the bar tab. Nico won the whole thing with little Rhys coming in second with 97 shots, everyone got pissed and it was a lot of fun… The next day Jareb woke up and said he wasn’t feeling good at all. He said he had a fever and chills. I thought it was him being hung over but after a trip into the doctors he now has Malaria as well.

On Monday we dropped off our passports at the Angolan embassy and then headed to Cape Coast. The drive to Cape Coast only took a few hours and we stayed on the beach again at this nice campground called Oasis. We ended up staying there 3 nights. The first night was our cook group again. We whipped up some stir fry and called it a night. The next morning Brittany, The boys, Ben, Steph and me when to the largest slave port in West Africa. It’s what cape coast was known for. We spent about 45 minutes walking through the museum then took the guided tour. I was really affected by being here. Seeing what the slaves had to go through before they were even slaves was very emotional. There was one section called the CELL where the bad slaves who tried to escape or resist it were put. They were locked 50 people deep in a pitch black cell. They were left there with no food, no water until they died. There are still marks where the slaves tried to grind their teeth against the cement to try to escape. While we were there, there was a African American women from Florida who was extremely emotional making a bad name for herself and every American. She was yelling at anyone who was on the tour talking about her ancestors and black rights. She was absolutely out of control. I believe in being passionate about something you believe in and at no way do I condone slavery or thing what our ancestors did was right. She was being a hypocrite because if she went into the museum she would know that tribes would capture other slaves and sell them so they can take over the land. Not only that but she made comments about Brittany (who is Asian), and other black people on the tour (saying how they forgot their roots)… The rest of the evening we played a 3 on 3 game of basketball in the 95 degree temperature with 90% humidity. It was Ben, Rhys, and Toby vs. Nico, Brittany, and me. We lost, and we all almost passed out from heat exhaustion (not my brightest moment). The next day we took a taxi to Kakum national park. This park was known for its canopy walk basically 10+ rope bridges stretched across the canopy of the rain forest. It was a little disappointing and probably the first time this trip I could have saved my money and not done it. It was okay but we had two large groups of American student with us and I felt hurried the whole time… We left for Kumasi the next day. Kumasi is known for the biggest markets in West Africa… To try to explain these markets in writing or pictures doesn’t do it Justice. They are massive, with endless rows of shops and stalls. It made for locals and not tourist. You can get anything from dried fish, to used underwear. We stayed two nights there at a Presbyterian church that had rooms. Everyone paired up double occupancy except me I was the lone man out which was good because I got the room to myself… We left Kumasi to go back to Big Millys again. It is once again our time to cook. We are also going to meet the two new people joining us on the trip and unfortunately loosing Brian then later in the week my best mates Ben and Steph.

Right before Big Millys there is a place about 30 minutes away called “the barrier” Suse dropped myself, Ben and Steph to go food shopping. We took a taxi 10 minutes from there to a market called Mally Market. We were buying supplies for dinner (Steph and my famous coleslaw) when Ben looked up and saw the darkest clouds ever. We had all the supplies minus breakfast so we decided it was time to get out of dodge. We negotiated with a taxi to take us back to big millys right before I got to observed up-close and personal my first insane tropical storm. Once we started driving the wind blew like a tornado and tin roofs, garbage and even a half sheet of plywood landed in front of the taxi. The taxi sign even blew off his car. It was pouring down rain with massive wind. We even had a palm tree collapse in front of the taxi. We were driving on the smaller road to Big Millys when a huge coconut palm tree collapsed about 50 yards right in front of our vehicle blocking both sides of the road. By the time it hit the ground every kid close by came running to cut the coconuts and free the road. There was one boy no older than 7, butt naked, and after he wrestled a coconut free from all the older kids he danced a very comical celebration. You would have thought he kicked the winning goal in a soccer match. Once we passed the tree there was a maroon Nissan Xterra that passed us. About 5 minutes later around a corner the Xterra and another vehicle had a head on accident. Both drivers looked bloody but were walking so that is a good sign. Shortly after that we say another taxi went around a corner and didn’t turn and rode off the road. We eventually made it to Big M safe and only a little wet. It was one crazy drive. Our plan is to be there until Wednesday so the two new people can get their Angola Visa…

We met the two new people Cecilie (23 Denmark), and Yoshi (73 Japan).  Both will be a great addition to our family. I instantly bonded with Cecilia. She has been volunteering at Ghana a month before and is really excited to join the trip. Her original plan was just to go to South Africa but after a few days she decided to go to Istanbul with everyone else. On Sunday 20^th of May I was feeling really tired and not myself. I thought it was just the heat but I didn’t even have the energy to pick up my Kindle and read it. The next day Monday I told Steph I would go to the hospital with her to keep her company while she got tested to see if the malaria is gone. I talked Denise to go with me and within two hours I was looking a sheet of paper that said I had + 1 malaria… WTF! I guess the anti-malaria medicine I am on was fighting it but that was the reason I have been so exhausted. The next two days I took it easy and took their prescribed medicine. I only had one fever night, but it passed within a few hours.

