Flying Snakes and the kindness of strangers...

bardicastle · May 20, 2009

Will you be writing a book?

this is bloody great stuff :thumb2

i can't wait to get home at night to follow your adventure, shame i can't work out the tracker system thingy though

GreatScott · May 20, 2009

bardicastle said:
shame i can't work out the tracker system thingy though

I'm experincing the same problem. Not sure why. I think I need an IT guru. I looked on the Dipolmat website and there is some guff about Vista. I read it 3 times and still didn't understand it :blast

so I just check out Ed's progress on Google Earth, which even I can use. This is Bobo Dioulasso from Ed's post on 18th

grim · May 20, 2009

You've got me hooked, as I read I imagine packing my bike and heading off myself. Keep it coming :clap

I'd buy the book

Edventure · May 20, 2009

Sorry about the tracker. It relies on the cellular network and roaming agreements between Vodafone etc. Now I'm in Ghana and there is a Vodafone network we should be able to get it working again.

Edventure · May 20, 2009

JFDI!!!

grim said:
You've got me hooked, as I read I imagine packing my bike and heading off myself. Keep it coming
I'd buy the book

I kept on imagining the same thing for ages but as someone once said, you only really regret the things you didn't do .
It's been 17 days so far and I guess I'll be home at the end of the month but I'm hooked now, Africa really gets into the blood so will be planning the next adventure very soon!

Edventure · May 20, 2009

More Burkina

Saw my first pig on the trip, 4 legged variety! I guess it marks the change from Muslim countries. Burkina seems very cultivated in comparison to Mali and Mauritania but I suppose there is more rainfall. The villages I pass seem traditional in design, with mud brick constructed huts and thatched roofs.

Meeting the people has been one of the high points of the trip so far. It did make me wonder if I would have had the same experiences if I wasn’t on my own. In fact through all the countries I have only met kind and generous folk, that is with the exception of the Fuel bandits and the Tea swindlers!

Zareeba · May 21, 2009

Ed, this is awesome stuff. Pics look great too. Well done mate, proud of you. :beerjug:

Pathologic · May 21, 2009

Thanks for the great lunchtime read.

Puts our trip to Troyes in proper context.

Ride safe mate. Look forward to hearing more.

regards,

Path.

bardicastle · May 21, 2009

Edventure said:
Saw my first pig on the trip, 4 legged variety! I guess it marks the change from Muslim countries. Burkina seems very cultivated in comparison to Mali and Mauritania but I suppose there is more rainfall. The villages I pass seem traditional in design, with mud brick constructed huts and thatched roofs.

Meeting the people has been one of the high points of the trip so far. It did make me wonder if I would have had the same experiences if I wasn’t on my own. In fact through all the countries I have only met kind and generous folk, that is with the exception of the Fuel bandits and the Tea swindlers!

this guy is better packed than you

bardicastle · May 21, 2009

GreatScott said:
I'm experincing the same problem. Not sure why. I think I need an IT guru. I looked on the Dipolmat website and there is some guff about Vista. I read it 3 times and still didn't understand it so I just check out Ed's progress on Google Earth, which even I can use. This is Bobo Dioulasso from Ed's post on 18th

THANKS

Captain Colonial · May 21, 2009

The James Bond stuff is working again, the mobile phone network is obviously compatible with the tracker technology. If you log on (details how to are a few pages back) you will see the GS is parked in a compound just off the ACCRA road, well you can't actually see it but you get the general idea.
I think we should all get together with him when he gets back to the UK and let him bore the shit out of us with tales of adventures and deeds done. Especially as most of us will struggle to ever get the time to do half of this.
I know a decent pub near him that could serve as a venue, decent country roads around it in all directions for a bit of a ride. About 5 miles south of Basingstoke. Any one fancy it?

Captain Colonial · May 21, 2009

COpy of Edventures post from a week ago
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Am heading off now towards Mali. Hope to be able to update you all in about 3 or 4 days.

In the meantime if you want to follow my progress I have a GPS transponder fitted to my bike courtesy of my friend Stewart Harding, www.diplomat.co.uk .

If you follow this link you can track me in realtime

http://www.edmacnair.unusualperson.com

Login: admin
password: admin

Dont forget to tick the track box next to his name to get a view of actual day by day progress.
If you zoom out on the map, you get a great perspective on where he is, and how far he has come and still has to go.

