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On the evening of Sunday 26th January my best mate, Mark, drove me from London to the port of Felixstowe, where I was scheduled to begin my 9 month Trans Africa expedition! I entered the P&O Passenger Terminal and eagerly scanned the terminal for a likely looking crowd, sure enough there was a small group with backpacks and sun hats! Our boat was due to set sail for Zeebrugge, Belgium at 11.00pm, so I spent some time getting to know the group. It felt strange to think I would be traveling with this group for 20 weeks overland from England to Kenya! We boarded the ship and after a brief chat everyone decided to bed down. I soon realized the tone of the trip when I discovered that our 'cabin' was actually the floor of the lounge!

1992 Diary - Africa (Part 1)

Gjcmcclurg
2005-12-23 14:19:09

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Basua in Ghana. It felt very different traveling through the lush tropical countryside after so much time in the desert and sahel regions. Finally after a bureaucratic 4 hour border crossing we arrived at the beach town of Basua just after sunset. Basua seemed calm and relaxed especially after the hustle and bustle of Abidjan.

The people of Ghana seemed really friendly and laid back, they also spoke English which was quite a treat after so much time in ex-French colonies. Apart from the beaches, the real highlight of Ghana was visiting the infamous slaving forts of Fort Metal Cross, Elmina and Cape Coast. The slaving forts built over 300 years ago were interesting but saddening. The dungeons where hundreds of slaves would be crammed were inhumanely small and unventilated - the conditions must have been unimaginably squalid. The slaves were kept in these conditions to 'break' them before they were loaded onto the ships as cargo.

From the Ghanaian coast we headed inland up to the Akosombo Dam which has formed one of the largest man made lakes in the world. We enjoyed an interesting tour of the dam and then traveled to Kpalimé in Togo. We entered Togo on 3rd April and after spending a pleasant day in Kpalimé headed down to Lomé, the capital. Togo is regarded as the heartland of voodooism, so we decided to visit the famous fetish market in Lomé. The market was packed with bones, dried pieces of animals and other talismans - quite eerie! Some of the skulls looked as though they could have been human! We both agreed it would not be a good idea to upset anyone around the market, we didn't fancy having a spell placed over us.

Next we crossed the border into Benin and traveled along the coast to the capital, Cotonou. From Cotonou we visited Ganvie, the largest and most beautiful of all lake villages in Africa. Inhabited by more than 10,000 people, it is built entirely on stilts in the middle of a lagoon. We caught a pirogue out to the village where we saw the people and their houses at close range. The colorful floating vegetable market was an interesting sight. Back in the capital we had a luxury day at the Sheraton and telexed the overland trip to arrange our rendezvous in Nigeria.

... Continued in next dairy - Africa (Part 2)