Return to Mali

We had a few days in Ouaga, just waiting around to get visas and the military were shooting every night so we decided to head off quickly. We went West to Boromo, to National Park Deux Bales and when we arrived at the hotel it was closed for reform so we went about 200meters into the park and set up camp right on the river bank. In the night we were woken up firstly by the sound of 8 elephants drinking beside us, then another one having a midnight snack and finally a group of warthogs running around. What a night! In the morning we were on our way to Mali, driving through Bobo when we saw our friends 4x4 truck so we stopped and found them in a hotel. We were all surprised because we had been told in Ouaga that they had sold the truck and got a flight back to France and they thought we were on our way to South Africa. Instead of rushing off we spent the day there by the pool and camped up for the night with them. Next morning we got back on the road and just out of the town a bee flew in the window and into my top and stung me. I have never been stung before so it is just my luck that it should be a big African bee and right on the boob! There were no problems at the border and we reached Bamako the same afternoon and went back to camping Kangaba. We have since found out that the morning we left Ouaga there was some kind of big rebellion and the city is once again under curfew and everything is being vandalised and looted by the military. Seems that we got out at the very last moment as we have been talking to other travellers who are planning on going south and have told us that all of the Burkina borders have been closed since we left. We are waiting outside the Mauritanian embassy in Bamako at the moment, to pick up our visas so we will be able to leave in the next few hours for the next part of our journey. Estuvimos unos días en Ouaga, mientras esperamos los visados de Mali y por las noches escuchamos otra vez tiros así que cogimos camino el Viernes 15 a Boromo, el parque natural Deux Bales. El hotel del parque estaba en reformas asi decidimos acampar al borde del río, por la noche nos despertaron un grupo de 8/9 elefantes bebiendo agua y comiendo de los arboles ademas de los Jabalines, justo al lado del coche. Sabado dia 16, por la mañana fuimos camino a Mali y en Bobo nos cruzamos con nuestros amigos Franceses Deborah & Toni del camion 4x4, creimos que habian vendido el camion y estaba en Paris. Resulta que no lo habian vendido y estaba altos de Ouaga y habian venido a Bobo a ver si se vendia alli. Asi nos pasamos el dia con ellos en el hotel bañandonos en la piscina. Al otro dia fuimos camino a la frontera de Mali y conseguimos llegar al capital Bamako. Alli nos enteramos que el dia que habiamos salido de Ouaga se habian liado otra vez los militares incluiendo los guardaespaldas del presidente en Ouaga en protesta y el Presidente habia despedido los miembros del gobierno, ademas se cerraron las fronteras. Habiamos salido justo a tiempo! Menos mal!!! Llevamos el fin de semana en Bamako y hoy Lunes estamos sentado en la puerta de la embajada de Mauritania para recoger nuestro visado para coger camino a Senegal y Gambia. Ya con este visado no tenemos que sacar ninguno mas para llegar a España. Con suerte estaremos en Senegal mañana y despues a Gambia y cogeremos la playa al Norte hasta la frontera de Marruecos. Ya te contare como se nos va en Senegal con la corrupción!

