Ride for Polio, Day 4 – Another tough day and some valuable lessons learnt

We have covered approximately 320km since we left Lagos and with an estimated 122km planned for day 4 I was eager to get going again. With Day 3 now firmly behind us, I was looking forward to an easy and relatively quick ride to our destination for the day given that we were not going to cross any borders. But that was not going to be the case.

Shortly after waking up at the Keta Emancipation Beach Resort, we paid Joe Ghanaian Cedi 46 (approximately USD30) all inclusive and headed off to the church about 2km away where we had parked our car the previous night. This was based on advice the previous day from our good Samaritan friend, Bright, that it would be better to park our vehicle at the local church compound as security might be an issue. He assured us however that the local pastor is a very good friend of his and that he won’t mind to help us out. And right he was.

The pastor, an elderly gentleman, was very friendly and extremely inquisitive as to why we were undertaking the journey from Lagos to Accra and back. After explaining the reason to him he left to attend to his daily chores.

After arriving at the church we cooked breakfast on my cadac gas stove before heading out to the town of Ada. On the menu - instant mash potatoes, baked beans, carrots, peas and tuna.  Friday and Bright very kindly insisted to wash the dishes which allowed me to rub some sun block lotion on my body, mix my hydration drinks for the day and get dressed. While all this was going on, an elderly local resident, referred to by Bright as a “madman” (I must admit he did appear to be somewhat harassed and delirious), preached fire and brimstone down from heaven when he saw me. I must have looked like a ghost or something. May God bless his soul!

When Bright heard that we were planning to head to Ada, he told us that he is actually a native from Ada and that our ride for the day will no doubt be a very easy one. After all, the total journey will be no longer than about 67km, this coming from a man who travels between Keta and Ada on a fairly regular basis. First lesson for the day – local knowledge is good but GPS is typically more accurate. I was going to make the same mistake a few more times later in the day.

After leaving Keta (an hour later than planned because it was going to be an "easy" day), we arrived at an adjacent town approximately 20km down the road. By this time I had settled into a nice rhythm and felt pretty strong. All of a sudden I saw a woman selling generous looking pineapples next to the road. About  100 metres later the urge to devour one of those pineapples got the better of me and we made an unscheduled stop. Friday bought two pineapples and the lady very kindly agreed to peel and cut one of the pineapples into pieces for me to enjoy as a mid-morning snack. WOW! One thing that has to be said about fruit in tropical West Africa – they don’t come any better than this.

The next 40km went by remarkably quick. We had now turned into a northerly direction which meant that for the first time on this trip there was no head wind and I was able to maintain a speed of approximately 25-30km per hour. This did my confidence the world of good. Then all of a sudden when we completed almost 65km I hit the wall once again and realised that our journey was not going to be as short as Bright made us believe earlier in the morning. The thought going through my mind was that I was most probably going to have to repeat the distance I have just completed for the day thus far. By now I was already a spent force. It was almost mid-day and with the sun beating us with all of its glory I as unsure as to how I was going to recover from this psychological setback?

We found a shady street side kiosk and asked the lady if we could rest there for a while. I grabbed the remaining pineapple we bought earlier the morning and I started peeling it with the kitchen knife I had brought with us from Lagos. Within minutes the pineapple was history and already I started feeling better. After taking a 20 minutes power nap on the cool concrete floor of the kiosk and some kind encouragement from the lady and her husband who own the kiosk, I felt ready to take on the second half of the journey.

About 12km later we reached a town called Sogakope at the Lower Volta Bridge. This was yet another awesome sight to behold and one of those precious moments that makes a journey such as this very special and worthwhile. I took some pictures before we made a quick stop at the local bank to change some foreign currency (we were running low on cedis and needed to replenish our cash).

At this point lesson 1 had not yet fully sunk in as I asked another local how far we had to go to reach Ada. He told me that we only had about 15km to get to Ada and then another 5km or so before we would reach Big Ada (somehow the fact that there was a Big Ada and an Ada did not register on the map I studied before we left). How wrong this estimate finally turned out to be. The 5km from the main junction to Big Ada turned out to be 25km and not 5km. Silly me!

