Benin, Togo & Ghana Trip

As I mentioned in my post on May 29, we chose to drive to Ghana from Lagos, which turned about to be about a 16 hour day! The group of folks traveling to Ghana consisted of Sharon and Jonathan, driven by Kazeem, and Doug and me, driven by Niyi. Bob had a last minute business trip and he could not go. I was very bummed as I wanted to share these experiences with him! We departed Lagos at about 6:30AM and our drive to the Benin border took about 2 hours and was uneventful. The border crossing was slow to happen, primarily because it was our first time getting the car across the border. First we had to take care of paperwork in Nigeria and then in Benin and we had a more difficult time, getting hassled for money, in Benin. In Nigeria, Niyi had to pay a small amount as he had a virgin passport but I am sure that money went into someone's pocket. In Benin it was a hassle as we had a few "helpers" who were complicating the process of purchasing our laissez-passer (translation "let pass"), the documentation for the car. My cook, Daniel, was with us and he spoke French, which I thought would help a lot, but it did not help much. After 2 hours at the border we made our way only having to pay what we think was the official amount of money. Part of our delays occur because we refuse to pay bribes. If we don't get a receipt/stamp for our money, then we were not going to pay anything. There was a Nigerian Field Society trip that was going to Benin and it took them 3 hours to get all 20+ folks across the border, with no vehicles.

Once in Benin, we went to Daniel's home in Porto Novo, the capital of Benin, where I met his mother (95 years old), his wife and two of their four children (David, 19, and Samuel, 17). We did not stay long as we had a long day of driving ahead of us.

Picture of Daniel and me in his village.

On our drive out through Cotonou, the largest city in Benin, the traffic was bad due to some road construction. While waiting in the traffic, we saw many of the same sights that we see in Lagos - street hawkers, overloaded cars, people carrying items for sale on their head and food neatly displayed for sale. There were also lots of okadas but in Benin, they are driven by women too!

At the Benin - Togo border, the process was much smoother (1 hour), with just one complication. The police on the Benin border who registered the vehicles (wrote down the license plate number) asked us for money because it was our first time crossing the border but he refused to provide any sort of receipt. I asked how he knew it was our first time crossing the border and he said he just knew. I told him we paid my money when we entered Benin and I refused to pay but was not comfortable crossing the border until he registered the car, which he finally did with no compensation.

The road through Togo was right along the coast with nice views.

At the Togo-Ghana border the border process was smooth but time consuming (1.5 hours). The car registration process was computerized but we had to go from building to building to get everything taken care of. Once on the road in Ghana, it was about 6PM, the roads were not so great as we made our way to our destination just west of the capital Accra. We arrived at Big Milly's Backyard in Kokrobite at about 10:30PM. We had hoped to arrive sooner to have time to take in more of the coastal scenery and local activities (in particular a drumming lesson). The place was nice, located right on Ghana's Gold Coast, but definitely had a hippy dippy sort of feel about it. We ate breakfast around 8AM and were headed on our way to our next destination, near Busua / Dixcove. If we go back, we will make sure it is when the giant leatherback sea turtles are nesting on the beach.


Picture below: One of the huts that can be rented with tents set up nearby to accomodate a group of overlanders travelling across Africa in a large truck.
Picture below: Big Milly's is situated right on the beach and this is the view along the coast with many large fishing boats.On the drive to Green Turtle Lodge (GTL), we stopped in Abandze to see Fort Amsterdam (occupied 1665-1868), one of the many forts on Ghana's coast, which overlooks a very active fishing village. This fort was restored but it was not white washed like many of the forts are. The forts were originally built by Europeans to protect their goods for export (they changed hands often, typically between the Dutch and British) but they were later (17th Century) used in the trans-Atlantic slave trade. We were shown the rooms, or dungeons, the slaves were held in until they were taken out of the "Door of No Return" to board a ship destined for Europe, North or South America.

Picture below: Standing on the coastal side of Fort Amsterdam with the "Door of No Return" behind me.

Picture below: Fishing Village just below the fort

Upon arrival at Green Turtle Lodge (GTL) we found that their beach chalets were full so we had to camp, which we were prepared to do (S&J camped at Big Milly's too). GTL has a great working relationship with the people in the nearby village of Akwidaa.

Picture below: Camp, right on the beach

Upon arrival we walked to the village where we were taken to see an old fort that was approximately 350 years old (based on stories told by their forefathers) and not maintained at all. The remaining walls were overgrown by tree roots and vines. As the sun was setting we were taken to see where they smoked their fish and the samples we were given tasted very good. As usual the small children are really attracted to the visitors, especially Sharon and I, and the rest of the evening consisted of a nice dinner (swordfish or chicken) and a few drinks.