On Wednesday we drove 5 hours to Aylos bay right on the largest manmade lake. We stayed at this awesome little hotel/campground right on the lake with a rope swing. Myself, Ben, Cecilia, Rhys, and Toby spent as much time as possible swinging and playing in the fresh water. We had to get out because it was getting dark and the mozzies were coming out. That night we slept under mango trees and around 0200 in the morning monkeys decided to climb the trees and throw mangos at our tents keeping us up for most the night.

The next day we drove 6 hours to Wli (a national park) we got there around 4pm and quickly hurried up a 35 min hike to one of the most spectacular waterfalls ever. All of us minus Carlos, Maria and Denise went up. The water was little higher than waste level and the waterfall was 100 feet plus. It was so powerful that we felt like we were getting beat up by the water. Rhys, Toby, Ben, Nico and I linked arms and walked right through it. We were all laughing and having a great time. By the time we got back to the truck we got stuck in a torrential downpour. After the rains past we all set up camp and spent the night at the foot of the national forest. The next day we drove a few hours to a endangered monkey sanctuary. The monkeys are called the Mona monkeys. We walked about 10 minutes into the forest when our guide started making this weird noise. Rhys and I looked at each other when all of a sudden 100 of the cutest monkeys came out of nowhere. The guide gave us bananas and the monkeys would crawl all over us and eat the bananas. The guide told us that there are only 400 Mona monkeys left in the world and they are called the god messengers. They were so adorable; I could spend all day watching them jump from tree to tree. We left the monkey sanctuary and drove back to Aylos bay (the manmade lake) this was going to be Ben and Steph last night here with us so we canceled cook group and everyone but Carlos ate at the hotel restaurant. Ben and Steph went around the table and gave a speech about everyone. It was really sweet and they are going to be missed. I instantly became best mates with them. I told them that because of them I am still here. I told them from the start I was second guessing myself and really concerned of this trip and the fact I made the wrong decision. After meeting them everything turned great and I am so happy that I am on this trip. I will miss them deeply and hopefully one day I will see them again. The next day we took off to Big Millys (again). We will pick up our Angolan visas and spend 3 days there. It will also be my birthday (which I could of spent it in a whole lot worst of places) not sure what I will be doing. Because of the malaria I can’t drink because malaria eats your liver. Anyone that knows me also knows that I have a very high liver count (unknown reason) the VA hospital has been trying to find out for years why my blood test comes up high. So I will be sober and enjoying my 31^st birthday in GHANA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Ivory Coast

Arriving into Ivory Coast was extremely easy. At the border all the guards were toasted, completely hammered. The looks we got were priceless. We were told we were the first tourist they have ever seen. They said almost no one goes to that particular border crossing. After seeing the roads I can completely understand.  We free camped about 5 km away from the border in another small village. We set up camp and once again we were the local village primetime entertainment. We were all emotionally and physically drained that we didn’t do much conversing with the locals. After dinner we hung out on the truck and drank a few warm beers and tried to wind down. My back was spasming from 11 hours of getting bashed around the truck. Someone told Suse I was in pain and she requested Nico and I in the front because the roads were going to be bad for the next 50 something km.

 The next morning we started off and within minutes we had to cross a broken bridge. Nico, myself and Suse built the bridge with logs we found and got the truck over safely. Within a few more km there was no bridge, and water up to the waste. Rosie air filter is under the truck and if water gets in the truck blows up. Suse took out the air filter, and bunch of hoses. An hour later we successfully crossed our first river. Rosie made it with no problems. At this time we knew we were in for a very long day. We drove over rivers, broken bridges, and ruts the size of a VW bug. We were traveling around 5-7km an hour. These roads were miserable, in the back of our minds we remembered only being 4km yesterday away from the better border crossing and only 15km from tar roads. TIS (this is Africa)! Around 4pm the rains started and we had to stop and let them pass. After the rains we had to walk couple of km because the roads were so muddy Suse was afraid Rosie would slide into a rut or roll. It took us a few hours but eventually we got to a tar road 38km from Man. Suse got out of the truck and kissed the tar road. We all cheered and were extremely happy. Next stop Man!!! We drove into Man and luck would have it we found a great little hotel. People who wanted to upgrade could for a room with a fan for $10 or A/C for $20. Nico and I shared a A/C room. They hotel didn’t have running water but they staff who worked it kept filling bucket of water for the toilets and showers. It was my first time in 9 days that I felt clean. The hotel also had cold beers. Suse told us that we would stay tonight and the next night. She also said that the hotel can arrange to see stilt dancers in the morning. We were told that watching the dancers is a privilege and it is very rare to see. Not many locals have ever seen them. They usually only perform for royalty.