Ghana photos 2

Ghana photos

Ghana, Togo, Benin

After our days of relaxation on the beaches of Ghana we went inland to Hans Hotel which is built over a crocodile lake. It is a bit run down but the setting is very cool, the crocs just swim around while your in the bar/restaurant above and you can go walking around the lake if your brave enough (as the crocs roam free). From there we went to Kakum National Park which is apparently the only canopy walkway in the whole of Africa. That was incredible but not if your scared of heights as it is a series of rope bridges, 30-40m high, through the top of the rainforest. The only thing was that you don't see any animals because the trees are so dense, some people saw monkeys but the only thing we saw were butterflies. Then we went back to the sea again to Cape Coast Castle which is an old slave fort right on the beach where we had a guided tour. It was very interesting and quite emotional at some points, down in the dungeons where the slaves were kept in horrendous conditions, through the 'Door of No Return' (fortunately which has now been changed to the 'Door of Return') where the slaves were taken down onto the ships and up to the goveners huge bedroom with 180 degree views out to sea!
Since the castle, we have had a few more days on the beach staying in hotels which seem to be overrun with single, old, fat white women with young, black male hookers (nice). On the way out of Ghana we had another run in with the police at a checkpoint. They wanted a piece of paper for the car which doesn't seem to exist in Spain so it turned into a big argument. Then they decided that they were taking us to court and started to fill in all of the paperwork. We told them that was ok but if we had to go to court we were taking the policeman from the last checkpoint who had tried to bribe us for money. . . they soon tore up their papers and said goodbye! Cheeky buggers! Whilst Adam was dealing with all of this another officer was trying to chat me up and kindly let slip that they have absolutely no communication with other police or vehicles to chase people, so through the rest of Ghana, Togo and Benin we just waved at every checkpoint and pretended that we didn't realise we had to stop and hoped that they didn't shoot at us. The only time we got a bit worried was when Adam actually took out one of thier barriers which in all fairness was only a bamboo stick and they stood waving thier guns around! ooops!
Togo was only 56km wide so we camped at Lake Togo, just so we could say we stayed there. It was supposed to be a safe lake, one of the only ones in West Africa where you can swim in still water without catching some strange disease from snails. We were surprised when we got down to the waters edge and found snails crawling in between our toes. . . needless to say we did a quick U-turn. What more can I say about Togo? Bad roads, worse drivers but we were happy to be staying in our own bed once again after some terrible ones in Ghana.
Onto Benin and some more bad roads, bad driving, bad accidents and dead bodies at the side of the road. We bush camped all the way up through the country and went into Pendjari National park in the north. It is a massive park with loads of different routes through and your supposed to take a guide but they only spoke French so we took a sneaky photo of the park map and went in on our own. The first day we saw hippos, crocs, baboons, warthogs and bambi's (don't know which type because we didn't have anyone to tell us)! That night we stayed about 10m from a hippo lake, next to a group of park rangers for protection. Hippos are extremely noisy animals so we didn't get much sleep as they were fighting and jumping out of the water every few minutes. There was also some type of big cat purring all night although we didn't see any. The next day we were lucky enough to see a whole herd of elephants heading back after their morning drink and a male on his own down by the water but it wasn't as amazing as when we saw them in Mole Park as we couldn't get up close.
We left the park and Benin to go back into Burkina Faso. For anyone that is missing us already, yes we are heading back north, HOME! We can't get the visas for Nigeria because of the elections that are going on at the moment. It is very bad there now, just like Ivory Coast they are killing each other so we think it is best to give it a miss this time. However, we have been planning a trip down the East coast of Africa already!!! Now we are back in Ouaga at the OK Inn, we never thought we would be this happy to be back but we have a pool, wifi and good food for a change. We managed to get the visas for Mali this morning, at 3 times the price of when you go in from the north, so we will be leaving tomorrow for a bit of sight seeing in Burkina.