Picture below: Walking from the fort back to the village

Saturday started with a swim (not all), breakfast and then a canoe trip through the mangroves of the Ezile River where we saw a couple of African Pied Hornbill perched on the top of the mangroves. The canoe trip was driven by kids from the local village but arranged through GRT. The canoes seemed very unstable at times and Kazeem in particular was very uncomfortable when then canoe he was on came close to taking on water (yelling "What is the meaning of this?", which we all got a chuckle out of).

Playing in the water - Niyi (driver, Jonathan, and me)

One of the boys from Akwidaa that took us on the canoe trip.

Jonathan, Sharon, Kazeem and Niyi in the canoe.

After a little R&R on the beach, we went to see Fort Metal Cross (built in 1692), which overlooks the fishing harbor of Dixcove. Jonathan decided to hike to the fort but found that a route along the beach did not exist and he had to make his way through the overgrown bushes. The first thing we see upon entering Fort Metal Cross was a skinny Putty-nosed Guenon monkey on a leash. Jonathan told the man it was illegal to keep monkeys and he had to let it go. The man said "OK" but odds are he did not. ; ( We had to pay a small fee upon leaving as the local kids had washed the car even though we asked them not too! We drove back to GTL where we ate dinner and had a few drinks while waiting for the bonfire and music to start.

Village of Dixcove and its fishing harbor just below For Metal Cross.

A young girl with a small child on her back. They were walking around the fort.

On Sunday after breakfast we packed up camp and headed to Accra, where our flight departed from at 7PM. We had hoped to make it to Princestown to see Fort Gross-Fredrichsburg but were told the drive would take more time than we had. One the way back we stopped to buy some lunch food (bread, avocados) and palm oil (for the drivers, who said it was cheaper than in Lagos) and then stopped in Apam to see Fort Patience (1697-1868). This renovated castle has simple rooms that you can stay in if you can sleep knowing the extent of torture that the slaves underwent within the walls of the fort. After the tour we stopped and had lunch at a shut down hotel on the beach (Jonathan and Doug hopped the fence and found someone working on the property who let us in for a small fee) We walked the beach in search of shells but found very few. We arrived at the airport in just enough time to check in and board the plane for a smooth flight back to Lagos.

Fort Patience

Picture from Fort Patience which overlooks the fishing village of Apam.

All in all, it was a great trip. We traveled ~700km (rough estimate) through 4 countries, learned a bit about the history of Ghana and had a bit of down time on the beach. Luckily the language barrier (French) in Benin and Togo did not cause any problems and having exchanged Naira for CFAs in Lagos required us to do one less thing at two border crossings (one more opportunity to get taken advantage of).

On Monday our drivers departed Ghana for the trip back to Lagos. They had some difficulty at the Ghana - Togo border and were held up for 4 hours. They found that Nigerians driving nice SUV's (Toyota Prado) are often thought to be either thieves with stolen cars or drivers for white folks with lots of money. They made their way through Togo to Benin, where they were supposed to pick up Daniel, but due to poor communication they never picked him up and came to Lagos without him. Boy was I mad!!! I am sure that will never happen again! Anyway... the issue has been resolved and everyone is on talking terms again.

Benin, Togo & Ghana

Off to Ghana for the weekend! Unfortunately Bob is in Houston and can not make this trip but we will go there together in the future. Niyi, our driver, has never been out of Nigeria so I am really excited that we are providing him the opportunity to travel and see more of Africa. Since he has not traveled out of Nigeria, he did not have a passport, so we bought him one. I think it is real! ; ) I say that because Niyi's friend bought a passport in the past and found out at the Benin border that is was a fake and he had to pay his way through! Everything here can be bought for a price and any normal process can be expedited for a price. Niyi got his passport in less than a week and the normal process could take up to 3 months. The extra money was worth it (~$80) to ensure he had it in time to travel. Nigeria is one of the 15 Economic Community Of West African States or ECOWAS states and visas are not required to travel between ECOWAS states.

To get to Ghana, we could have flown both ways (we are flying home) but we decided to drive for a few reasons. First, we wanted the experience or adventure associated with border crossings. This will be my first one in the car in Africa. The primary language in Benin is French and I have never studied French. It is to our benefit that Daniel, our steward/cook, will be with us at the border crossing as he can negotiate for us. That brings me to the second reason for driving. I get to meet Daniel's family. Daniel's nineteen year old son was recently in the hospital for a "broken pancreas" (I interpret the word broken to mean ruptured.). He was climbing in a mango tree, to get a mango, and the branch he was standing on broke. He is now home after a few weeks in the hospital. While he was in the hospital Daniel went home twice to be with his son David and to take care of the financial situation (pay as you go). We had given Daniel a mosquito net in the past and Daniel used it to cover his son's bed in the hospital as he said the mosquitoes were terrible. I look forward to meeting his family but am extremely bummed Bob will not be there this time. We will go back again.

