Archive for the ‘west-africa2006’ Category.

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Impressive slavery forts on the South coast of Ghana

October 15, 2006, 10:16 pm

I slept in front of the hotel here, Cape Coast.
I did quite some negotiating, the hotel owner wasn’t too happy with this bum standing in front of his hotel. When I made my breakfast that morning, setting up the table with my chair, he asked me to eat inside and not in front of his hotel. Fair enough :)
A bit later I ordered a breakfast in the hotel.

The huge Cape Coast castle, Ghana

I was ashamed to be from Holland, after hearing those terrible colonialisation stories of the slavery

Colonial style, Cape Coast (Ghana)

The huge Cape Coast castle, Ghana

Elmina Castle
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Ghana is very impressive.

October 14, 2006, 11:13 pm

Early morning visitors

The sweet kids paid me a visit again

Canopy walkway in Kakum National Park

Walking via the canopy walkways so you can experience the upper layers of the rainforest

Rainforest, Kakum National Park

The canopy walkway, Kakum National Park

Ouch! Not a tree to climb in.

Again an amazing tree, this one looks like a tropical flower

Big fort in Cape Coast, Ghana
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Staying in the village Domama with my new friends

October 13, 2006, 11:30 pm

Rainforest, Domama

The friendly guide (left) is Stephen the Priest with his friend to the right

A very, very odd tree

The processing of drying cocoa beans

Walking to the place of birth of the guide Stephen.
A small village close to Bomama

Visiting a primary school.
All the kids ran out of their classes to see the ‘Obruni’ (that’s how they call white people, it means white)

They go mad when they see themselves on the digital camera

After the visit they started cheering and dancing, an unforgettable experience

Foodstall on the street

Driving back from to Domama, tricky road

Slowly driving and finding my way through the deep grooves

Camping in the middle of the village.
The kids wanted to see everything. The tent was checked by each individual too :)

The kids were very happy with their new inhabitant
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Kumasi Magazine area

October 12, 2006, 12:43 am

There’s a Mercedes repair center too

Mercedes repair center in the Magazine Area, Kumasi

Mercedes repair center in the Magazine Area, Kumasi

Doing an engine revision just on the street

Hitting the 113000km

Rainforest in Ghana

Sweet kids

Crossing via the old train bridge
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In Kumasi they fix -everything-, believe me..

October 11, 2006, 10:18 pm

Brilliant W123 originating from the USA driving in Ghana

Another saharagelbe W123. This local W123 seems to be in a good shape

Engines for every type of car

Shock absorbers, there’s enough for everyone

Having my wheels fixed in the Magazine area, Kumasi
Of course I had to think about someting to repair, because I would experience the Magazine area where it’s famous for.

The bends in the rims were fixed and some tyres replaced

There’s a Mercedes repair center too.
Most of the cars in Ghana are japanese, so the W123 is not so common
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Cool monkeys and stunning trees

October 10, 2006, 8:14 pm

The road to the Boabeng Fiema Monkey Sanctuary

Black and White Colobus in the monkey forest

How about this: A hollow tree

The hollow tree from the inside at the bottom looking upwards

Wreckless drivers could end up like this.
It’s horrible to see all these wrecks along the road, everytime I am thinking about how many innocent people died when one crazy individual is speeding.

Driving to Kumasi
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Angry elephant charge

October 9, 2006, 10:43 pm

Grazing Warthogs. They’re so cute!

Look at his tusks, this male Elephant was HUGE! The evening I entered the park I cam across this giant, it practically attacked my Mercedes. I made the mistake to think passing him slowy would make him angry. It was about 1,5m from the car, and then trumpeting VERY loud. I guess I was pretty lucky nothing happened.

Ready to depart from Mole National Park

Old mosque in Larabanga close to the entrance of Mole NP

Enthousiastic (ADHD) kids wanting to see the image before I had the change to take it :)

Kids from Ghana
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Entering Ghana and visiting Tongo Hills

October 7, 2006, 11:58 pm

Presbyterian church in Ghana, only paid a couple of coconuts as I didn’t have any money from Ghana

Going to Tongo hills via an old tarmac road

Enormous boulders in Tongo Hills

View from the shrine high on the hill

The high hill where the shrine is located

The Tongo village

Goat on its own Tongo hill (Ghana)

German overlanders on the road to Tamale

Irritating road full of holes and corrugations
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Having my tyre fixed in a creative way.

