2012年9月3日星期一

My journey across West

Dear readers,Browse the Best Selection of buy mosaic and Accessories with FREE Gifts. Few of my friends who had access to some of my travel journals insisted I post some of them as they make interesting read and offer some wonderful travel insights. I don’t know if there’s any truth to that but I will leave that to your judgment. I will try to post my journal entries on this particular adventure and add a little commentary in the coming weeks. I am sorry that this may not interest you; I suspect however it may be of extreme interest to others. The journal entries contain time, dates and details of the time I was writing them. They also contain my dialogues with some of the people I met, my endless thoughts and the questions I often pose to myself whenever I am faced with contingencies. So you should find as many questions and few answers as you read them. This is the Pilot of the episodes.Natural Chinese turquoise beads at Wholesale prices. I always thought it would be a great adventure to venture into the wilds of West Africa, to explore the deep isolated communities, cultures, people, cities, food, music and country in general. I finally made up my mind November of 2011.

My backpack weighed about 5 pounds. The contents were: hiking boots, casual clothing, towels, sandals, Survival kit, books, notepads, socks, first aid kit,What is the difference between standard "ceramic" tiles and porcelain tiles? travel documents and some other miscellaneous. I didn’t put very much plan into this adventure not because I was careless but because I didn’t want to. I actually didn’t feel like heading out until the morning I decided to leave. I suddenly became so sick and tired of Accra that I just wanted to go away. Spontaneity; it’s my leap in the dark. It reveals my spirit and the ability to survive in my new environment. True adventure comes from spontaneity. What is the point of life if we have to plan everything to the last detail without leaving any room for wonder and curiosity? It was nothing but curiosity that led me to venture into the remotest parts of West Africa. What is it like out there? How does the food taste?

The first entry above reveals how unprepared I was. I arrived at the lorry station late. I didn’t even think for a minute about the time I could make it pass the border. My ipod, map and books were my consolation.Find detailed product information for howo tractor and other products. I could entertain myself with them at anytime and anywhere so didn’t bother much about how long I was going to wait to cross the border.

My plan was to head out West towards Ivory Coast and then continue towards the border with Liberia, Sierra Leone, Guinea, Guinea Bissau, Senegal and through to Gambia. I could then try to catch a yacht or any means possible to The Cape Verde Islands in the Atlantic Ocean. Return back to Senegal and continue East through Kayes to Bamako. I will continue further East to Burkina Faso and then onwards to Niger. I will then come South through Northern Nigeria all the way South and then head out west to Benin, Togo and then finally back home. But this isn’t as easy and accessible as I had thought. But as it turned out, the unplanned rather gave birth to more fun and adventure as I went along.

It was a frustrating night at the Elubo border waiting to cross into Ivory Coast the following morning. The sanitation at our side of the border is terrible. There was dirt everywhere, even inside the border posts. Shouldn’t border towns be as clean and well kept as the capital? Border towns are your first impression of a country. Unfortunately that was not the case in Elubo. Hopefully the area has been demarcated these days and all the structures leveled down as they did in Aflao.

A Ghanaian Gestapo immigration officer prevented me from taking photos of the Tano River as I make my final walk out of Ghana. He was very aggressive and threatened to confiscate my camera if I go ahead. I complied as I didn’t want any brouhaha with those gestapos. I obliged to his orders because I was ignorant of the regulations of the area. He didn’t offer any explanation; neither did I bother to seek one due to his unwelcoming manners. They normally would round up non-Ghanaians and extort money from them. We shouldn’t treat other ECOWAS citizens in that manner if we don’t expect their side to reciprocate. The ECOWAS treaty must be respected and regulations observed. The harassment by GIS must stop. At least we can lead the way by treating other nationals humanely.

I arrived in Elubo around 10PM after about 6 hours on the road. I met 3 Ivorians on the bus from Kaneshie who were also traveling to Abidjan. Sherif is an interesting fellow in his early thirties, Michelle and Maggie, siblings, attractive, in their mid twenties. They turned out to be very helpful.

Sherif could not understand one word in English, Michelle however is articulate in English so she served as the interpreter. Michelle is of middle height, fair,Capture the look and feel of real stone or ceramic tile flooring with Alterna. attractive and blossom. She speaks calmly but with intense expression. She was smart and articulate. We conversed very often whilst en route to Elubo. They all were very interested in my adventure, especially Sherif. Sherif became more interested after he learned I have traveled through the Middle East as he has. We were both familiar with some unique landmarks and areas. So our friendship began on the basis of our interests.

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