The Vuvuzela Diaries

Two months into our trip and it really does not take much to impress us! So when we arrived at the Green Turtle Lodge we were blown away! Palm trees, white sand, beautiful blue sea and a bar made from a large pirogue – what more do we really need? The lodge is run by a young and incredibly friendly English couple (Tom and Jo) who are aided by their New Zealand friend, Steve, and it can be found just past Dixcove. Our routine over the next six days mostly revolved around the delicious meals served under bamboo umbrellas dotted in the sand around the lodge: breakfasts of muesli and French toast soaked in honey with fried banana’s; lunches of sandwiches, paninis, pizza’s, salads and thick-cut chips; dinners of fresh swordfish and kingfish!

Why not have another G&T?

We broke our routine of eating, sleeping and reading to explore the surrounds. To the east we could walk for a good hour on the beach without seeing a single person. And a 20-minute walk to the west led to the local village, mangrove swamps and an old fort perched on the peninsular. We took a pirogue ride with the locals up into the mangroves and walked to a secluded beach. We were also fortunate enough to have Danielle’s parents, Alain and Helen, join us from South Africa for the week. Not only did they bring a welcome addition to our topics of conversation, but also supplies of chocolate which made Easter feel much more homely!

We were keen to continue handing out footballs and, according to Tom, the local team (who had recently renamed themselves to the “Green Turtles”) would be a worthy cause. So one afternoon we jumped onto the back of the Green Turtle bakkie and headed out to football practise! To get to the field we walked through the bustling village to the screams of “Obruni” (white man) from the local children who seemed to be congregating in their hundreds around us (and in particular Paula, who seems to have a knack of attracting cute little children!). We delivered the football and then joined the Green Turtles to play a gruelling hour of football – when we weren’t tackling each other on bare earth we were hunting for the ball in thick grass!

On our last evening we played one finally volleyball game with Bash and Justus (two Americans we met who are travelling our same route to SA by motorbike) and then bid farewell to the Green Turtle. On our way to Accra we stopped at the town of Elima to visit the Elima Fort which is the second oldest fort in Ghana. Originally built by the Portuguese, the fort was used to imprison slaves under the most horrific conditions before they were shipped out of West Africa. We were taken on a detailed tour and our guide excelled himself in offering a profound and insightful analysis of the fort’s past. The history and beauty of the Ghanaian coast certainly left an impression on us, and we were sad to move on.

Ghana hits you in the face the minute you arrive. English speaking officials, a duty free shop at the border, school children in uniform, MTN colours on every available space. And the humidity. How a scant border post can contain all of this within the country is unbelievable. We have said goodbye to the dry dust of the Sahara desert and the Harmatan that was starting to pull in. We say hello to lush green scenery, soaring temperatures and insane humidity that I don’t know if I can ever get used to. It comes with reward though, and that is South African products! Our eyes were on stalks when we walked into Shoprite and didn’t know what to buy and what to leave!

After spending a night in the bush after the border we headed for Mole National Park in the Northern section of Ghana. Reputedly the best game park in West Africa, the road to get there was in a sorry state and our poor cars took a beating as we bumped and jostled for about two hours on 80 kilometres. We had the campsite to ourselves (and the baboon troops on their daily rounds of annoying tourists and stealing food) which overlooked the savannah plains. We spent two nights here and went on guide walks and drives, and whilst it was lovely, there was unfortunately not very much game and a lone elephant was our best sighting.

The group then split and Maude made a dash for the coast. The Capetonians were not coping with the dust and needed the sea. The Joburger and our Newcastle delegate were happy to oblige. So back on the terrible road and South we went. We unfortunately misjudged the state of the roads and after a day found ourselves in Techiman at 6pm at night. Techiman leaves a lot to be desired in terms of tourist comforts (let’s not forget we are also in Africa, and are really not asking for much). We battled to find any accommodation and eventually had to settle on Emmanuel Inn. We’re still not 100% if the Inn was aimed at the general public or at the pimps down the road, but we had our fried rice for dinner in the courtyard and headed for our scaffy rooms. Doors locked, each others numbers on speed dial. My favourite part was the suggestion box next to the very grotty ablution block. Doubt I’ll ever be back there, so will keep my constructive criticism to myself.

We then continued South and hit the coast, and what a site it was! We landed up at Anamobo Hotel – a lovely expat vibe resort where even the campers were allowed the buffet breakfast in the mornings. The restaurant was a lovely open air wooden, colonial style deck overlooking the ocean. Our intended one night stay quickly became two nights and we spent a day relaxing on the sunloungers on the beach.

Green Turtle Lodge, on Akwidaa beach, was calling and it was time to head West now along the coast of Ghana. Along the way we did the tree-top walk at Kakum National Park – a lovely suspended bridge system from seven trees and 40 metres above the ground. We also dropped in to Elmina in search of some fresh fish, but had missed the fishing day, but vowed to come back on our way to Accra to have a tour of the imposing Portuguese and Dutch built fort.

