(ANOTHER) WORD OF ADVICE

Some extra notes in addition to our post-Mongolia-post last year:

Stick to low-tech, reliable 1990s Japanese cars - they really work.

At borders it might be slighty more difficult to play the Dumb Italians, as everyone speaks French. What worked wonders for us half of the time was to sent our Resident Football Experts to talk, well, football, followed by small gifts such pens or cigarettes.

Pack superlight, you can do the whole trip with just one pair of pants, one of shorts, very few tshirts and a windbreaker. Weather ranges from warm to blow-drier hot, and rain is minimal, even further south. Leave your hiking boots at home.

Tent? There are plenty of budget accomodations along the way, and in a lot of countries it is not advisable to camp anyway.

Another item you can leave behind is a jerry-can. One petrol station is never to far, even in the middle of Wester Sahara.

Last but not least: do not carry US dollars, they are useless in all of Francophone Africa, not even banks will change them. Quite a satisfaction for Euroland supporters.

LAGOS - NIGERIA

Despite all the nay-sayers, we made it to Nigeria, currently in Lagos with the first of many rounds of Star beers. We will never find enough words of thanks for our good friend Shola, who spent hours, naira and patience negotiating with more or less genuine authorities.

We did our fair share of borders, but this was the ultimate madness experience.

GRAND POPO - BENIN

We might have left our beloved Nissan in the very capable hands of Father Antonio, but our overland journey is not over yet. Took a taxi to Benin, and despite having been ripped off by immigration officers, we are loving the place- all palms, sandy beaches and big waves.

GODJENME - TOGO 18 KM (TOTAL 10167 KM)

TABLIGBO - TOGO 422 KM (TOTAL 10149 KM)

Mission accomplished, literally - we are now at our final destination, hosted by a very energetic Father Gaetano.

We managed to reach only late in the evening, as this final border was a proper, problematic and busy crossing - after which Togo welcomed us with all its noises.

CAPE COAST - GHANA 249 KM (TOTAL 9727 KM)

And so we are approaching the last day, and which better way to spend it that having the a few beers and Atlantic lobsters by the beach?

Yes, we are back on the seaside, in this old colonial city, which used to be the adminstrative center back then.

Paid a visit to the castle bearing the same name, one of the main transit point during the slave trade. A well-worth stop, like most UNESCO sites. It goes without saying that it was also really moving.

KUMASI - GHANA 383 KM (TOTAL 9488 KM)

To reach the Ashante capital we had only one problem - one road work site after another. On a positive side, waiting was never an issue, spent chatting with other drivers, buying bananas from the local stalls or simply looking around. The desert is just a distant memory, we are now just around the corner from the Equator, surrounded by the tropical jungle - and, much to Loris' displeasure, mosquitos.