October 6, 2006, 9:46 pm

Back in Ouagadougou again. Having my tyres fixed

Buzzing streets in Ouagadougou

This is how they fixed my tyre: Just meld the rubber to seal the rubber. It took about one and a half hour, bit long, if you ask me :)

Green Mercedes taxis in Ouagadougou

South Burkina Faso, on my way to Ghana

Waterfall from the air, Burkina Faso

Huge showers make driving nearly impossible
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Going back to Ouagadougou, the capital of Burkina Faso

October 5, 2006, 9:36 pm

Speechless.. They fit more in and on a 504 then we do in a small truck
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Enjoying nature and the Burkinabe’s

October 4, 2006, 11:23 pm

Taking the ‘moped’ route to the falls

Then we got stuck. We used the cane to get out.
Putting loads of cane in front of the rear wheels helps to get grip again. Though it takes some time and dirty feet.

Getting out of the mud

Huge fruits from the tree

The Banfora Waterfalls

Domes de Fabedougou

The Saharagelber in Burkina Faso

Burkinabe village

Cooking ‘meself’ a meal

It’s incredible how rythmic these men are. They play here every night, and in the weekend
lots of villagers came to visit too, this band is formidable!
The children and women started to dance
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Exploring the area, enjoying the stunning nature in western Burkina Faso

October 4, 2006, 12:06 pm

Taking the ‘moped’ route to the falls

Then we got stuck. We used the cane to get out.
Putting loads of cane in front of the rear wheels helps to get grip again. Though it takes some time and dirty feet.

Getting out of the mud
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Sindou Peaks & Banfora

October 3, 2006, 11:08 pm

Going to the Sindou peaks via some sludgy dirt roads

The Sindou Peaks, Burkina Faso

The 300TD in front of the Sindou Peaks, Burkina Faso

Difficult parts on the road from the Sindou Peaks

This muddy pool was tricky, but again, we managed

Sacred place for sacrifices

One of the oldest Baobab trees in West-Africa I think..

Around Banfora, sometimes it gets difficult in the rainy season

Toilet to pee, complete with bucket-flusher

Toilet to do the ‘the other thing’

Life entertainment, spontaneously they play together for some hours on this campsite
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Enjoying Burkina Faso, exploring the less visited western part.

October 2, 2006, 10:48 am

Red gravel roads, Burkina Faso

Beautiful rainforest, Burkina Faso

Passing the 111111km ;)

Heading to Banfora and enjoying the W123 diesel
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Going out in Bobo-Dioulasso

October 1, 2006, 11:48 pm

Cool campsite in Bobo-Dioulasso

Bobo-Dioulasso

Taking a tour through the old town

The old town of Bobo-Dioulasso

Old town in Bobo-Dioulasso where the original tribe still lives

A good woodworker builds very nice furniture.
He showed me in a book what he creates and sells. It was really good work. He made beds and cupboards, tables etc.

Yellow coloured Mosque in Bobo-Dioulasso

Djembe performance in this relaxed restaurant
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Exploring Burkina Faso

September 29, 2006, 10:40 pm

A still full operational W123 Taxi in Ouagadougou

The tollroad checkpoint in Burkina Faso.
The checkpoints consists of gates which will be opened by someone after you paid.
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Staying in the capital of Burkina Faso, taking some rest.

September 29, 2006, 3:24 pm

I reached Ouagadougou! This place somehow felt very remote
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Ouagadougou (er, what?), here we come!

September 28, 2006, 10:07 pm

People standing under the tree, wondering who’s camping right there :)
That’s how I woke up, by the voices of the people who start to work early on the fields.

Old Mercedes 190, the passengers must have ended up dead..
This must have been a very nasty crash. I think this would be a good way too for Europe, to leave the crashed vehicles for sometime. People will hopefully think better about speeding.

