Snapshots of the trip

Namibia:  Turning 45; finding our groove; camping near Sossusvlei

Angola:  Beach camp near Lucira; raw desert beauty and wild Atlantic; três mil; chef Tony

DRC:  Kibeti - a mind-altering and liberating experience; nearly breaking Precious

Congo:  Beautiful Brazzaville; South African farmers; Dimani Falls

Gabon:  Sette Cama freedom; nearly losing Peggy

Cameroon:  Culmination of a lot of negativity on the trip and finding a way through it

Nigeria:  Surprisingly less scarey than anticipated, but still a relief to have it behind us

Benin:  A wonderful Christmas in the north; meeting Lies and Milou

Ghana part 1:  Peggy ill again

Togo:  Who else but the lecherous lepidopterist; fascinating cliff village of Nano

Burkina Faso:  Freedom from myself and long-help trip anxieties; wonderful bush camping; fun with Peggy and Jen

Ghana part 2:  Great Blue Turaco; slave histories; rastas; shooter parties; turning 46

Back where we started

On Sunday 26 May we made our way back to Table Mountain, 413 days after we started!  It was a little eerie in thick mist.

 



Precious is out of her box

At long last we've got Precious back.  We cleared her in Durban port this morning, 40 days after packing her up in Tema.  Now for the last leg to Montagu to fetch Peggy and then on to Cape Town.

 

Things I’ll miss

·         Living simple

·         Seeing the stars as I lie in bed in my tent

·         The taste of real “organic” fruit and vegetables

·         Living by the sun – up at dawn, asleep just after nightfall

·         White teeth and smiling brown eyes

·         600mls of ice cold beer

·         “Life” being your exercise routine

·         Peggy’s licks, cuddles and greetings

·         Fat pink baobabs

·         Meeting new people and seeing their faces when we tell them our story

·         Cheery waves as we drive past

·         Sighting new birds

·         The open road taking us somewhere new

·         The gentle alarm clock of birdsong as the sky begins to lighten

·         REAL companionship – my dear friend Belinda

Things I won’t miss

·         Out stretched hands – “Donné moi . .”

·         Long drops after dark once the roaches come out

·         Hand nose blowing

·         Being slimy and sweaty right after a cold shower

·         Seeing live chickens hanging by their feet

·         Smarmy policemen at check points – “What did you bring me today?”

·         Being woken pre-dawn by the incessant sweeping

·         Public urination

·         Crap internet connections

·         Skinny dogs with bloated teats

·         Longing for just a quick catch up with family and friends

·         Pigs/goats/calves trussed up on the back of a motor bike weaving through the city traffic

·         Seeing pre-adolescent girls carrying loads on their heads that would make a grown man break out in a sweat

·         The smell of sewage, burning plastic, sour manioc

Djin's on her way home

Going home in 4 parts is rubbish!  Jen left last night for Joburg.  Reunion G&T planned for Durban where we hope to collect Precious in a few weeks.

Peggy's on her way home

Last night, we kissed Pegs goodbye and put her in a box bound for Cape Town.  The poor girl will only arrive in Cape Town this afternoon and then has 2 weeks quarantine to look forward to.  It was strange waking up this morning without a wet nose in my face!

With Peggy and Preshy gone, it's really feeling like the end of the trip.

 

 

Preshy's on her way home

Bound for Durban.  All strapped down...



 

... and tucked in

This container had BETTER be in Durban by mid-May!

1 year and 1 week on the road

Last Tuesday we celebrated a whole 12 months on the road, with G&T's of course.  Quite a feat... the 12 months, I mean.  G&T's are par for the course!

Brilliant Burkina Faso

At the end of January, we left Ghana with its well-worn tourism and headed for roads less travelled in Burkina, taking a week to get there via Togo. Our original plan was to get there in time for the Festival-au-Desert in Exile from Mali, but that had been cancelled, leaving us with no fixed itinerary, free to wonder until we got tired.

Burkina is an amazing country: so laid-back and beautiful in its raw, Sahelian way. We soaked up being on the edge of the desert, driving through low scrubby bushveld and miombo woodland, stopping for water at small village pumps and passing little surprises of small damned rivers where villagers were washing (themselves and their vehicles), cattle were drinking and where even our Pegs could have a little splash or two.

Our first stop was Kompienga Lake, close to the border with Togo and Benin. We camped in the parking lot and used the freezing cold pool. Abundant bird life held our attention (we saw nearly 60 birds there) and one evening, a herd of ellies made their way to the water's edge. And we weren't even in a reserve.

On the way to Ouagadougou, we bush-camped for two nights. Burkina-Faso isn't very densely populated, so it was relatively easy to sneak into the bush away from villages. Harder to keep Peggy quiet as she chased bats and swallows competing for evening insects. One morning, we managed to get slightly lost finding the road (see Jen's earlier post). Do you really get lost, or do you just see more than you bargained for? I wonder how the toothless men on bikes who we asked for directions would answer that?