Despues de nuestros dias de relax en las playas de Ghana, cogimos camino al Hotel Hans. Esta situado al lado de un pequeño lago donde el restaurante esta montado en postes en medio y esta lleno de crocodilos, esta un poco estropeado pero nos lo pasamos bien. Al otro dia fuimos al Parque Natural de Kakum donde hay una pasarela corgado entre arboles a unos 30/40 metros de altura donde se puede ver los monos etc. Del Parque fuimos a la fortaleza de Cape Coast donde estaba encarcelados los esclavos durante el siglo 16 en adelante, nos fuimos con un guia que explico todo lo que sufrian alli, y la puerta sin retorno donde salian a embarcar para America un dia emocional.
Nos quedamos los proximos dias en varios hoteles por la costa en camino a Togo, habia montones de solteras viejas blancas buscando jovenes putones en una(parecia el poligono de Malaga pero acontrario) decidimos salir de alli por pata. El ultimo dia en Ghana camino a Togo nos pararon 2 veces en un control, el primero no dijo ni buenos dias, me pidio dinero para su almuerzo. Le pregunte porque tenia que darle dinero? Me dijo que estaba alli para nuestro protection, yo le dije que era policia en mi pais y jamas pido dinero a turistas! Se quedo con la boca abierta y nos dejo ir! En la siguiente iban buscando dinero, decian que no tenia el permiso de circulacion internacional (cierto) pero yo le dije que si era, y el que no y yo que si etc. Le demostre que soy mas cabezon que el, al final me queria llevar a juicio y dije que vale, vamos pero si voy me llevo al otro policia que me pidio dinero. Se callo en la boca y me dejo pasar, pero mientras yo estaba peleandome con ellos, uno estaba intentando sacarle algo a Sophie y se le escapo que no tenia contacto con los demas policas en camino ni coche de patrulla asi de alli en adelante cuando en los controles levantaba la mano a pararnos pasamos de largo saludando como turistas tontos que somos!!!
En Togo que solo mido 56km de ancho paramos una noche en un lago, en africa hay que andar con ojo donde se baña uno, si hay un tipo de caracoles en el agua te puedes contagiar una enfermidad que da sueño, fui por la mañana a bañarme y vi miles de ellos. Me quede si bañarme!
Togo en general? Conducen como locos y las carreteras malisimo. Benin lo mismo, jamas he visto tantos coches reventados y cadavares tapados en el arcen. Las carreteras con unos baches increibles- En Benin nos quedas un par de noches en camino al norte acampados en el campo, dar igual lo bien escondido que estes, siempre aparece gente a mirar a los turistas blancos, en general son buena gente que vienen a saludarnos. Cuando llegamos al Norte de Benin nos fuimos al Parque Natural Pendjari, alli estuvimos dos dias sin guia menos mal y encontarmos elefantes y rhino, quedamos una noche acampados al filo del lago escuchando todo tipo de animales.
Ya estamos otra vez en Ouaga, Burkina Faso no hemos podido conseguir los visados para Nigeria por las problemas de elecciones. Se estan matando uno al otro ahora mismo, a ver si no pasa igual que la Costa Marfil. Asi que vamos camino a casa, iremos a Senegal y Gambia de camino, calculo que estaremos en casa en un mes mas o menos. Ya estamos pensando en el proximo viaje por la costa Éste, áun no me doy por vencido por ver Africa por completo!! Un saludo a todos.

