...anyone want a ride???

"I can't believe the stuff they carry on the trucks"...this was a light one, we saw one with double the height that this one had and it was gingerly passing along the highway with a trail of following vehicles looking on in unbelief....the other one here on the left, had these 2 men holding the charcoal bags on, since it was listing around the corners..... Never will I complain of traffic in the UK....

Then came the Togo border...absolute chaos, but....it worked, no scans, no screens, no searches, not even a computor. I walked straight upto the customs police table, put my passport down, he filled out his sheet, then asked a few questions, stamped it and moved me on....(remember I'm probably the only white man passing this border for the last few hours!)

Then we pass through the high security rope which is raised about 30cm from the ground to stop cars passing without authority! (I don't think so somehow)

And then we entered Togo...the country of motorbike taxis! If the Togolese all had cars and not bikes the country would grind to a halt.... no helmets, but then there were no lanes either, just a free for all! yeehaaa lets go.... So my colleague (Ghanaian Chief Business Officer) proceeded to see if we really could knock someone over, I mean these bikes must have some kind of force field which protects them...

..as we drove out of the border town, we picked up speed and then more speed...(single lane stuff) just a little more speed...about 90mph down the centre of the road and 50 minutes later we reached the Benin border...can you see my grey hair, or is it just falling out right now...cant tell the difference!!! Another border crossing, the only difference is it takes about 30 minutes longer here.... and then darkness. African roads in the dark....ouch. Some cars with no lights, (no street lamps by the way!) some cars with lights that they feel need to point towards the stars, like a batman beam...then the bikes! .. it looked at times like we were heading headlong into an oncoming vehicle with 10 lights in a row on the front, then they part around us as we pass through.....

...and on the return journey we look at the carnage of crashed vehicles we actually missed!!!

Glad to be back in safe and secure Ghana....