Ouaga was a real surprise. Wide streets, gentle traffic and great shopping – gorgeous fabrics and stunning brass work at the artisinals. By now we have the space to stock up on curios, but not the money. Memories will have to do. In Ouaga, we camped in the parking lot of the OK Inn Hotel. Parking lot camping was a bit of a feature of Burkina!

From there we went on to Bobo-Dioloussa, stopping at the Parc de Deux Bales en route, where Peggy had her first close encounter with elephant who came to drink at the river next to the camp. She wasn't that impressed and barked a lot at them. Imagine being allowed to camp in a national park with your dog! And then not getting kicked out when she barks!

In Bobo, we saw the beautiful stick-and-mud mosque and then visited the old town which was interesting, until we were shown the sacred catfish flopping around a stinking pool of water! Part of the tour is to throw chunks of bread into the water and watch the catfish wrestle for it. Hard to understand sanctity in such a cesspit.

Having had our fill of cities, we headed for Lake Téngrela near Banfora where we hung out for another 5 nights, laughed at by hippos joking in the lake while Peggy stalked hundreds of Jacanas screeching at her in the reeds. We racked up our 100^th bird here. 100 birds in one country! Djin also racked up another marriage proposal. These men would stand a better chance if they could remember her name!

Further south-west, the landscape becomes more hilly, with peculiar rock formations. At Sindou, we stopped for 2 nights to see the peaks at dawn and dusk. It's hard to describe them and the photos don't really do it justice. Mostly, we had the whole place to ourselves which was a real treat. Even further into the south-west corner where Burkina, Côte d'Ivoire and Mali converge, we visited Niansogoni where villagers once moved their homes up into the cliff to escape marauding tribesmen and other nasties. They only came out 33 years ago, disbelieving that the country had been independent for 27 years and the colonials were long gone. We had visited a similar place at Nano in northern Togo and we showed our guide photos from there and from Pays Dogon in Mali as well. (No, we didn't get to Mali: those pics were from a previous trip!) He had heard of these places, but was blown away by the visuals. One good reason to have a laptop with all your photos on it!

We took really minor roads to get back to Banfora, seeing even more marvellous landscape on the way. Near Banfora, we stayed for 2 nights at Campement Baobab (not a bao in the whole establishment!) and spent International Women's Day at the Karfiguéla Falls, cooling off after walking to the fantasy land of the Dômes de Fabedougou in the midday sun. Only mad dogs and English women, they say!

On our last night in Burkina, we arrived late at Diébougou, near the border with north-west Ghana. We hit a blank with the guidebook, so I asked at the police station for directions to a cheap hotel. The man on duty knew of none, but offered us the police station's backyard, complete with brambles and curious neighbours stopping to stare. What a way to end our Burkina adventure!

Grease is the Word

With apologies to Frankie Vallie and the Bee Gees 

Change Preshy's oil and I'm such a sight
All engine grease and oil, Peggy get's quite a fright

There ain't no danger of scaring Djin too

She's just as filthy now, with all that suncream goo

Grease is the word!

They think this trip is just a jolly game

Why don't they understand?  It's just a cryin' shame

Everyday we're on the working loop

The day starts at the wheel, a suit of cream and gloop

Grease is the word!

Grease is the word, is the word that you heard

It's got dust, it's so grimy

Grease is the car, sunblock, mosi-repellent

Grease is all over, oh blimey!

We take a shower and we scrub away

Grease, dust, grime, slime and filth, but then we reapply

There is no chance that we can stop right there

We need it for protection of our skins so fair

Grease is the word!

This is life on roads all dusty

grime and sweat mix up

Sun and guard mosi

What are we doin' here???

Going "bos" in Burkina.

After a few days of relatively civilised camping in the parking lot of a lakeside lodge, Djin and Tonic hit the back roads towards Ouagadougou.

 

They rattle along in the dry, dusty countryside, past baked mud houses in waterless fields. When the sun is “too hands above the horizon” the team sneak off the road to find a place to camp for the night. Sneaking is hard to do in a 3 ton Land Rover, but Precious is practiced and keeps her head low. Tonic does some skilful driving, weaving around bushes and dodging tree stumps. Once they get a fair distance from the road, they set up camp in a suitable spot.

 

They have large bottles of tonic, so Djin shares out the last  few fingersof the gin and they toast the setting sun. After cold leftovers, Djin and Tonic retire to their tents. Peggy keeps watch. They team rise with the sun and do a spot of birding over mugs of freshly brewed coffee. Djin spikes hers with the last of her gifted whiskey.

