Hello everybody, here we are in the western Africa. We would like to tell you what has happened recently and we would like to share the adventure with you. Last time our story stopped in our favourite camp near Ougadougou, the capital city of Burkini Faso. We stopped there to get our visa to Ghana.
Burkina Faso is a flat country where there is a rest of rainforests and bushes. In a few national parks you can meet elephants, antilopes, crocodiles and smaller animals. I agree with other western Africa travellers and their experience with the national parks in this part of the continent. It is not worth spending money here. It is better to wait and visit parks in Namibia, Botswana or south Africa.
After we spent a few days in Burkina Faso we said goodbye to local kind villagers. We set off and we were going toward Ghana frontiers. We crossed them without any problems and entered Ghana. We kept going westwards. After a while we arrived to a small town. There was a man in the middle of the crossing wearing strange clothes. We didn´t notice he was a local policeman because he was wearing a ragged orange vest instead of a green vest with POLICE notice on it. We didn´t have an idea it was a policeman directing the traffic on the crossing. There were a lot of people passing him, tons of cars driving around and we appeared right in the middle of this mess. Suddenly we could hear a terrible scream. That was a funny guy without a police cap wearing an orange vest who was waving to stop us. We realized it wasn´t a market man but a policeman directing the crossing. Another guy came to help him. He looked like a real policeman. We tried to explain to him it was a misunderstanding. We didn´t do it on purpose. He understood nothing and he insisted we had to pay a fine. Finally we gave him a bribe (about 100 CZK) not to pay the fine. It was the first time we did it and we travelled further.
The roads were in a good condition, what a surprise. We were going further to the west. Although we were convinced we wouldn´t visit any national parks we turned right to the dusty road. We had seen the Mole national park billboard so we had decided to visit this place. We were trudging on the dusty broken road almost 100 km. After three hours we stopped at the park entry. We paid the gate-money (about 30 US dollars) and we entered the park both very excited. After a few kilometres we left feeling angry and disappointed. We had seen an elephant, a few antilopes, wild pig, elephant droppings on the road and white men. We agreed it would be worth seeing parks in Namibia.
After two days we reached the coast of the Atlantic ocean. There is a national park Kakum near the town of Cape Coast. The park doesn´t attract tourists with diversity of animals but adrenalin adventure. You walk on the rope bridges that are hanging among the highest tree tops. You are approximately 30 metres above the ground in the canopy layer and look down on the rainforest from above. Amazing walk. Our friends recommended us this national park, we saw it also in the Africa National geographic guide.
We parked our car near the town of Accra in a  beach camp Big Milly. We had to get another visa to continue our journey. It was a comfortable camp full of white tourists from the U.S.A, who were wandering around the beach. By the way the beach was covered with rubbish. We spent a weekend in this camp and we couldn´t understand the reason the Americans visited this place. Everybody knows Namibia or Botswana are 1000% better than this one …..At weekend we enjoyed a local cultural show. The villagers danced old Ghanian dances and played drums. It was exciting. On Saturday the beach keeper had a surprise for white tourists, he invited a local rock band. The rock band arrived in an old Mercedes van. They unpacked a huge old fashioned device and they were trying to tune their instrumenst almost for two hours. We guessed what would come next and we were right. After two hours of rehearsal Ghanian rock band began to play. Oh, my God, everything in the camp was vibrating. The tourists looked embarrassed and soon they laughed. The rock band was playing nonstop till two o´clock in the morning. Some of the listeners were so desperate they got rather drunk in the beach bar. At the end some Americans danced. The band finished at two a. m. and we went to bed. However we didn´t have a chance to sleep. A group of villagers started to chase their mate around the camp. We had no idea why they did so. According to the furious shouts of villagers he may have done something wrong and very serious. A few African guys dragged him up out of a bush. They bound the wrong-doer to a tree trunk near our car and they started to lynch him. We were watching this terrific scene from our car bedroom. The culprit was crying something and the locals were hitting him. We understood the people were looking for someone whom the culprit had harmed. After a while they unbound the beaten guy and a group of about twenty people took him away. At three o´clock in the morning we could fall asleep.
We experienced very similar situation a few days later in Accra. We were resting near the crossing and a local grocer was offering some fruits and nuts to a driver. The grocer wrested drive´s wallet from his hands and wanted to run away. The car driver jumped out of the car, he caught the thief and beat him up. People on the street made terrible noise and they were screaming. After a few minutes it was over and the traffic went on. We drove only a few metres and we stopped again. We waited what would happen. We saw a guy in a white shirt running towards the marketmen who tried to cheat him and rob him. After a while the guy appeared near our car. His shirt was torn up and he was being chased by thirty people who had wooden boards, sticks and stones in their hands. It was like a hunt among the parked cars across the street. We didn´t understand what had happened. Local people react in a very primitive way. It reminds me of the adventurous stories about old Africa. They behave like savages. They bind someone to a trunk, torment him and lynch him, they are superior in number and strength as well.
We left Accra and we were driving towards the frontier with a tiny country called Togo. It was getting darker and darker. When we arrived to the borderline it was pitch dark there. It wasn´t good but we were fed up with Ghana and needed to change the destination. Frankly speaking we haven´t seen such a grotesque frontier ever. Even Iran, Pakistan border was much better ( 2008).