The next day was a relaxing, it was the first day in nine that we didn’t have to wake up early and take off on an all-day drive. Most of us went into Man to get CFA currency. In the afternoon we were told about a waterfall that had water and we could swim and bathe if wanted to. Majority of us took a taxi about 2km away then walked 30 minutes up a very bad road to a water that I could imagine being very beautiful if it had water in in. Yuup we are now two for two for waterfalls and starting to give up on the thought of cold flowing water to rinse and swim in. Around 1600hrs 15 of us minus Carlos all piled into a very old beat up minivan and drove about 7km away to a village. In front of us was a pickup truck loaded with 9 local drum players and 1 stilt dancer. When we got out of the van all the villagers came to see what was going on. The music and singing started and the stilt dancer got out of the truck and that’s when all craziness started. The villagers ran away scared until they figured out what was going on. Everyone started clapping and singing the children became less scared. We slowly made our way up a tail into the actual village. There were two seats for the chief and his son. We all sat on benches and the rest of the villagers circled around us. The dancer honored the chief first then he danced for a while. We found out later that the dancer is the equivalent to a shaman. I was the first one picked to dance with the stilt dancer. I had no idea what I was picked for. At first I thought I was to kneel down because he told me to take off my shoes. Then I realized I needed to dance. I danced a very short dance then had to fork over some money. It was well worth the $4 us dollars I paid for a chance of a lifetime to do something so unexpected. Next came Nico, then Ben did a booty shake and the whole town erupted in laughs, Rhse did a dance off, Toby did the dancing bull (don’t ask J), Steph did the shuffle, and Denise did an Irish folk dance. All of this the stilt dancer tried to mimic. It was a imaginative and original night to say the least.

Guinea... Hot, sweaty and loving it.

Guinea… All we knew about Guinea was what lonely planet has written on it. Let me plagiarize LP for the beginning. Imagine you’re traveling on a smooth highway, and then get tempted by a tiny, dusty turn-off into rugged terrain, where surprising beauty and treacherous vistas define the route. Guinea is that turn-off. This is a country blessed with amazing landscapes, from the cragged mountain plateau Fouta Djalon to wide Sahelian lands and thick forests. Overland drivers are drawn here by rugged tracks and the challenge of steering their vehicles over rocks, steep laterite and washed out paths. (Now they are not talking about 5 ton trucks like ours, but range rovers decked out for overlanding)…

The border crossing was really easy. Maybe an hour max, we didn’t even get off the truck. As soon as we passed the boarder the people of Guinea were so friendly. We stopped right over the border to grab some lunch. It was an even better feeling then Senegal. We met a guy named Nicoa and his absolutely gorgeous wife. He tried selling us an antelope, but besides that he told us the road to Lobe was really good and we should be there in no time what so ever. Once we hit the road it was really good. It was dirt but we made really good time. 

We were going about 50km an hour. We had a little bit of trouble going over a river in a ferry. If Rosie was one foot bigger we may not have made it. It took some negotiating on our part with the locals. They were very stubborn moving the ferry close to the shore. Once they did Rosie got on it with no problems but exiting was a little difficult. Rosie lost her license plate, but that was it. We stopped about 50 miles from Lobe and free camped for the night.

The next day we stopped at Lobe and cook group got supplies for dinner while Nico, Ben, Steph and I were in a mission to find an ATM. It took us a good 30 minute walk through the crazy market town Lobe. It took us two tries but found an ATM that let us get a max 300,000 Guinea Francs = $50 bucks. After that we walked through the markets and bought lettuce, tomato, egg, avocado, carrots, and begets. We made an unbelievable sandwich.  Once we left Lobe the roads went from good to complete shit. It took us the rest of the day to get to Mammou. Instead of the roads being either tar or gravel they were tar for 100 yards then the biggest potholes I have ever seen for another 10-25 yards. Suse couldn’t get Rosie past 3^rd or 4^th gear. We took a 30km detour to Konkoure. We read in the West Africa rough guide that there was a nice waterfall. We were all stinky, smelly and needed a good moral bust. We found the little Village, but we couldn’t find the waterfall. The rough guide said there would be a left turn at the town, but we only found a very small dirt (and rough) road. We kept driving past Konkoure looking for this turn off. Everyone we asked no one had any idea what we were talking about. At this time it was about an hour from sunset, and the thought of swimming cleaning myself was seeing dim. We finally asked this very sweet older lady who knew exactly what we were talking about. She told us to turn around and drive back to Konkoure once we got there she was going to call ahead to a friend to meet us and show us where the waterfall is. Once we got back we were greeted by two young kids who hoped in the front of the cab of Rosie and took us on this very narrow, very rough road to a part where we couldn’t go any further. We got out of Rosie, and walked the rest of the way, only to find out that the waterfall dries up until the rainy season L… No washing today. (Right now my hair looks like I have a handful of gel in it from all the dirt. Every night I wipe my face and it looks like I am wearing makeup)… At this time we had every kid and most women from the very small village out of their huts looking at us. Suse asked what I thought would be the elder if we could camp in their village. He said yes, and within minutes we had our tents up, and the cook group was starting dinner. At this time I think the entire village was watching us. Sarah, Steph showed the kids how to do shadow puppets. It was very sweet and once again I got this moment of how amazing Guinea is. It doesn’t matter what town or village we pass people old, and young, men or women stop what they are doing smile a wave. It is so amazing, and feels really good. We try our hardest to wave and make someone days.