By now we were heading straight towards Accra on the main expressway and traffic started to pick up. The road also became longer, a lot straighter and with that more monotony. I really had to concentrate to ensure my focus was not too much on my garmin because then it seems like it takes so much longer for the km to tick over.  Then out of nowhere we met a lady next to the expressway who sold watermelons. I did not need any invitation to pull my brakes and engage her in negotiations. I haven’t even paid for the watermelon when my mouth was filled with the most delicious and sweetest watermelon I have tasted in a long time. I finished the entire watermelon by myself and immediately felt refreshed and ready to take on the rest of the day’s journey.

Lesson number two – there is absolutely no substitute for the goodness produced by mother earth. Yes there are lots of good and effective food and energy supplements on the market, but nothing beats freshly cut tropical fruit when you are tired, hungry and thirsty.

We eventually reached Ada which essentially is a junction area where you turn off the main expressway to go to Big Ada, our ultimate destination for the day. With lesson 1 still not learnt, I asked a street vendor at the Ada junction how far I had to go before I reached Big Ada. His advice, 9km, which turned out to be about 25km. Silly me!

And now for lesson number three – it is ok not to book accommodation in advance but at least call to confirm that the hotel or beach resort is still in business. Yes indeed! You have guessed it. When we were almost at our final destination for the day, a local resident informed us that the Manet Paradise was not open for business as it was undergoing some much needed refurbishment. HuHH? You’ve got to be joking!!! I really had to keep it together so as to not lose my cool at this point because by now my body was telling me that it can carry on no further. My legs were hurting real bad and I guess the mileage of the previous three days’ cycling was starting to show its effects.

Fortunately for us, there was another “beach resort” only about 2 or 3km down the road and when we got there we were pleasantly surprised by the facilities. Clean rooms, en-suite bathroom with a shower and toilet and very important a mosquito net. At a modest USD20 per room per night I did not hesitate to book two rooms and also tell the owner that we will spend two nights. I definitely needed the rest and was quite happy to delay our arrival in Accra by one day.

After two ice cold beers and a very delicious hot plate of food (jollof rice, coleslaw and chicken) I took a shower and went straight to bed. Sleep never felt so good before!

Ride for Polio, Day 3 – Three countries and two border crossings

“Three countries and two border crossings” does have a nice ring to it but in reality we covered only about 110km. Today’s leg started at Grand Popo in the Republic of Benin, passing through the Republic of Togo and straight into Ghana. Also, today was the longest (in terms of time spent on the road) and most difficult of the three days since we left Lagos on Saturday. Not only did we lose unnecessary time at the Togo/Ghana border, but our best efforts in maintaining a good pace was thwarted by lots of road construction in Togo, a ridiculously strong head wind after crossing into Ghana and a sore bum. Suffice to say that I was very relieved when we eventually reached our destination for the day.

We left Grand Popo shortly before 7am and because the beach resort where we had stayed for the night would not wake up until about 7:30am we decided the previous night to settle our bill and leave without having breakfast. I did not have a very good night’s rest and felt a little sick when I got onto my bicycle. Thankfully that sick feeling slowly died away after about 30 or 40 minutes into the ride.

We reached the Benin/Togo border about an hour after we left Grand Popo only to find that it had just opened up for the day’s business so to speak as it has just turned 7o’clock. We had crossed a time zone and effectively left Grand Popo at 6am Togo time. Had we left an hour earlier (which is something I had considered doing) we would have waited an hour before we could have attempted to cross the border (not that it would have had any significant impact on our journey for the day as a whole). What astonished me more was the amount of goodwill by all the border officials as soon as they saw the t-shirt I was wearing and realised that I am a South African. One border official, in perfect broken English, even asked me how our Grandfather is doing – with reference to Madiba. The end result was that we crossed both sides of the border shared by Benin and Togo in a record breaking time of 20 minutes. I felt like I won a major prize and could not help but smile from ear to ear as I reflected upon our experience at the border between Nigeria and Benin. We were not going to be as fortunate at the border between Togo and Ghana...