We arrived at Green Turtle Lodge late afternoon on the 30th March, where we were to be spending the next 6 nights. We were not disappointed. The beach in front of the lodge is truly spectacular and is now one of my top 5 beaches. The lodge and the owners are so relaxed and the overall vibe was just what we were after. Paradise found.

Paula couldn’t have picked a better spot for her birthday. We were in Loango National Park and set out with our guide for the day. We saw hippos from our boat and loads of birds on the lakes and in the mangrove swamps. We then went on foot and traipsed through the rain forests ending with a late swim on the beach. The best was yet to come as we walked home along the beach and spotted forest buffalo and elephants. Dinner celebrations included plantain – a favourite for Paula!! This is a birthday most likely not to be repeated…

Hi friends,

Couple more pics added to the 2010 campaign page. Have a squizz..

We awoke gritty eyed on the Dogon rooftop in Kani-Kombole on our last day Mali. The thick dust blown up the previous day had not settled and we were glad to be back in the cool, dust free comfort of the cars as we made our way to the Burkina border. We had not seen the Harmattan winds and dust until Mopti (Dogon country) and we certainly didn’t expect that it could last for two whole countries!!

After changing some money in Koro (where the hotel owner changing the money offered us his hotel as collateral for our Euros he went off with!) it was a short gravel hop to the border. The crossing itself was quick and efficient and we had no problem getting the Burkinabe visas that we needed. For the first time since Morocco we crossed with other overlanders – an extremely well kitted  French group (one chap had done the Dakar rally 7 times!) in Land Cruisers with a guide and a dusty and dirty Dutch/Belgian duo in a series Landy. The French were well fed, well rested and well groomed and their guide swiftly escorted them through immigration. When we next saw them parked for lunch at the best “hotel” in Ouahigouya, it was certainly a lesson on how to overland in style – and could not have been a more different approach from the Dutch/Belgian crew! Next time…

As we only wanted to be in Ougadougou on Sunday evening (and it was Saturday) we set off to explore the area north east of Ouaga. We drove on dirt roads in thick Harmattan dust and although the area certainly won’t register on our highlights list it was interesting to see rural Burkina. The area was surprisingly populous with lakes (dams) to water crops and animals. A new artisanal mining area right next to the road provided a fascinating stop with men digging out dirt in tiny tunnels 10m underground. Interesting to see a mini little gold rush next to the road and quite scary to see the conditions they work in.

We managed to persuade a hotel on a lake just outside Kongoussi to let us camp in their courtyard and the trees and grass provided a little oasis from the dust. The next morning Danielle and I were kicked out of camp by Paula and Mikaela and we returned 20mins later to a romantic champagne breakfast prepared the rest of the crew. It was our 1 year wedding anniversary and the others had outdone themselves to put on a special little celebration for us. Grant was quite fetching as a waiter with the dishcloth draped over his arm, Mik’s pancakes were excellent and we will never know where they got that champagne from!!

That morning we made our way through Kaya – where we had a huge Burkinabe lunch of chicken in the best steak restaurant in town (no red meat was available!) – and on to Ouga.

Given that Burkina was supposed to be the poorest country we had visited so far and given the dustbowls we had travelled through, we were pleasantly surprised to find that Ougadougou is a (relatively!) well developed city with good infrastructure (roads, traffic lights, government buildings, banks, shops etc).

We made ourselves comfortable in the open ground in front of Hotel OK Inn which is disturbingly located behind the major weighstation and truckstop in Burkina. Although a little dusty it contains all the essential aspects for an overlanders base in a major city: secure parking, wifi, great steaks and a pool!! We spent the next two days doing admin: Ghana visas (easy!), washing clothes and getting car noises diagnosed at the Toyota dealership (our bushes have taken a bit of a beating).

On the morning we left we were all up bleary eyed at 6am to listen to Grant talk to John Robbie on 702. In a bizarre scene, we sat in the hotel lobby with earphones plugged in listening to the slightly delayed broadcast through the 702 website. Grant did a sterling job and it was great to know that people back home are interested in our little journey.

Finally after a quick lunch (and ice-creams!) at a local Lebanese café in town we set off for Nazinga Ranch (just north of the Ghanaian border). The ranch is a great elephant conservation success story started by two Burkinabe Canadians. It has now been taken over by the government and standards are slipping but it was still a magic stop over. We lived it up in very basic lodge huts (no camping allowed) with animals in the camp during the night and after a quick morning game drive we spent the rest of the morning watching bathing elephants at the dam just in front of the camp. It was great to see animals in the bush again.

That afternoon after a short detour to see the painted village at Tiebele (not so painted and not so friendly!), we drove the last few kms to the Ghana border… English speaking people and the beaches awaited!