The next day we take off early and start a very long grueling day. We did stop at an unknown village for lunch. All the kids once again, came to our truck to see what we were about. I went to take a picture of them and they saw my tattoos and started grabbing and rubbing my tattoos like I was a rock star. It was the craziest thing I have ever witnessed…



 After we left the village we average 15km an hour (could be a little more, could be less) we drive until dark and stop at a village called Laya Sando. Suse asked a local guy if we could camp here. He said yes, and pointed to the soccer field. Suse took a hard left and Rosie got bogged for the first time. We dug out the back tires then used manual force (with the help of 10 or so locals) to push Rosie out. By the time we got Rosie out, and parked it was fully dark and every kid of all ages came to check out what in the world was going on at their soccer field. We must have had 50 kids and 25 adults staring at us. The cook group cooked, while we socialized the best we could with the locals (this is why I am traveling, right here right now)… I also ended up getting involved in a centurion (100 shots of beer in 100 minutes) bet with Jareb, Ben, and myself… With a side bet that Brittany can outlast Jareb. This bet will take place in Big Millys in Ghana. The bet between the Ben, Jareb and I is whoever backs out first has to buy the round (10 beers each if we make it to 100 shots)… It all started when Jareb said he could do it. I told him he was smoking crack, that it is harder than it looks. He said he could and it would be easy, so there we go, this is how stupid bets happen.

Right before we went to bed Suse invited all the kids to join us at 0800 in the morning for an hour long game of Soccer! I woke up at 0630 and town folk were already starting to show up. By 0730 every kid and most of the men and women showed up to watch bunch of 10-13 years old kick the shit out of us in Soccer. The football started off as a complete cluster.  Ben, Toby, Rhse, Brittany, Denise, Maria, Jareb, Steph, Carlos, Nico and I vs. every kid old enough to kick a soccer ball. It lasted about 30 minutes until two early 20’s guys walked over. One guy looked like plexico burress and the other guy looked like a thug (turns out they were the kids managers) they organized their 10 best vs us, and within minutes in the 85 degree weather we were playing a full on soccer match with these buggers. They were unbelievable. They scored two goals back to back, before we could even get our groove on. I then scored the next goal, followed by Talbout and Ben. While this is all happening the town folk are laughing cheering and having a great time. Imagine the movie Mystery Alaska, but done in Africa and with Soccer. That is what it was like. We were all sweating, and completely exhausted. If it wasn’t for Nico and Rhse we would have lost badly. Within no time it was 0900 oclock and we had to get ready to leave. We stopped the game and said next score wins. Each team huddled up and we planned on letting them win, but we were not going to make it known that we were going to. The game started, they passed 5 times and scored (There was nothing we could have done, that was all them)!!! The whole town cheered, and went crazy. I have a feeling they would be talking about this for some time. After the game we spent 5 minutes taking everyone pictures and cleaned up a bit. I didn’t notice Jareb on the field. He ended up springing his ankle. Back to the truck and grind! This next part of the day became one of the longest days ever. We left around 0930, and drove 10-15km an hour all day long. The roads were awful, stop and go, stop and go. Jareb ankle was getting really swollen and looked like it needed a hospital to look at it. We saw a Geneva truck with a red cross on it. We flagged him down and asked him if he knew where a hospital was. He said about 50km about an hour drive. A town called Gueckedou (Border between Libera, and Serre Leone), he told us he was heading that way. Jareb and Denise (she is a nurse, and speaks pretty good French) got in the truck and took off. We continued driving and the roads were not letting up. We drove and drove; everyone was getting a little tired. Three days of free camping no water, and very long days. To make things worse around 7:30 pm about an hour away from the hospital, Rosie decided to fail us on a hill.  She just died, and would start over, to make things even worse. We got caught in a tropical storm with lightning and torrential down pour. Talbout is a diesel mechanic back home and after an hour and half of trying different things they found out it is dirty fuel and the fuel filter needed to be changed.   After they changed the filter it took about another half an hour and Rosie was driving again. By the time we picked up Jareb and Denise it was around 11:30pm, and everyone was exhausted (Jareb said the hospital didn’t have xrays, or anything. The doctor said it was probably sprained). My back spasms were almost to the point of causing me to cry. We drove to a hotel, but found out it was full. They let us camp outside the hotel walls (basically a driveway). We didn’t eat, we just set up our tents and feel asleep. Every time a car would drive by it would wake me up. I slept horrible… That 24hours all I could think about is what the website said. We guarantee you will be hot, sweaty, breakdown, and get stuck. We also guarantee you will see places where no other travels have been and done… Yuuup that about says it.

The next morning I woke up early, and notice down a ravine was a flowing river. It was the first river we saw that didn’t look like a walking virus. I waited for my adventurist counterpart Brittany, and we decided to bathe in the river. We went down there and ask the local women who were bathing and washing clothes. They looked at me like we were crazy, but shook their heads like it was okay. The water was superb; we washed our hair, and our bodies, and felt absolutely amazing. When we got back, everyone wanted to do the same thing. When they walked down there a women told them no, there was something in the water that would make you itch and the locals don’t bathe in it (that’s what they think they heard her say with their very limited French) everyone backed out and Brittany and I were the only ones who are clean… If we itch then so be it! We drove for about three hours in the same damn rough roads. Just looking at everyone you can tell we are all on our final nerves. After 3 hours the road turned great, good tar with no potholes! Suse got to 6 gear for the first time in 3 days. I instantly passed out, and was able to get a good nap. Suse decided to try to make it to the boarder of Liberia, Ivory Coast and Guinea, and hopefully the next day we can cross (We heard there is a chimpanzee research center close). We got stopped at Lola at a police checkpoint and were told we couldn’t go any further to the boarder because of either rebels or because it was a military occupied road (I never got the actual reason) We couldn’t camp in the town so we ended up staying at the worse hotel I had ever seen. There were double beds only so my spooning partner ended up being Jareb. The water wasn’t working or half the lights. The bathroom had the fast and biggest spider I have ever seen. Jareb killed it while I screamed like a girl. The electricity only worked until midnight and after that we sweated all night until 0600.

