Leaving Ivory Coast for Kumasi

Hi BoBers,

I left Abidjan for Kumasi, Ghana for the Ackwasidae festival on 21 December. Two friends, Jeremy and Enosh, rode with me the first day which helped with the transition back to riding.

Day 2 started with a broken pedal. I rode 15 km on one pedal to the next town, which was surprisingly doable. I chose a serene and remote beach border crossing which started with a small boat. Some rasta boys paid for the boat and invited me to stay; I only rested in their lovely wooded courtyard and watched them sort mountains of weed in big bowls.

About 25 km along the beach to the border turned into 5 km of dragging BoB through sand at high tide. I flagged down truckers and got a lift. The sand road is so rough you have to stand — a wild, standing roller coaster.

The border was a row of small huts and very relaxed officials. After crossing, the driver offered me a drink and later his house to sleep in; the bar owner heated water for a shower. The driver left on another trip that night, returned at 6 am after mechanical trouble, and was up at 7 to offer me breakfast before leaving again. An incredibly hard working guy. I also had the most scenic toilet break of my life — a hole on the beach staring at the waves.

Riding inland I passed illegal gold-mining towns built around sluices and pumps. The people I met were incredibly kind an pure, offering food, beds. One man offered to travel 400 km to join me in Accra for Christmas. I also met David, 16, working alone at a petrol station since he was ten; his father checks in weekly. He captains his football team but his parents don’t want him to play football at all and push him to study medicine.

I arrived in Kumasi full of stories and ready for the festival.

Goldstruck, J&BoB

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