Birthday Ghana style

It has been a long time since the last blog and we bet you were all getting a little bit worried. . . we are ok, it just seems that internet in this country is worse than Spain. We arrived in Ghana on the 26th March and were looking forward to speaking in English again but as it turns out, Pidgeon English is very different. We don't really understand them and they definitely don't understand us with our Spanglish accents, to be honest speaking French for the last few weeks now seems quite easy. We wanted to make it all the way to Mole/Moley National Park that day and thought it would be a normal day driving but we were SUPPOSED to take a turn off on the main road which happened to be the only one that didn't have a sign post. It was SUPPOSED to be tarmac all the way so when it then turned to red dirt tracks we stopped, looked at each other, turned the GPS on and realised that Lake Volta was between us and the National park. Luckily we had only gone about 50km but it was getting dark so we decided to bush camp.
Waking up in the middle of the jungle on my birthday was a new experience. The people there were quite surprised, don't think they see many white people because the children were all running to fetch their friends and families. We got back on the right road and after a 88km corrugated track we kissed the tarmac and made it to the park. I signed in at the gate and had to declare if we had any weapons, then we rented a chalet at the only hotel in the reserve. It was huge, with aircon and we had a balcony overlooking the water hole where the animals come to drink but it was falling apart around us and we only had a trickle of water in the bathroom. That afternoon we hired a guide and went out into the park in our car in search of animals but we were told that we wouldn't see much as the park is huge and there was still water everywhere so they would be too far away. We saw a few different types of deer, warthogs and monkeys and that was about it. I said it was my birthday and that we had to see elephants but our guide said that people had been out for the last 5 days and not seen any and besides it was very rare because they walk 60km per day through the park so it was very unlikely. I had lost all hope and we were a few hundred meters from the hotel when I saw what I thought was a statue of an elephant. Adam saw it too and stopped the car very slowly and we realised they were real and there was another just beside us. We got out of the car and sat on the bonnet to watch then eating and crossing the track just 10m away from us. What a great birthday present!!!
When we left the park we went back along the 88km corrugated track again and headed south to Lake Bosumtwe which was formed by a meteorite. It is so beautiful there and we stayed in a hotel right on the waters edge and went swimming off their private pontoon. Paradise! The next day we hit the coast and it was so good to smell the sea and see the waves after being in land for so long. We are definitely coast people and lose all sense of direction when we don't see it for such a long time.
We then had a few days relaxing, sleeping and eating on the white sandy beaches. We have been staying in a small village about 30/40km from the Ivory Coast and we got up early yesterday to go on a trip to a village on stilts in the middle of a lake. We met our guide, Ben and rented a canoe for the 45min paddle up-river through the jungle. This is the only way to the village and the villagers have to make this ride all of the time to go to school, church, hospital and the market. It was originally built there hundreds of years ago to escape from the slave traders as they thought the waters were cursed so the people were safe out there. When we arrived there was a huge house on the other side and our guide told us it was Casa Pepe! It turns out he is a really eccentric but lovely guy from Valencia and he has lived there for 7 years and is building a hotel next to his house. After the guided tour of the village we called Pepe and he came across in his boat for a beer and a chat. Turns out he came here on holiday and he got drunk on the very potent local gin and asked as a joke if they would build him a stilt house. 1 month later someone called him to say his house was ready. Of course he couldn't remember but he went back on holiday a few times and ended up staying for good. How crazy! Just shows you there are English and Spanish just about everywhere in the world.


Hola a todos, seguro que estaban un poco preocupados ya que llevamos tanto tiempo sin escribir en el blog. La conexion de internet en este pais es peor que la de España! Llegamos a Ghana el 26 de marzo con ganas de hablar Ingles, pero hablan muy malamente casi no nos enteramos con ellos. Tampoco entienden lo que hablamos nosotros, era mas facil hablando Frances. Malamente por supuesto! Queriamos llegar el mismo dia al parque natural de Mole/Moley porque el 27 era el cumple de Sophie y queriamos estar en el hotel para celebrarlo en condiciones, con las prisas no vimos el desvio al parque y nos dimos cuenta del fallo cuando se acabo el asfalto. Al final quedamos acampados en el bosque tropical rodeado de niños y ancianos que parece que habian visto pocos blancos. Asi se despertó Sophie en su dia de cumple. Al otro dia encontramos el desvio al parque y despues de 88km de camino el peor hasta el momento llegamos al parque. Tuvimos que declara si llevabamos armas o no. Conseguimos la llave de un suite con vistas al lago para ver los elefantes etc. Vaya que suite! salia un chorrito de aqua del grifo, al menos tenia aire acondicionado que funcionaba. Salimos el mismo dia en busca de animales, tuvimos que llevar un guia armado. Nos dijo que no habia mucha possibildad de ver elefantes porque suelen andar unos 60km al dia. Despues de estar toda la tarde viendo todo tipo de animales habiamos quedado sin esperanza de ver elefantes, a unos 300m del hotel de repente encontramos dos machos a lado del carril, nos asustamos un poco. Pare el coche y sentamos en el capón y pasaron a unos 10m de nosotros. Que regalo de cumpleaños para Sophie. Al otro día despues de cargarnos otros 88 km de carril fuimos al lago Bosumtwe formado por un Meteorito, alli nos quedamos la noche y por la mañana fuimos a bañarnos al lago del atraque. Era el paraiso, unas vistas increible. Cogimos camino a la costa, ya teniamos ganas de ver la playa despues de estar tanto tiempo sin verlo. La hechabamos mucho de menos. Hemos estado unos dias quedandonos en distintos campings al borde de la playa comiendo en condiciones, relajando y bañando. El ultimo unos 30/40 km de la frontera de la Costa Marfil donde fuimos a ver un pueblo que viven al borde de un lago en casas montado en palos en el agua, llevan cientos de años viviendo alli escondidos de los blancos que buscaba esclavos. Se tarda unos 45 minutos en canoa por medio de la jungla para llegar. Encontramos un Valenciano que se llamaba Pepe! Lleva siete años haciendo un hotel alli, que pasón de tio. Habia estado alli con un grupo de amigos y en una borrachera de ginebra (distilado en el pueblo, 60% de alcohol!) y de cachondeo le dijo a uno del pueblo que le hiciera una casa. Al mes el del pueblo le llamo que tenia la casa hecha, Pepe ni se acordaba!! Le cobro 350€ Asi despues de unas vacaciones en su nueva casa, se decidio quedarse alli a montar el hotel! Han estado los de la tele española para hacerle un reportaje. Hasta pronto.