The ride through Togo did not start off the way I had hoped. Soon after crossing the border we saw a big sign that said “DEVIATION” and you don’t need to be able to speak French to understand what that means. Yes, for the next 10km I had to cycle on a gravel road. Gravel roads are generally not known for their smooth surfaces so this is where I first used my front and rear suspension on my bicycle. However, it wasn’t so much the uneven road surface that was the issue, rather the headwind relentlessly blew dust particles into my eyes, nostrils and mouth (note to self: next time make sure you bring a dust mask and proper riding glasses). This was real energy sapping stuff.

Eventually we reached tar road again and I was able to get into a comfortable groove. And then it started all over again. 15km after reaching the tar road I saw another big “DEVIATION”. For the next almost 18km we had to negotiate a gravel road worse than the one our Togo journey started on. A stronger wind, more traffic and more dust was the story of this section. I did not enjoy it one bit and constantly had to say to myself that it would soon be over. After all how much road construction can any company be busy with at any given point in time? Eventually we reached a roundabout that signalled our entrance into Lome, the capital of Togo, and with it the hopes that we will reach the border with Ghana very soon. About 30 minutes later we stopped at the Togo side of the border, had our passports stamped and crossed into the Ghanaian side.

It is here that I have witnessed the concept of segregation of duties, manual systems and Africa time taken to a whole new level. Not that I was anxious for time or in any hurry to get going again. A little over 2 hours after we crossed into the Ghanaian side of the border we got given the green light to go again. I guess this is evidence of a system that was created with the best of intentions some years back and that no one has since asked whether or not there could be a more efficient way for things to be done. Besides it is not in a bureaucrat’s nature to ask “why” or “how can we make things a little more efficient”. Credit must be given to the Ghanaian officials though – not once did anyone do so much as to hint that they wanted any bribe and not once did we feel that they acted in an inappropriate manner. Bravo!

Now that we had our two planned border crossings for the day behind us I was excited to push ahead to our next destination which according to my calculations was only about 35km away. I also thought that after having covered the tough stretches through Togo the remainder of the day would be a walk in the park. Ever the optimist!

After about 15km from crossing the border into Ghana I started feeling dehydrated and fatigued and my mind started playing all sorts of tricks on me. It is not a good place to be in and any person who has competed in endurance events will know that this is the proverbial “hitting the wall” stage. The cure – keep on going until you have broken through the wall (which is like having to take bad medicine). This is the first time also that I started comparing the Ride for Polio with some of the toughest marathons I have run before.

By now I have fully grasped how powerful effective advertising could be. Huhh? Yes, once again I must tip my hat to Coca Cola. Almost every 5 km I would see a Coca cola sign board – this in rural Ghana. Distribution/Advertising is by far one of the most common, most costly and most difficult challenges for any fast moving consumer goods company in this part of the world. Yet Coca Cola seems to have gotten this covered better than anyone else. This did not help me in the state that I was in. I will say it again – there is nothing better than having an ice cold Coke to get your systems going again and every time I would see one of these sign boards it would be as if my legs go numb and that all I could think about is an ice cold coke! Unfortunately what happens when you drink a coke your blood sugar levels become more erratic and therefore unless you have a coke almost every 15 minutes your sugar levels are going to drop into the deepest abyss.

I eventually broke through the wall and with approximately 7 km to go we reached the edge of the largest lagoon in the Volta Delta region. By far the most beautiful sight I have seen since we left Lagos. This was also going to be the toughest part of the day’s ride. From here the road is flanked on the left by the Atlantic ocean and on the right by the lagoon. I was unable to see the other side of the lagoon and with the relatively sizeable waves created by the strong wind I could have been forgiven for mistaking the lagoon to be part of the ocean. Because there was no tree cover or buildings on either side of the road the full force of the head wind hit me and I could cycle no faster than about 8-9 km per hour. I can run faster than that. Embarrassing!  I did not really care and all that I could think of was getting to our final destination.