Being on my own again, having lunch somewhere on the road to Ouagadougou

Aproaching Ouagadougou.
Burkina Faso’s capital has the cool name ‘Ouagadougou’, nice Scrabble word.
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Entering Burkina Faso

September 26, 2006, 11:05 pm

Mud mosque

Driving through Africa

Bush camping in Burkina Faso close to Ouahigouya
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Leaving Tombouctou

September 25, 2006, 2:54 pm

Early in the morning while everyone is still asleep

Breakfast on our own in the Sahara

Extra weight :)

Driving back from Tombouctou

Sweet donkeys

Happy free donkeys.
Finally some donkeys which aren’t in custody and hit with sticks and carrying huge payloads. That’s good to see after those months.

300TD driving on the dirt road

300TD approaching
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Sand, sand, sand!

September 24, 2006, 9:13 pm

Drinking strong tea

The nomad daughter, she just came back from a 3 days walk with their cattle through the Sahara

The pretty daughter of the family.

Living a primitive and sometimes hard life, but they like it all the best

Beautiful young lady in the Sahara, north of Tombouctou

2wd in soft sand in the Sahara

Unbelievable, going upwards in soft sand!
I couldn’t imagine so much is possible with only a rear wheel drive by deflating the tyres a bit (to 1 bar)

Driving the Saharagelber through the Sahara

Hooaaay!

Tombouctou town

Tombouctou library

Mosque

Isn’t she sweet?

Beautiful door in Tombouctou town

Sandy streets in Tombouctou

How a Land Rover ends up sometimes

Market stall in Tombouctou

Entrance gate of Tombouctou

The trustworthy W123

Ploughing through deep sand

Ploughing through deep sand..
Coming from Tombouctou you have to drive on this dyke, where deep tracks of other vehicles make it hard to cross. People around were amazed this ‘petite voiture’ made it through the terrain.

Gaining enough speed is the trick to go through it as is deflating the tyres a bit

Lost some speed but the Benz still goes on

The last metres and… We did it!

I think it can’t get dirtier

Sweet and healthy donkeys in the Sahara
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Our stay with the sahara Touaregs, northern Mali

September 23, 2006, 1:21 am

Tombouctou town

Sandy Tombouctou

D(r)iving into the Sahara
Our german friends stayed behind en we went into the sahara with the good old Benz

Staying the night with saharan nomads

Feeling utterly relaxed, drinking tea with the nomads under the stars

Our stay with the nomads in the desert
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Terrific Tombouctou

September 22, 2006, 6:13 pm

Waking up with the camels.
Our friends from Switzerland slept in the chairs of the germans and hung a mosquito net over it. Looks pretty cool

Sahara sunrise with the camels

Waking up at 6am, time to go on again

Camel with blue eyes

Ready to go to Tombouctou today

Direction Tombouctou

Taking the side of the dyk was a bad idea

The Ferry to cross the Niger

All cars stuffed on the ferryboat

Yes!!! Tombouctou!!!

Driving through the town Tombouctou

300TD monster reached Tombouctou

Dirt looks cool

Strong W123
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Heading to the mysterious place Tombouctou!

September 21, 2006, 8:38 pm

Driving up north, Mali

Helping some locals with a broken tyre.
As we could fix it one of them took a ride with us. Two on the passengers seat, the african way :)

Huge rocky mountains, Douentza

Direction Tombouctou.
People often use the rivers for washing, bathing and cleaning things

Amazing rock formations.
On the road from Douentza to Tombouctou, Mali

Heading to Tombouctou

Road from Douentza to Tombouctou

This night we stayed with camel traders in the Sahara

Camels of the camel traders, close to Tombouctou

Having dinner
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Mopti and surrounding villages

September 20, 2006, 11:12 pm

Mopti is a great place in Mali, it’s also the starting point to visit the stilt villages and the tribe on the tiny island villages.

Hundreds of boats in Mopti, Mali

Fisherman boats and equipment

Fisherman boats and equipment

Local way of transport to go to the various villages situated in the Niger delta

Small mud mosque on one of the islands around Mopti

Sweet little malian girl

Malian girl next to their village mosque

Enthousiastic kids in Mali.
Everytime I took a shot, I showed the image to them of themselves. They were amazed and wanted me to take another picture all the time.

Villages in the water in the Mopti region

Huge pelicans pay the village a visit.

Mopti sunset
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