Bye Bye Ouaga

Good news! GOT GHANA VISAS! We have been here for almost 2weeks now but it has paid off. A few days ago the British Honarary Consul kindly gave us a letter of introduction and with that and a (fake) hotel reservation in Ghana we went back to the embassy. Two days later, we have our visas. We have been relaxing around the pool for way too long now so it will be good to get back on the road again, what a great birthday present for me!
Apart from that, two nights ago we went to bed after having a meal and drinks with some friends to what we thought was the sound of a firework display (wow they must have spent thousands). We couldn't sleep with all of the noise so everyone got out of bed only to find it was actually a military protest as 5 soldiers had been convicted of some crime or another.
The military spent all night driving through the town, firing live rounds into the air and vandalising/looting the local businesses. We had security guards at the hotel all night and the staff were not allowed to go home so they tried to sleep in the hotel reception.
The next day everything was calm except there was nobody in the streets and everything was closed and there was also talk of a curfew in town but we didn't mind as we were not going anywhere! Our only concern was that our passports were in the middle of town at the Ghana Embassy.
Finally we are saying bye bye to the capital with the coolest name in the world and the OK Inn and heading South into Ghana. Still no luck with the Nigerian visas but we will keep you posted.

Buenas noticias, CONSEGUIMOS LOS VISADOS DE GHANA!!!!. Llevamos aqui dos semanas casi pero a merecido la pena, gracias al consulado Britanico de Burkina, quien preparo una carta de introduccion y con una reserva de hotel en Ghana (falsificado)conseguimos entregar los pasaportes el Martes y recogerlos hoy.
En el tiempo que llevamos aqui hemos estado relajando a lado de la piscina y cenando con un grupo de amigos Franceses. La otra noche nos acostamos despues de cenar y escuchamos lo que creimos que era fuegos artificiales, pensamos que era algun fiesta. A las 4 de la mañana no podiamos dormir y salimos a la calle, resultó ser una manifestacion por los militares. Habian sido condenado cinco de ellos por unos crimines. Así estaban todos dando vueltas en Toyotas pegando tiros al aire y robando/destrozando locales comerciales etc.
Hasta los empleados del hotel se quedaron durmiendo en recepción por miedo de salir a la calle.
Se tranquilizo todo al otro día, pero tardo un día mas a volver a la normalidad.Lo que nos preocupaba mas es que teniamos los pasaporte en la embajada en el centro de la ciudad y no ibamos a poder salir si quera!
Por fin nos despedimos del capital con el nombre mas chulo del mundo Ouagadougou y del hotel OK INN, vamos a coger camino a Ghana. Aun no hemos conseguido los visados para Nigeria, seguiremos intentando en los otros países de camino. Un saludo, hasta pronto!!!

Photos Morroco / Mauritania