The next morning we drove about 15km to the Liberian border. There we went to a chimpanzee research center. It is a Japanese and Guinea center. For $75 dollars each we hired a guide to take us deep in the jungle to trek chimps. We all started walking minus Carlos into the jungle. Cameras around our necks, water bottles in hand extremely excited… We started going deeper and deeper into the jungle when the guide looked at us and said rain. We were all extremely stupid and had thousands of dollars’ worth of camera equipment going into a tropical jungle with no rain coats or waterproof bags for the camera gear. I had my bag, but it is just canvas and not waterproof.  The rain started to pour and what started as a pouring turned into a torrential rainstorm. I along with everyone else put the bags under our shirts and walked from tree canopy to canopy. About 20 minutes later the rain let up and another 10 minutes we were staring at 6 chimpanzees 50 feet away from us. Swinging and climbing the trees. There was a creek in front of us and one chimp was by the water.  This lasted about 20 minutes until the alpha chimp made a noise and all the chimps moved to the ground and took off (seriously amazing sight). We walked about 5 minutes later on a trail and observed the chimpanzees for about an hour eating mangos in the distance of 200 yards away. Watching real chimpanzees in the wild is unlike anything I had ever observed. It was worth every cent. It was truly one of the most amazing things I have ever observed. I kept thinking to myself that I am finally living my life to the fullest; I could die at any moment and known that I have lived a good life. By the time we walked back to the truck it was too late to make it to the Ivory Coast border. (We heard the road was bad).

The next morning we took off on what were the worst roads we have been to yet. We were drove a good three hours through dense bamboo forest. We arrived to a tee junction, and asked a local which way to the border he said both ways but to the right were better. We drove for about an hour and half through deep ruts and hills until we reached a washed out bridge waste high water and impossible for Susie to make it through (we were 4km from the border)…. FUCK!!!!!! We had to turn around, and backtrack to the tee. We turned right, and continued on through horrible roads to the border. We crossed the border in no time. All the officials were hammered on palm wine. We stopped at the border to free camp. We went 100km in 11hours and had 53km to pavement…. Ivory Coast here we come!

Senegal

Driving into Senegal, the kids and people were a lot friendlier than even Mauritania. I got this feeling like we are finally in West Africa. We drove until dark to a great campground in St. Louis. It had great wifi and a little bar where the beer was cold and delicious. There is nothing like a very cold beer after a long and hot day in the truck. The cook group whipped up some pasta, I ate it and then shaved the boys hair. They made a man’s bet between the two of them. They actually look really good with shaved heads. After that I passed out early. Everyone else stayed up late drinking and having a good time. I would have stayed up and enjoyed the festivities but wanted to wake up at 4 AM and Gmail chat home. After a few hours of chatting, I downloaded the next game of thrones then got up made some coffee, and took a walk to the beach. The beach was magnificent. White sand beaches as far as the eye can see. Not a person in sight, only miles and miles of sand and garbage.  We left a short while later to Dakar.

We stayed at a hotel that offered camping. It was right on the beach, umbrellas and a bar no farther away than 100 yards. I unfortunately got the feeling that all my stuff would get stolen. Luckily for me Sarah upgraded to a hotel room and I was able to charge and store my stuff in her room. I owe her big time. The next day, I pack up my camera, Ben, Steph, Sarah, Nico and I took off to the city of Dakar… Wow! That’s all I can really say about Dakar. It’s completely madness, everyone trying to get your attention, trying to get you to follow them to stores, trying to show you were to go (they get commission if you buy something) For instance Ben wanted to get a haircut, there were two guys following us, trying to show us a warehouse where they make mumu’s. Ben stopped got a haircut and gave the guy and extra $2 for doing a good job. Both guys that were following us tried to get commission and almost ended up getting into WWIII. We were able to ditch them so that was refreshing. We found out the next day that all you need to do is smile and keep walking, don’t talk to them, don’t make eye contact just walk. This is of course really hard to do when you see something you are interested in. I was looking for a lightweight zip up track jacket for at nighttime against the mozzies and malaria. (Side note been taking Doxy for a week now and all good in the hood, last time I took it was bad… very bad nauseous, and running to the bathroom every 20 minutes) I would stop then there would be 10 people trying to get me to go every which way but the way I wanted to go. 3 hours of this and I was burnt out. Took the taxi back to the hotel, and spent the day relaxing on the beach. That night we went to a live music bar. I was hesitant to go because I didn’t want to spend the money on drinks. I heard beers were only $2 a beer and no cover charge. Everyone minus Carlos, and Tony took a 20 minute taxi ride to a Casino (slot machines only) and on the other side of the casino had this bar. The band was just setting up once we arrived. There were about 4 women all drinking sodas eying us once we went got inside. About 15 minutes later we had live local Senegalese music and the bar was packing up. More and more single beautiful women were coming into the bar. The reason why I keep mentioning there is there is no such thing as beautiful single women in Senegal. They were all prostitutes; it was a very interesting process. The women would come in order a cheap soda and sit at a table. The older geezer would come in and buy a prostitute a drink then talk a while. After that they would disappear. It’s a weird situation to me. Normally at a bar, or nightclub I would make eye contact with a girl, talk with her a while then go on my way. If I even made eye contact with the girls they would automatically think I was looking to buy. I spent the whole time bull shitting with Ben, and Nico keeping my eyes to myself. It was really cool because the beers were more expensive then I was told and Steph and Ben bought all my drinks telling me I needed to save my money for South Africa.