Eventually after having to dig real deep, we arrived and a “good Samaritan” on a small motor bike spotted us from afar and agreed to show us the road to the Keta Emancipation Beach Resort (pretty interesting name). When we eventually arrived at the “beach resort” I had to force myself not to look too surprised at what I saw. There was no resort. Only a few make shift beach shelters each one fitted inside with a double bed, mattress, two pillows and a mosquito net. That was it! No concrete floor, no electricity, no running water, no nothing. However, at this point I did not have it in me to cycle one inch further and after asking the owner (an elderly guy whose name is Joe, and I am sure he smoked a few joints too many by the time we greeted him) if they have cold drinks and food available, it did not take me long to agree a price and unpack our bags for the night. Our decision to overnight at this “resort” turned out to be a very good one.

Joe is a very friendly guy and was only too happy to demonstrate his cooking prowess by dishing up a wonderful plate of jollof rice, cooked cabbage (a personal favourite) and fish freshly caught from the ocean an hour or so before we arrived. After taking a quick “bath” using a bucket of water and a bar of soap (in a little open air shelter right on the beach ) I snuggled into my little hut and fell into a deep sleep. Truly wonderful and refreshing! The next morning I woke up shortly after 5am. After going about my morning business (local style) on the rocks overlooking the ocean I was ready to get going again and all the pain of yesterday was forgotten.

The third day, despite how tough it was, is going to stick in my memory for a very long time!

Ride for Polio, Day 2 - Republic of Benin, Cotonou to Grand Popo

After yesterday’s marathon ride I have had to readjust my attitude towards the journey I plan to complete. Yesterday’s ride was not only the longest I have ever ridden in one go, it was also going to be the first time ever that I have to do it all over again the very next day. There was no mistake – I was seriously apprehensive to start day 2 and was already starting to question the reasons for taking on this journey.

We set off at 7am this morning after enjoying a quick breakfast in the very, very expensive 3 star hotel in Cotonou. There was a lot of cloud cover and a slight breeze which made for a good start weather wise. In no time we reached the outskirts of Cotonou and came across an accident scene. On what seems to be a busy intersection under repair, a big truck overturned and was laying upside down on the lower embankment on the side of the road. This obviously caught my attention so I turned around to record a video clip with the video camera mounted on my helmet. The next moment a police officer approached me wanting to know what I am doing. After telling him about the Ride for Polio and kindly offering him a T-Shirt he was happy to wave me goodbye.

After about 90 minutes into the ride I came across three other cyclists who were about to set off in the same direction I was going. I promptly stopped and after introducing myself to them they decided to join me for a “short” warm-up cycle before they start their real workout for the morning. Within the next 10 minutes or so our group grew by about 4 or 5 other cyclists who were all going for the same weekly cycling event. After another 10 minutes we stopped and hooked up with their coach who arrived on a small motor bike (great coach – I always thought it would be better if the coach cycles with them). It turns out he is Benin’s national cycling champion and that they were all getting ready for a race that was going to be held later in the morning.

After handing out a t-shirt to each of them and posing for some pictures they agreed to cycle with me for the next 10km after which they were going to start their race. The 10km turned into 15km when we eventually reached a toll gate where their assistant coach (driving a Landie – also not cycling) was waiting to signal the start of the race. Before saying good bye their coach left us his contact details promising that they will meet me at the same spot on my way back and cycle with me all the way to the Seme border crossing. Awesome!

We averaged about 25-28km per hour while cycling to the toll gate and I felt like a hero because I thought I gave them all a good run for their money. Little did I know that they were just toying with me because after about 20 minutes after leaving them at the toll gate, they came speeding past me with shouts of “äu revoir” and “bon voyage”. It did not take them a long time to disappear over the next hill. I did not see them again for the rest of the day. Embarrassing!

After reaching what seemed to have been the mid-way point for the day we stopped for a quick snack and another ice cold coke at a little make shift “restaurant” right next to the express way (it basically provided us with good shade). God bless the maker of Coca Cola, the best non-alcoholic drink in the world – there is nothing that refreshes quite like an ice cold coke (free advert!). I had a can of sweet corn for some extra carbs.