To a great trip! / À un grand voyage!

Football - The Geologists V. The Drillers

Today, The Rockers (geologists) defeated The Drillers in a game of football (1-0), or soccer to the folks in the US. It was a great day and it made me want to play football more and acquire the skills to move the ball around with my feet as if I was using my hands. Both teams consisted of players that either have not played in a while or have never really played but were fit enough to get in the opponents way out on the field (me). Much of the game was spent defending our goal but our defense was strong, so strong that the opposing team never made a goal. Our team made one goal and it was with a kick from far across the field right into the goal! Go Rockers!

The Winning Team - The Rockers!

CERCOPAN and the nearby Village of Iko Esai

We took advantage of the Labor Day holiday (May 1) to take a four day trip, organized by the Nigerian Field Society, out of Lagos. The trip started with a flight from Lagos to Calabar in Nigeria's Cross River State where we checked in to our hotel and headed off the Calabar Museum for a picnic lunch and then to see CERCOPAN's Calabar facility. CERCOPAN is a UK registered charity that is working to conserve Nigeria’s primates through sustainable rainforest conservation, community partnerships, education, primate rehabilitation and research. Many monkeys in Nigeria are orphaned when their mothers are killed by hunters to make money in the sale of the bushmeat. Many of the surviving orphans often become pets in local villages or are sold on the street in larger cities like Lagos. CERCOPAN focuses on rehabilitating two main species of monkeys, the Guenons (Mona, Red-eared, Putty-nosed, Sclater's, and Preuss's) and the Red Capped Mangabeys. CERCOPAN is located closer to Calabar then our recent trip to see the rehabilitation of Drill monkeys at the Afi Drill Ranch.

The CERCOPAN facility in Calabar (some , not all, and the Education Center).

A Mona Guenon

A baby Putty Nosed Guenon - Isn't he cute!

The Preuss's Guenon - The bright blue objects between his legs are just what you think they are!After leaving CERCOPAN, we went to the Calabar Marina Beach Resort, a very nice location on the river leading into Calabar (same river we took flying boat up on April trip) with a Slave Museum, not yet complete, that has a lot of potential if they continue with the quality work they have done so far. The museum documents, through the use of dioramas, the experiences of the slaves from capture to freedom and it is thought that 30% of the slaves from the West Coast of Africa were taken from the shores of Calabar.

Here is just a snapshot of the three dimensional pictorial along the outside wall of the museum.

Sunset on the river

We spent the rest of the weekend in CERCOPAN's location in the rainforest where they have a hectare size enclosure with Mangabeys.

Our accomodations in the rain forest

An hour hike through the rain forest, in the pouring rain, took us to the Rhoko river where we took a swim. The surrounding area was so peaceful, until you got out of the water and were attacked by sand files or bees were collecting on a few packs or clothing items. No stings!

Here (below) are some other pictures of people in and around the village of Iko Esai, the village we drove through to get to CERCOPAN's rain forest location.

First we had to meet the Chief (pictured on left below) and a few of the village elders. It is tradition to meet them when travelling through their village and to share a bottle of Kai Kai (distilled palm wine; see below). Shots for all!In Lagos white people are called Oyibo but in Iko Easi we were called Ikara (or something like that). When the kids would see you coming in the car or on a bike (which a few of us did, me included) they would some out the to road smiling, waving and screaming "Ikara". It is great!

I had to take a picture of myself with some of the kids. They are so cute.
Here are two kids playing on a home made cart. The front of the cart had a chain gear or cog that was in contact with the ground and allowed the cart, carrying weight, to be pushed along the ground.

View within the village

I love this picture of a woman and her baby. Beautiful!

Two women carrying plantains on their heads. I am not sure what is in the white bag. Picture taken from the car as we were driving to the village.

The African Oil Palm tree originated in the tropical rain forest region of West Africa. Nigeria used to be the biggest exporter of palm oil in the 1930's but was passed up by Malaysia where it appears to have thrived better. The products of the oil palm tree are palm oil, extracted from the fleshy part of the fruit, palm kernel oil, extracted from the palm kernels and palm wine (distilled product is called Kai Kai) made from the the sap of the tree. Palm wine is a staple in every Nigerian's diet. It contains a high amount of saturated fat but is probably one of the only sources of fat in their diet. There are not a lot of fat Nigerians!! It is red in color due to its high beta-carotene content.

The MAKING OF PALM OIL, as done in the villiages is very strenuous work extracting the oil from the fruit of the palm. I believe, with the help of this article, that this is how it is done and I have a few pictures to show the process.