We didn´t know if we should laugh or wonder. The police officer of the state of Togo was sitting in a darkness at the barrel, wearing an old torch on his head and eating a chicken with his hands. I was holding our passport in my hands and he copied our personal data into a thick book. There were many people around who were talking loudly. I tried to ask him where to go to get the seal into my carnet and where to find the customs officers. The guy waved his hand into the dark and exclaimed some words I didn’ t understand. I took a pocket lamp and went to find customs officers. I was succesful I found these guys in a straw hut. Unlike the police officer the customs officers were sitting at the wooden table. Obviously they were bored and they slightly began to pay attention to me. I showed them the international carnet and they examined it. I explained where to put the seal. They were laughing and told me they didn´t have any. I asked if we were allowed to go on, said good night and I left. There was nothing but darkness everywhere. I could recognize the silhouettes of people and tons of lorries. I was looking for our car where Šárka was locked. I got in and drove towards Togo as fast as I could. The electricity didn´t work and we arrived to a town in a dark. We stopped in a beach camp and stayed there. Very soon there was a downpour so we were glad to go sleeping.
The republic of Togo is very small. If you want to drive through it, it is only 70 km long in its thinnest point. I can say the beaches in Togo are beautiful and clean. We didn´t stay long in Togo and drove further towards Benin.
If you travel through the states of west Africa you can see aboriginal villages. You wil find out they are all the same. Benin is the neighbouring country of Togo, Nigeria and Burkina Faso. It is a bit larger than Togo. We were there to get our visa to Nigeria and it was a bit more difficult than usual. Not only the visa was expensive, but the officer wanted to see all the documents we had with us – all car documents even those Czech ones, vaccination cards, passport copies , everything in double because we were a two-man crew. He didn´t care we had only one car, he wanted all copies in double. When he got all documents he asked where the Czech embassy was and he wanted to know if the embassy would give us a reference letter to enter Nigeria.
I had already experienced this situation before. It was in Nepal. I also had needed a visa to get to India but it had been much easier there because there was a Czech embassy. Here in Africa the Czech embassy wass right in Nigeria. Fortunately the officer was satisfied when learned about it and after an hour we got our visas. We were lucky. We couldn´t say it about a Dutch motorbike driver. The officer refused him and asked him to go back next Tuesday (btw it was Thursday). We were so glad to have our visas and we informed the Czech embassy in Abuja ( Nigeria) we would go through Nigeria in a few days. Because of danger we could face in Nigeria we also asked about the recent situation. A very kind lady advised us to be careful because of the bad condition of the roads. We were thinking for a very long time which way we should pass Nigeria. The northern road or the southern one? There was nothing interesting in Nigeria for our crew. It was just a transit country and we would be very glad to go through very quickly.
We were given many advices by local drivers in Benin. However the advices were very different . It depended on whether they were Muslims or Christians. Muslims didn´t like Christians and vice versa. Finally we chose the southern route. It was shorter but more dangerous. We wanted to be in Cameroon as soon as possible because it was really worth seeing it.
There were no troubles on the Nigeria borderline. The only news for us was the vaccination card control, especially the yellow fever vaccination.
We entered Nigeria, we didn´t feel very well and safe there. We were nervous of the situation on the highway. There were hundreds of people, tons of old cars, the road was one large slum. Nothing new here in Africa. The policemen hold golf-clubs or bamboo staff in their hands. They used it to emphasize their commands. If you didn´t obey they would hit your car with a golf-club or a bamboo. Enforcement methods. Fortunately they used it only when dealing with local drivers, not with us. It was terrible, the locals didn´t respect the police, they didn´t stop because the policemen wanted money, mostly a bribe. The traffic situation was shocking, I try to describe it a bit……….
A policeman wearing a uniform with a tommy-gun, either a golf-club or a bamboo staff is a real policeman and you have to stop. We were lucky, as tourists we never had to pay bribes. Only once we gave a policeman half of bread. Another group of people in Nigeria are illegal money collectors, they wave to stop you. They don´t wear uniforms and tommy-guns. If we meet them we never stop.
The journey to Lagos was really exciting. We continued further to the north to Shagam and down the motorway towards the town of Onica. The motorway was a four-way road, we could drive quite fast, almost 100 km/h. Though you have to drive very carefully not to damage your car. There are a lot of deep potholes on the road.
We didn´t feel safe in this part of Nigeria although there were lots of frequent road checks. We were checked approximately 40 times a day. It was funny, some road checks were after 200 metres so we could see the policemen. The road check was very quick. We stopped, opened the window saying hello, a policeman ´s eyes almost popped out – ” hey, white guys”. He asked where we were going, we answered and he let us go. Sometimes they welcomed us in Nigeria as well. From time to time they asked to give them drinking water or some food. Once we were stopped by a motorway patrol and they wanted us to show them a Nigerian driving licence. Their intention was obvious – our money. We didn´t give them a penny and we told them we would complain. The police didn´t want to let us go so easily. They asked us to show them a fire extinguisher. After that they let us go. The cars here don´t have neither headlights nor back-up lights, some cars even don´t have wings. The guys insisted on showing them a fire-extinguisher though, unbelievable. This is Africa!!!
If you are a white man, they want nothing but money from you. We were sceptical regarding the financial help for Africa. Today we are sure that all financial help is useless. They appreciate nothing, they want everything but without any effort. They just show their empty hands. Everything ( buildings etc.) you can see on the west coast of Africa is the work of colonists. If there were no colonies they would wear straw skirts and throw the javelins forever. Everybody wants to go to Europe. They think Europe is a fortune and the life is easy there.
We had many negative experiences in Nigeria. The only positive one was in Calabar where we came accross a good accommodation and an excellent restaurant. It is true that there was a crazy fellow in front of the restaurant who cried ,,no white men“ when he saw us. However we weren´t suprised, we had faced rasism here a few times before. Now I stop writing our story from Nigeria. We have already left this country, thanks God we are OK. We give kind regards to all of you. Another adventurous story will continue in Cameroon, Gabon, Congo, The Democratic republicof Congo.
Milan and Šárka