Two days later we left the beautiful beaches to the unknown. We were off to Guinea, all we heard was the roads were almost impassable. We drove a long day a good 12 hours to about 30km from the border of Guinea. We finally hit extremely hot weather. The temperatures were 100 degrees, and our bodies were diffidently not used to it. We passed this town called Madina Gounas it was probably the most spectacular event thing I have ever witness. It was Sunday and market day, and there were thousands and thousands of women all dressed up in their beautiful colorful dresses. All of them waving and smiling with everything imaginable balanced on their heads with kids wrapped in their shawls. It was absolutely unbelievable. At that moment, I knew I was at the right place at the right moment. I was traveling Africa driving to places normal people have never been to or even heard about. That night we free camped and it was our turn to cook. Ben, Steph and I cooked up a mean spicy stew. The head never got cooler than 80 degrees with zero wind to cool us. It was probably one of my worst night’s sleeps ever. I got 2 hours of sleep, then laid there sweating until 5 then feel asleep for another hours. The next day we were off to cross the border to Guinea. 

Islamic Republic of Mauritania

Islamic Republic of Mauritania… Well, out of all the countries I researched about this trip, Mauritania was one of the countries I looked forward to the least. I really had no desire whatsoever to see this country. All I knew was it was 100% Muslim and they still followed Sharia law. I can tell now tell you that I am sad to leave this country. I have been very impressed with everyone. Everyone has gone above and beyond to be friendly. So far no one has ripped us off or felt like they were.

It took four hours to get through the border and was relatively painless. We had got through the border around 2 and had to drive hard from the border to Nouakchott. We were told at the military police checkpoints that we had to make it there before sun down. Once the sun goes down, Al Qaeda will kidnap and kill us… They told us that we couldn’t stay at the checkpoints because Al Qaeda will just kill them and kidnap us because we would make good television. Hmm.. I say drive Suse drive!!!!

We ended up reaching Nouakchott right at dark, and stayed at this very nice Auberge. The people who ran the place were so nice. It took Suse a good 15min trying to get Rosie into the compound, literally a 15 point turn just to get into the compound. Once inside the compound we got the option to camp or stay in the dorm (which held 15 people). I chose the dorm room. The thought of a real bed overwhelmed me. So it was a mad dash into the room that held 15 beds, all laid out on the ground. I ran to the farthest bed in the front right section of the room. I had a wall to my right and no one to my left. I plugged in all my electronics to charge, took a hot shower, checked my emails and passed out. I had the best sleep yet on the trip.  

Woke up the next morning, drank some coffee and completely relaxed. Suse went to the Senegal embassy to try to get visas for the Australians. She came back later saying the only way to get them is in Australia. She did say that the guy running the embassy is going to try to call his boss and try to get emergency visas because of the situation we are in. The only down side is we had to wait until the following day.

Myself, Ben, Steph, Rhys, Toby, Brittany, and Tony had the one of the guys who runs the Auberge take us to the fish market. We arrived in the early evening and watched all the painted boats come to shore offload their cargo of fish. It’s a great system they have. There are fishermen who catch the fish, the guys and girls who haul the fish on their heads to a location where there are people to descale the fish, then there are the women who sell the fish. Watching the system was very fascinating to me. We also got to experience the first time since the trip started people wanting their photos taken. We had kids posing, and young women smiling pretending not to want to get their pictures taken. The only people who didn’t want their pictures taken were the older men and women. We all had a really great time and it’s the first time on this trip we all felt like we finally made it to Africa. Morocco was great, but definitely not what I expected Africa to be like. Mauritania on the other hand was exactly what I expected.

All the boats waiting to go out in the morning 

Fish being bartered, and sold 

Part of the process 

The next day we (myself, Tony, Talbout, Maria, and Brian) all went to the center of town market. The market was completely different from any market we experienced yet. It was entirely made for the locals only. Everything from muumuus to used shoes and clothes. I went there to look for a postcard and stamps for my mother, but was only able to find one place that sold stamps. I bought the stamps and will send it to them on a later date. When we got back it was our cook group's time to cook. Ben, Steph and I headed to the fish market and bought 5 snappers, a couple kilos of potatoes and veggies. That night we made a great meal. Ben BBQ'ed the fish with lemon, garlic and butter. Steph made her secret potato salad (the secret is after boiling the potatoes, you lightly fry them) and I made a tomato, onion and garlic bruschetta. We have a very great cook group, we never argue and always work great together.