Shortly after our mid-way snack we came across a little dirt road that veered off to the side of the expressway. At the end of the road, on the horizon, I caught a glimpse of a massive lake in the middle of nowhere. My curiosity got the better of me so off we went. After a short decent and a trip through the local village I reached the edge of the water. Desperately wanting to go for a quick dive, I eventually decided against it for two key reasons: (a) it did not smell fresh (probably the local sewer outlet); and (b) there were too many spectators and I did not think it appropriate to parade my assets to complete strangers. As disappointing it may have been the trip down to the water side was well worth the effort.

The last 20km of today’s ride was pretty tough. The prevailing head wind all of a sudden picked up a few knots and I really struggled to maintain a reasonable pace. The bigger challenge at this point however, was my bottom. After yesterday’s ride I was feeling pretty weary and even though I felt strong for most of today, the normal consequences of spending up to 6 hours in the saddle started to show. Hano, a running buddy from Lagos, aptly coined a phrase which rung in my ears while I was chipping away at the last few miles for the day – “comfortably numb”. Yes that is exactly what I started to experience. I never thought one can feel such pain in that part of your anatomy. Otherwise I was feeling great and unlike yesterday I maintained a good level of hydration throughout the day.

The last 10km felt like it was never going to end but eventually I saw the ocean and realised that we were almost at our final destination for the day. Unfortunately I did not know where exactly “Awale Plage” was or what kind of land mark to look out for. All I knew was that theoretically it should be situated along the express way. When we got to what seemed like one of the final street side “restaurants” I stopped to ask for directions. It so happened that the owner of this little shop is also the owner of the “Awale Plage” and that it was only about 1km down the road. When we got there we could not miss the larger than life signage which very clearly indicated that we have reached our tropical oasis for the day.

Awale Plage is owned by a French expatriate who has probably been here for most of his life, as is the case with most expatriates in this part of the world with investments of this nature. It’s a wonderful beach resort littered with big palm trees that are pregnant with fresh coconuts. The air-conditioned rooms are very basic, have running water and are clean. There is a nice big swimming pool and a restaurant with roof covering. As I am typing away at this blog (18:19), there is a cool sea breeze blowing and I can hear the waves crashing. What a wonderful little oasis in a place not frequented by most world travellers. This is as they say, one of the world’s best kept secrets!

Ride for Polio Day 1 - Ikoyi to Cotonou

Wow! What a day! 125 km from Ikoyi to Cotonou and a little under 900 km to go.

We started today's ride on scedule art 4am and reached Badagry (first major milestone after 67km) just after 7am, almost 3 hours ahead of schedule. I cycled in the dark for most of the way to Badagry and then stopped for about 30 minutes for a well deserved morning snack.

We reached the Seme border post a little over two hours later. We cleared the border post without much hassle following which we had a lunch break on the Benin side of the border. This was a very interesting experience. A little shack right next to the road with a freshly slaughtered pig hanging just to the right of the entrance. I was of course not hungry but Friday could not wait to get his hands dirty. At least he enjoyed the food while I was nibbling away at my peach fruit roll and nuts.

From the border to Cotonou was very tough and it felt like I was running the last 5 km of a marathon. Not only did the sun came out in full force, but I was also facing a very strong head wind. This slowed me down and I struggled to maintain a good pace. With about 15 km to go I spotted a number of women selling sugar cane. This was like manna from heaven and I promptly pulled over and bought a few. While I was chewing away at my sugar cane "candy stick" I missed the bike path as we were approaching one of only two toll gates in Benin between the Nigeria and Togo borders. Suddenly we were stopped by an army official who quizzed us in French. "non Francais! non Francais!" was all I could get out only for him to switch over to Anglais. After exchanging a few ideas he let us off the hook. Little did he know that I was only too happy that he stopped us because by now I was pulling strain.

With about 5 km to go (I thought we still had about 20km to go) I was really feeling bad and just had to stop. We found a little street restaurant where this friendly lady allowed us to sit in the shade of her restaurant. She was really kind. Friday walked down the street to go and find me an ice cold coke which was exactly what I needed. While waiting I asked on of the other customers whether he knew where our hotel for the evening is. Much to my surprise (and delight) he told me that we only had about 4km to go. I was stoked and all of a sudden had new energy.