Stevie73 · May 22, 2009

CRIKEY!! He's not that far from the equator!! :thumb2

bladerunner · May 22, 2009

Shame it's cloudy else we'd be able to see him

GreatScott · May 22, 2009

Captain Colonial said:
I think we should all get together with him when he gets back to the UK and let him bore the shit out of us with tales of adventures and deeds done. Especially as most of us will struggle to ever get the time to do half of this.
I know a decent pub near him that could serve as a venue, decent country roads around it in all directions for a bit of a ride. About 5 miles south of Basingstoke. Any one fancy it?

Sign me up.

Slowdown · May 22, 2009

bladerunner said:
Shame it's cloudy else we'd be able to see him

Don't blink though - he's going over 100kph!

Edventure · May 22, 2009

Ghana

Getting into Ghana
The border crossing out of Burkina and into Ghana is a hubbub of activity. Traders, lorry drivers and all sorts of people trying to sell their wares. Whenever a bus pulls up a host of hawkers descend and try and sell the passengers food, mobile phone topup cards, in fact anything you can imagine, and its always complete chaos!

The Ghanaian officials are a paragon of efficiency, you can still see the vestiges of a British colony in action.Oh, and they all speak English, what a delight. Paperwork complete I head out on the road to Tamale. Tamale is Ghana’s 3rd largest city and there I find a Barclays bank and top up my depleted funds. My hotel for the night is the Mariam. It’s full of American students and Aid workers. I give them a wide berth and head down the road to a local eatery where I get a few Star beers down my neck. I can’t describe how good it feels to have a cold beer after a day on the road.

The next morning I head down towards Kumasi. The road starts off as perfect tarmac lulling me into a false sense of security then all change and it’s pothole city again. I reckon I’m getting the hang of it and seem to make good time though I pass numerous accidents. Generally overloaded lorries and if you see the state of some them it’s a wonder they can move at all. I cross over the river Volta, in fact there are two Volta’s, the white one and the black one. The only difference I can see is the white Volta looks muddy and the black one is clear

Edventure · May 22, 2009

Road to Kumasi

The road to Kumasi is populated with loads of small villages and towns. Ghana looks a lot more prosperous than Burkina Faso, in fact as I have come south, each country looks less poor. Mauritania looked very poor, so much so you had to wonder how people there were surviving at all. Mali was better, the goats and cattle looked slightly less scrawny than Mauritania. Ghana looks downright glossy in comparison. The people look better fed, the countryside is green and there are crops growing in the fields.

I stop for lunch in a small town. The roadside eating places are called Chop Houses. They vary from just a bench by the side of the road to more substantial places with tables and chairs. They are all cheap, a meal and a coke costs 2.5 cedi, that’s about £1.50. You are of course expected to eat with your hands. I am just about getting the hang of that! After lunch there is a crowd round the bike, all asking the usual questions. How fast, how much, how many gears and where have you come from. After satisfying everyone’s curiosity I carry on to Kumasi.

yamonda1 · May 22, 2009

Epic !!!!!!!!!!

Edventure · May 22, 2009

Kumasi

The road deteriorates again and it’s back to sand, rocks and gravel. I dodge the trucks and swerve round the worst potholes. The suspension is taking a hammering but we carry on to Kumasi.
I don’t know where to start to describe Kumasi. It’s a heaving mass of people and traffic. Minibuses and cars are all jostling for position. It’s 38 degrees and I’m sweltering. I can’t see any signposts so don’t have a clue where I’m headed but the GPS tells me I’m heading south. The next thing I’m bang smack in the middle of a market. I struggle to move the bike through the hordes of people. Everyone’s trying to sell me stuff and it’s all I can do not to get off the bike and punch someone. Just let me get through!!! Eventually a young lad sees my predicament and clears a path for me and I get the bike moving again. By this stage I’m drenched in sweat and getting close to dehydration; I can recognise the signs now. I know I just have to find somewhere to stop and cool down. Like a mirage in the desert a hotel sign appears and I head towards it. A large bottle of cold water later and I’m feeling human again. I wanted to get south of Kumasi today but I don’t have the energy to carry on so I bed down for the night. In the early hours of the morning I come down with the trots, 3am, 4am, 5am, I fall asleep on the loo.

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