The next day we headed to the Senegal border. There are two crossings, one that you need to take a ferry and the other one you cross a bridge. We heard rumors that the ferry crossing was a nightmare so we decided to go the other route. On route we stopped at a military checkpoint who informed us that the bridge had just collapse and a Moroccan truck fell in the river. So we went to the alternative route. Once at the ferry border crossing we were told the ferries are not running and will only start running at 3:00 PM it was 1 PM... Two hours later no ferries running…  1 more hour, still nothing… finally at 5 PM the ferries started running. We caught the second ferry, and after another 45minutes of waiting we finally crossed the border into Senegal! West Africa here we come!

Market... No tourists other than us 

My new look 

Cutest baby ever 

Morocco Continued

Left Fes/Fez and the two Irish girls were quite feisty; they had every right to be since it is St. Patties Day. We all had to listen to 4 hours of painful, but festive Irish music on route to Casablanca. Once we arrived at the campground we found out that the campground gave our reservations to the “plastic fantastic” (that’s what we call all the French people in their plastic motorhomes). We ended up driving 30km to the closest campground. It was a disappointment; we were expecting to be in town to celebrate St. Pats. We ended up making a big fire and Suse our driver gave us some beers and rum that was in her personal stash, it was a mellow night for most of us. The next day we waited for a bus to take us into Casablanca, we waited a good 45 minutes and still no bus. Suse ended up talking a local Moroccan, and for 200 dirhams (25 US) we piled all 15 of us (we were minus one very hung over Irish girl) in the back of this old school pickup truck and drove to Casablanca.

 In Casablanca there wasn’t much to see except the 3^rd largest mosque in the world. It was beautiful; everyone but Rhys, Toby and I, skipped out on going inside, and decided to spend a few hours walking around the city.

The next day we left to go to Rabat. We had about a 6 hour drive to Rabat. Once in Rabat we got to the shittiest campground I have ever seen. We might as well have free camped. The campground had no electricity, the worst squat toilets yet, and no showers. The good news is we found someone’s wifi and hacked into it. The only reason we were there was for visas. The next day everyone but the Americans needed Mauritania Visas, and everyone needed a Mali visa. We gave our passports to Suse to take to the embassies and we all headed into town which was a good 40 minute bus ride. Myself, Ben, and Nico made a gentleman’s bet not to shave our beards until we reached Ghana. Ben and I are going to shave the neck region but not the chin and cheek if that makes sense. I ended up getting my second ever straight razor shave. It was very intimidating and brought back trust issues having a Muslim with a razor blade to my neck. I sucked it up and it ended up being the best shave I have ever had. We spent the rest of the day walking around the medina, and kasbah. That night Suse informed us that we were expecting to be in Rabat another 7 days or so waiting for the Mali Visa. A few hours later, while we were eating chow, she said we were all way to gullible and she ended up getting all the visas and we were going leave Rabat and head into the Atlas Mountains and make our way to the Sahara.

The next two days we had long days of driving and would pull off on a dirt road and free camp. The first night we camped about 70km from a town called Midelt. It was absolutely beautiful and fucking freezing. Who would have thought Africa was cold. It got to 31 degrees and my sleeping bag is only good for 35 degrees. The camping spot was right next to a lake. That night 3 locals came down to our camping spot to see who was camping on their land. We offered them tea, and later that evening they brought out their drums and drummed and sang by the fire. It was a real treat. The next night the camping spot was just a basic spot. I imagine by the end of this trip there will be plenty more spots like this one.

Our new Family

First Free Camping 

The next day 3.23.2012, we met with Rashed our guide, and he took us to a kasbah that was built in the 14^th century, it’s in the town of Mahadid. Afterwards we drove to the edge of the Sahara. We had a few hours to chill and wait until 3pm. At 3pm we all got our camels and took off on a two and a half camel trek into where the Berber tents are. I named my camel Bob Marley… He was black, chill and his hair was dreaded up. It was a lot of fun, but I have to admit 2 ½ hours on a camel makes my boys (balls) feel like Tiger Woods (when he was good) teed them up and hit them with his 1 wood. On this camel trek the weather decided to rain. We were told it hasn’t rained in 7 months. I am not sure if this is a good thing on us, or it’s a curse of a Washingtonian. Either way it rained off and on for the next two days. That night we ate a local Berber meal, listened to drums by the fire and slept in their tents. I am sure this is all done for tourist, but it seemed very authentic. The next day half of us went back and the other half did another day. The other day was more camel trekking to the black sands and a night with the nomads… When they got back they said it was great, but no one slept that good.