The men cut the fruit from the palm trees growing in their fields. The pulp of the fruit is separated from the kernels as the processing for oil is different. I am not sure of the specifics on how to make palm kernel oil so this explanation is for making oil from the pulp of the fruit. The pulp is pounded with a mortar and pestel and then heated with water. Once heated for a few hours, the oil is skimmed off of the top and then fluids are squeezed out of the pulp.

Here is a picture of the African Palm Tree in the plantation we visited. The fruits, although hard to see in this picture, are at the base of the palm fronds.

Just to the left of this women is the fleshy pulp of the palm fruit and the kernels are in the pot behind her. The kernels were heated in water to soften them so that the outer layer (fleshy part) could be removed.

A pile of kernels laid out in the sun to dry so the nut inside can be easily removed and used to make palm kernel oil.Bob is helping the women and kids pound the palm fruit pulp with a pestel in a large mortar.

The strenuous work continues as the mashed pulp is then placed in a bag so that the liquids can be extracted. The woman doing the work was in her late 50's or older. Of course there are machines that can also do this work but none in the small villages.

The MAKING OF PALM WINE and KAI KAI (distilled palm wine). Palm wine is an milky white alcoholic drink made from the sap of the palm tree and there are two types of palm wine, up wine, sap daken from the top of the tree and down wine, sap taken from the tree once it is cut down. The distillery we went to was making down wine. In the picture below, the sap is draining from the tree into a plastic bag and this goes on for over a month.
Once the sap is removed from the tree it starts to ferment. Fresh palm wine has an nice flavor and is slightly sweet. The barrel in the picture below is full of the palm wine (white milky sap) and had been fermenting for a few days. Just before distilling the wine, the oily palm fruit pulp is added to the wine to keep it from boiling once put on the fire.

A specified amount of wine (if more is added, the alcohol is stronger as the alcohol vaporizes first) is added to the black steel pot and placed on the fire. Once hot, the alcohol vaporizes and travels down the steel tube inside the bamboo. It condenses in the tube as cool river inside the bamboo water is reducing the temperature of the steel. The clear liquid then runs out of the steel pipe and down a thin piece of wood into the bottle. Once the bottle is filled, the distilling is complete and the kai-kai is ready to drink.

A young boy working at the distillery has dumped out the warm water in the bamboo and has just filled it up with cool river water for the next batch.

Bob is sampling the kai-kai. It is a stong clear hard alcohol that has a high alcohol content. They make special batches that are pink in color using a piece of a local tree.

On Sunday morning we had to pack up to go home. We (10 of us) were all in one of CERCOPAN's dual cab pickup truck (inside and in the bed of the truck) on the dirt road from CERCOPAN, through the village and back to the main road in the town of Ibogo. From there we met up with another vehicle (a Mercedes with a fuel smell inside, so bad, it made your eyes water) to take us to the Calabar airport. A few minutes on the road and the pick up truck's rear differential locked up and we skidded (safely) to a stop. From there, some of us had to hitch a ride and hope that we made it to the airport in time to catch our flight. Bob and I were two of the lucky six that got to ride about 40 minutes in the back of an empty gravel truck. It was a lot of fun and we had and excellent view of the surrounding area and of the villages adjacent to the road. Many folks were walking on the road to church and I think it was quite a shock for them to see white folks in the back of this big truck!

Wreck Beach

What else is there to do when the office is closed due to a strike? We went to the beach!

Bob catching a wave!

Beach Trip

Today we went to the beach on a trip organized by Scott and Nancy. In a previous post I mentioned how I met Scott and Nancy and it was through this blog. Scott is working here and Nancy is visiting and checking out Lagos before moving here in the Fall. The day started off on the wet side and was clear for most except for a few showers or sprinkles. The dark cloudy sky was very ominous but spectacular when combined with the green water and the huge waves.

A few folks went swimming but the waves looked just too big and too strong for me and the current was quickly taking them down the coast. Here is a video with Bob in the water (black dot near the center), relaxing in front of the big waves.

Nigeria Lightning Nationals at the Lagos Yacht Club

April 19 & 20 was spent at the Lagos Yacht Club participating in the Lightning and Tarpon Nationals. Bob and I were both sailing on Lightnings. Saturday’s race was in the harbor and started slow with no wind and strong tidal currents but the wind picked up as the day went on. Sunday was spent offshore with more wind than the day before but not too much wind that we had hike out (put our weight over the side of the boat to balance it) too often.

Bob, sailing with Kevin (helm) and Doug, achieved 4th place overall (~20 boats participating).

I had a great time sailing with Scott (helm) and Luis. In this photo Luis is helming the boat during the last race of the day, a fun race.