 

All too soon, the time comes to move on and they set off back to the road. But alas, where is it? It can't be far. Perhaps if they follow this track it'll lead there. Shortly, they meet 2 elderly Burkinabé men on bicycles coming towards them. Tonic gets out to ask directions. The locals are polite, but their mirth shows through their gap-toothed smiles. They must turn around and follow the track. The town isn't far. Djin offers them he 2 empty liquor bottles. They nod in an understanding kind of way and strap them on their bikes, alongside their hoes. 

 

Shortly, a Land Rover, 2 white women and a pink-tongued dog inside can be seen following a couple of bicycles along a track through the African bushveld. It's not long and the track joins the road to town. Djin and Tonic call out their thanks and wave goodbye. Peggy barks out a warning. 

 

One can only imagine the talk around the fire that night. “Les blanches! OOh la la. Elles sont absolutment fou!”

New Year - New Hair

B for Benin

A belated and brief blurb about our "besoek" to Benin

• began with a beach for a breather - but that was brief - we were bothered by barking that drove Peggy beserk
• battling with French - Belinda becoming bilingual
• brown, barren bush beset with baobabs and boulders
• bathing in blue pools below beautiful waterfalls
• bountiful birding - barbets, bush-shrikes and bulbuls 
• bargaining for bric-a-brac - beads, bracelets, batiks and bronzes
• a banquet for Christmas - our beverage . . not beer, a bottle of wine with blissful bouquet
• Abomey - barbaric kings of before - battles, bloodshed and beheadings
• Ouidah - bondage and slavery - a "billion" barefeet, chained - broken souls boarding boats from the beach, bound for beyond
• bon homie and new friendships - buddies my bru
• "black magic and voodoo - bones, beasts and boas
• a birthday - blessed am I

The Contiki Tour

On 3 Jan, we did like Contiki and saw 3 countries in one day.  We left Ouidah, Benin in the morning, had brunch in Togo and a roadside lunch in Ghana, reaching Accra in the late afternoon.  Crossing Togo's coastline took less than an hour, being all of 56km long.

In Togo, we crossed into GMT and stopped for a G&T in Lomé.  As we left the restaurant, I realised I had moved my watch forward one hour, instead of back and we had ordered a G&T at 10 o'clock in the morning.  No wonder the waitress' smile was pitiful!

Dear Margie and Janet

We would like to express our heartfelt thanks to our dearly-loved mothers for bringing us up so well, for ensuring we have impeccable manners and are two perfect young ladies without actually having sent us to finishing school.

Well, alas, we're sorry to say our standards have dropped a little whilst on the Djin and Tonic tour of Central and West Africa. We have been known to :-

• wear the same clothes for a week at a stretch, only putting on clean things when we know we can do the laundry
  
• when lunching on the road, we lick the knife clean first, give it a rinse from our water bottle, dry it on our skirt and we're good to go
  
• drink the leftover juice straight out of the bowl after eating the mango
  
• shout profanities out the window at the appalling drivers on the road
  
• not wash our hands
  
• hang our knickers on the back burglar bars to dry after washing them in the shower (not sure what they make of it at police check stops)
  
• use the same dishcloth to dry dishes and our hands and only get around to washing it every second week
  
• go out without a bra. Support isn't everything, comfort and coolness is.
  
• eat peanut butter/Tartina straight out the jar
  
• let Peggy sleep on the beds
  

But, you'll be pleased to know we still brush our teeth twice a day.

Thanks Moms, we love you!.

Merry Christmas from Benin

Here we are in Benin, having arrived 14 days ago after a 6 day dash across Nigeria where we encountered many scary police and military checkpoints and almost had the car impounded after it passed all other tests of lights and presence of fire extinguishers and triangles but they were delighted to figure they could bust us for the right-hand drive car! However, the further north and east we got, the less intimidating it became and we crept over a little used border into the safety of friendly Benin on 6 December. We made our way south to Porto Novo, then east along the coast where we've holed up for nearly a week at Grand Popo (which apparently means “Big Poo” in French!). There, the Atlantic crashes into a steep shelf, making swimming very dangerous. But other than that, it's idyllic – the sea is a beautiful blue, the sand golden and we were treated to a pod of porpoises dancing in the breakers one day. Peggy had a fantastic time running free, and now even sleeps outside the tent at night, although I do tether her, for fear someone will steal her. (More than once, we've been asked to give her away!)

We're back in Cotonou now to collect our Ghanaian visas (which were issued yesterday) shop for our tour of the north and get the car seen to. Preshy has ongoing fuel supply issues (probably as a result of the accident in DRC) and the latest looks like a fault in the fuel injection pump. More thumbs must be held that the Land Rover dealer in Accra can resolve this in early Jan without the need to import more parts from South Africa. It's becoming a bit expensive and DHL is making a fortune out of us, never mind local import duties.