7km later we reached our destination - Novotel Orisha, Cotonou. Lovely 3 star (at USD250 per room per night) beach hotel very close to the harbour. When we got to the room and I looked in the mirror I realised why everybody stared so much at me while I was in the lobby of the hotel. I was filthy. Took a nice long shower, a quick power nap and now I am typing away at this blog.

Friday went for a "quick 2 1/2 hour run" and looks in great shape. He probably needed to run his guts out after having had to drive 125km at an average speed of 20km per hour. I would! Well done to him. He is a real jewel and I am very blessed to have him work for us. He was a great support today and really knows how to be a support vehicle operator!

So we are about to go for a "lekker" big proteien filled dinner before we'll prepare for tomorrow and go to bed. Hope to get some good sleep before we start tomorrow.

Plan for tomorrow is to start at 7am and then take a leisurely cycle down to Grand Popo. This is a relatively unknown but popular beach resort area that I am hoping to explore tomorrow afternoon. We will probably do no more than about 70-80km tomorrow which is great because I felt a little dehydrated and worn out after today's cycle. Feeling good now after drinking my one litre rehydration mix.

Hope to update you again tomorrow evening!

Sleep well and have a great Sunday!

Scott Ryan is a legend!

While I was finalising my inventory list for the trip I realised that there were a couple of items I needed to get before I depart on 20 August (small sport video camera, all sorts of food supplements and spare parts such as tyres, chain, inner tubes, chain cleaning solution, etc.). None of these items are freely available in Nigeria and if they are I was not entirely sure where I would have been able to source all of these on such short notice and at a market related price. Consequently, I had to rely on finding someone who would be travelling to Nigeria before I depart and who would be willing to buy all the things that I need and to bring it to Lagos for me.

Fortunately one of my dear friends, Scott Ryan, is currently on vacation with his family in Europe. Two nights ago when I asked him to help me out he did not even blink an eyelid before he agreed to assist. Not only does he have to sacrifice a greater than usual amount of weight in his luggage when he returns to Lagos next week, he also had to sacrifice a full day of his personal family vacation and put up the initial cash (which should be well over a USD1,000 if not more) to pay for everything on my behalf (all to be reimbursed off course). (I wonder how he is going to carry the spare tyres on the plane - lol!)

This is truly amazing and I tip my hat to you! Thank you very much for your selfless support!

Wheelchair pledges

Since my first blog on July 17 the response from everyone pledging their support has been overwhelming and very encouraging. Thank you to everybody who has pledged a wheelchair and more! I really appreciate your support.

The plan is for your pledges to be paid directly into the "Wheelchairs for Nigeria" bank account as soon as I have successfully completed the journey from Lagos to Ghana and Back.

I will communicate the relevant banking details in due course.

Please continue to spread to word so that we can maximise the amount of pledges for this worthy cause!

Ghana covered, Togo and Benin to go!

It is now only 17 days before the start of my bicycle ride from Lagos to Ghana and back and I am getting more and more excited as the count down continues. I got my Ghanaian visa two days ago and my visa application for Togo will be submitted this morning. The Togolese high commission does not usually  take a long time to process visa applications so I expect to have it in my passport before the end of this week. That will leave me with Benin before all my papers are ready to enable me cross all the border postings.

Friday, support vehicle driver, got his Nigerian passport last week. Since Nigeria is a member state of ECOWAS (Economic Communities of West African States), Friday won't be needing any visas. Additionally we should be getting all the other mandatory papers for the car (Ecowas Browncard, international insurance, international driver's licence, etc.) next week.

A lot of bureaucracy-yes! Lots of paperwork and a lot of manual intervention-yes. So therefore I still expect a fair amount of wahala (Nigerian for "trouble") when I get to the respective border crossings but that is all part of the fun of the trip.

As for the other preparations all seems to be going according to plan. On saturday I joined a group of 9 other cycle fanatics for a 81km training ride. I did better than what I have expected and felt remarkably well after we finished. The challenge will now be to do it back to back for 5 days and then all over again. It's definitely going to be a tough experience.

My inventory list is also nearly complete so this weekend I will start to buy what I can buy locally. For the rest of the stuff I will have to rely on people I know who are going to travel into Lagos during the next two weeks.

I can't wait to start!