Some days Africa grinds you down. And some days Africa rips your heart out. Having been searched thoroughly I wait over an hour in the Ethiopian embassy Consular Section to be told I could not be given a visa because I didn’t have a re-entry pass for Kenya. ‘I’m not… Continue reading
When the taxi pulls into Monte Christo combi (minibus) depot all hell breaks loose. Its surrounded by touts: some get into the back, some open up the boot for my bag, others thrust themselves through the front windows. They are desperate for my custom to Oshataki, home of an Angolan… Continue reading
The road to Congo is more like a country track, a little wider than a single lane, and composed of earth. At one of several Gabonese checkpoints a woman says to me: “And now you have to pay to cross the frontier”. “How much is it?” I ask, I’m not… Continue reading
Next morning my tight legs just about carry me to a six-place shared taxi to Douala, former capital of British Cameroon until independence and unification with the French-speaking east. Its 24km from the Atlantic, a port on the Wouri River. I sit for a while in the administrative heart of… Continue reading
I had hoped being chased down the road by a batik wielding merchantwoman would call an end to Porto Novo, but sadly not… Next morning a haze covers Porto Novo and stretches to Cotonou and the Nigerian embassy, lowering the temperature to a pleasant level, but it has burnt off… Continue reading
Visa extended I grab my bag and jump in a six-place shared taxi; handbrake position again; heading in the wrong direction to see some of the country I missed. Ouidah’s museum of history in the old Portuguese fort of John the Baptist is a disappointment, but is the start of… Continue reading
If it’s a new week it must be time for another country. Benin, country number 12, has just over twice the coastline of Togo. Aneho’s Quartier Jericho must only be a couple of kilometres from the border at Hilakondji. I walk across the frontier, and have onward transport to Cotonou… Continue reading
The road to Accra is as good as any I have travelled on. We kept bumping into the coast as we followed the road East, passing old haunts like Apam and dreamed of destinations like Elmina and Winneba. It takes 45 minutes in heavy slow moving traffic to get to… Continue reading
Despite the skyline there’s little to do in Abidjan, and I’m glad to be able to move on. After two and a half months of travel, the last week was a designated rest week, for recuperation and birthday celebrations. From Abidjan I made the relatively short hop by minibus back… Continue reading
Africa from Gibraltar Confusingly, Morocco is 2 hours behind Gibraltar at the moment, meaning I arrived in Tangiers about 5 minutes before I departed Spain. Had a delicious Tagine for dinner, but that, together with the romanticism of the call of the muezzin with the golden sun bathing the… Continue reading