Tomorrow we head into the Muslim north for Christmas, escaping the Crimbo tat that even little Benin is victim of – note our cheesy Crimbo hats. The Tanongou Falls are on the edge of the Park National de la Pendjari and it sounds like a good place to be if we can't actually get into the park itself. We'll try, but it's unlikely Peggy will be allowed. No matter, we know that birds don't respect park boundaries and we expect to be able to sit in our chairs at the falls sipping a nice crisp Sauvignon Blanc (a little “dear Djin 'n Tonic from Djin 'n Tonic Christmas present) on Christmas day while thinking of our dear families and friends at home and around the world. The Sauv Blanc probably won't last very long, so we'll have to remember to have a back-up supply of tonic for the cheap “Le Vieux” gin we currently have in stock! Same gin must see us through New Year too, it being Djin's birthday on the 31^st.

Wishing you all a very merry Christmas and a blessed New Year. May 2013 be full of happiness and adventures!

We did it!

We reached the summit of Mount Cameroon on Sunday 25th just before midday in sleet, howling wind and blasts of thunder, crunching through volcanic ash at 4095m. Perhaps not a huge feat for the mountaineers amongst you, but for us it was quite an achievement.

It was hell, but exhilarating. The gradient so steep my ears kept popping on the way up and on the way down again - no gradual, winding tracks, just straight up the side of an active volcano. The descent was radical - will our toenails recover? The temperatures ranged from flippin' hot to freezing cold, so cold we couldn't move our hands and poor Peggy shivered whenever we stopped to catch our breath.

Other than that, Peggy took it all in her four-legged stride and probably hiked the mountain twice with all the running up ahead and then back to herd us up. She'd give the runners in the Race of Hope a run for their money. One of our porters is preparing to run the race for the 5^th time. Look out for William Ekema in Feb next year!

A Little Bit of Belo

The glint of new zinc roofs on a hundred rolling green hills from which a dozen waterfalls tip their load into fast moving rivers. Small pockets of indigenous bush and forest being taken over by gum trees, coffee and bananas. Still, a host of birds to delight us - and frustrate us - we never saw that Bannerman's Turaco!

One tarred road, the others, dirt tracks and footpaths. All a slippery red clay making walking in the wet a dangerous feat, like walking on ice – uphill! We wondered at the learnt skill of these women on their way to church in ill-fitting stiletto heels, while we lurched from one step to the next – in our hiking boots!

Scores of motor bike "taxis" hovering around like vultures at "3 corners," the main intersection - blinged out and pimped up with "all in one" designer leather seat and tank covers, flags, plastic flowers and mud flaps inscribed with the likes of "Plan with God," "The Don" and "Fear women." They have right of way so beware the person who doesn't hear them free-wheeling down the hill – you may loose your arm!

It is the men who wear the traditional clothing – an elaborately decorated wide, loose tunic and matching pants, a fez type hat and hand painted bead necklace. It seems a carved wooden stick is a status symbol as only the older men carried them. The women are more modern and it is not unusual to see a lady out on her daily chores wearing a shiny satin evening dress with ALL the frills and ruffles.

Every 8 days it is market day. The town gears up in their finest (said evening dress) to be seen and meet up with their friends in the seeming chaos and dust. There are stalls selling fruit and vegetables, others with gaudy synthetic clothing and second hand shoes, more stalls with hunks of bloodied meat and strong smelling dried fish, another selling exercise books, needles, insect killer and pens - around another corner you can buy shucked peanuts out of a wheelbarrow by the beach bucket full or ready boiled tubers. Another with racks of wax print cloth  - the colours and patterns overwhelming - too many to choose from. This day is followed by "Country Sunday," a day of rest, well earned after all the bustle.

Our neighbours – the Full Gospel Church - each day we are accosted by the wailing and lamenting of "Fire, fire!" and "In the naaaaame of Jesssusss!" - accompanied by the worst band ever! - an out of beat drummer, a discordant organist and the most tone deaf singer ever to have crooned down a microphone. We were even blessed by an all night vigil - twice! Why in the world they have a following is a mystery.

 

Our new friends - "Tu lai ma" - as we meet every morning for discussion and sewing - their kindness, smiles and enthusiasm for what we wanted to share with them warming our day and making the journey meaningful.

 

A bit of Belo will travel with us -  in our hearts.

Ode to Tartina

Tartina and...

Banana

Bananas and Peanut Butter
Bananas and Peanut Butter and Ginger
Bananas and Peanut Butter and Ginger and Cinnamon
Bananas and Peanut Butter and Ginger and Cinnamon on Bread
Bananas and Peanut Butter and Ginger and Cinnamon on a Pancake
Straight up on a spoon for pudding or on abiscuit with morning tea as a wake-up call

Ah Tartina... Nutella on the cheap!