Toby and Rhys... my boys 

Bob Marley

The next few days we spent the time at Todra and Dodes Gorge (one night each). Todra Gorge was absolutely beautiful. Most of us went on a good 15km loop that was a VERY rough hike. The path was almost vertical and our guide sucked ass. He didn’t guide us at all, all he did was just walk in front of us and not tell us a thing, about the gorge or the nomads that we passed. If by chance anyone decided to do it, I recommend the hike just do it yourself, follow the path. Dodes Gorge was basically the same thing. I spent the day chilling reading, and relaxing while a few did the hike. That night we found out about Mali. Suse informed us that because of the Coup we might be changing our itinerary. She informed us that Mali has closed its border and by next Friday, her and her bosses will come up with an alternative plan. She said most likely we would go from Mauritania to Senegal, then Guinea, and then Ghana. These will skip Mali, and probably Burkina Faso. This sucks for me because I had plans on seeing Hilary in BF. Suse also informed us about a saying called T.I.A which means "This is Africa". Anything can happen. If we do need to go to plan B then we are off to Rabat again yayyy… puke!

We left Dodes Gorge and drove most of the day to a free camp close to Ait Ben Haddam (this is the Casbah that Gladiator,  Laurence of Arabia, Jesus of Nazareth, and about a dozen other movies were filmed)

Ait Ben Haddam was awesome. I need to re-watch Gladiator, because I didn’t notice the Kasbah that it was filmed in. I think it was the scene where they fight their first fight. They were walking through narrow passages and getting doused with blood and red paint. Next Stop Marrakesh...

We spent four nights in Marrakesh, the first night was our turn to cook. My partners Ben and Steph decided to spent the night in the city, so I was solo until Rhys and Toby decided to step up and help me. I was very grateful and we cooked Mushroom Carbonara. It poured down rain and the boys were troupers and we all cooked and cut in the rain. It was the group's favorite (well that's what they told us that is). The next day, 3 of us (Sarah, Nico and I) decided to go into town and stay in a hotel and get a good night sleep in a real bed. The hotel was awesome, about 30 meters from the main center. Let me tell you how insane Marrakesh is... You go to the center and you have hundreds of people trying to make a buck or scam you. They have snake charmers, henna artist, magicians, street performers, people selling teeth, hats and any possible item imaginable.  If you take a picture of them they will try and charge a ridiculous amount of money for the photo. We stayed Thursday, Friday, and Saturday, everyone else came in on Friday and Saturday. It was fun but, I was done and ready to move on by Saturday. All the vendors were hands on, grabbing, yelling and trying to make and scam as much money from you as possible. On Sunday we were told that we were heading back to Rabat to get Visas for Senegal, Guinea, and Ivory Coast. We will get Gambia and Guinea Bissau on route. Its very exciting because we were told we are going to be the first overland truck to attempt this route.

We spent 5 extremely boring and tedious days in Rabat at our dump of a campground. We spent those days waiting on Visas. On Monday all the Aussies spent the entire day trying to get a Senegal visa only to find out they will have to get the Visa in Mauritania. Tuesday we dropped off our forms and passports at the Guinean Embassy. The workers of Guinean Embassy where very friendly and gave the Americans a discount. Instead of paying 100 Euros we only paid 50 Euros. The same as everyone else! The Visas were not going to be ready until Wednesday. On Thursday we all dropped off our visas and passports at the Ivory Coast embassy. We all had to do a mini interview, in the interview they ask you some questions, take your fingerprints and a picture of you. Afterwards they brought a few people in and asked them how many children we had and if we served in the Armed forces. They guy asked Suse about everyone but me if they served in the military. Which is really weird because I am the only one who actual has served. We were then told that the Visas would not be ready until Tuesday because of Easter holiday. Our plans for leaving Morocco by Monday were out the window. Instead of sticking around the shithole of a campground Suse decided to take us 8 hours away to Essaouira on Saturday then take the bus/train back to Rabat herself on Tuesday.

We ended up camping 25km from Essaouira. The campground was a pleasant relief; we were told that it will be the last place we go before we hit some serious roughness. The campground had sit-down toilets, hot showers and was only 500 yards from the beach. The only thing missing was Wi-Fi. We spent the days laying by the beach, going to fish markets of Essaouira and body surfing. I got my very first serious sun burn. We were going to leave on Wednesday, but Suse only got back from Rabat at 0300 in the morning. On Tuesday Suse gave us a call and informed us that Rashid our guide from the Sahara is a film wrangler for this future film called “Intersection”( a romantic thriller about a wife who wants to kill her husband until they get into an accident and all hell breaks loose) and wanted to know who wanted to be an extra. It would be paid work with free breakfast and lunch. Myself, Brittany, Sarah, Brian, Tony, Ben, Steph, Nico, Denise, and Carlos all went. We knew they would only want 6 or 7 people, but we figured the hell it would be fun to try out. Only Brittany, Sarah, Tony, Steph, Brian and myself got picked to be extras. It was one of the most random experiences. Never would I ever imagine myself on a set of a future film in Morocco. I spent the day as Steph's husband walking back and forth over, and over and over again. The Moroccan who was supposed to be the hotel employee kept messing up, so the one scene took 4 hours. It was boring but fun and diffidently a good story to tell. Not sure if we will even be seen in the movie. We all made 800 dirhams, which is $100. That basically pays for my Ivory Coast Visa.  

Free Camp

On the set of Intersection