C'est l'Afrique

And the journey continues! We made it to Ouagadougou (Burkina Faso) this morning at 2 am (3am Benin time), and collapsed into the welcoming (and air-conditioned) beds at the SIM guesthouse. I was able to give Jaimie a proper West African travel experience complete with waiting 4 hours in the midday heat for our mini-bus to fill with passengers at Tanguieta (Benin), squeezing into a full bus at the border, and icing on the cake, our bus broke down at midnight in the middle of the very dark and quiet countryside. I layed down on the side of the road with the other 60-70 passengers, and Jaimie curled up in her seat on the bus for a nap while we waited in the dark. Safety in numbers when you travel in West Africa, so no one was really all that worried or upset, a few heated arguments took place between the bus driver and some well-to-do passengers, but as my friend Mahomet put it, arguing won't repair the bus or change our situation any more quickly than just waiting patiently. I agreed, and decided to just lay back and enjoy the uninhibited view of the stars in the black night. A couple of hours later, a mechanic arrived, bus started up, and we continued on our less than merry way to Ouagadougou. The usual chaos ensued at the bus depot in Ouaga, even at 2am, the taxi drivers and various biscuit/soda vendors all jockeying for our attention, pulling us this way and that. 

Thankfully our taxi man was familiar with the SIM mission guesthouse, however the night guard could not be woken with my calls over the wall, so in my exhausted state, I decided that the approach would be to hop over the wall and hunt down the guard to get the keys to our room. I'm pretty accustomed to jumping over any sort of wall/fence/gate, so no problem, but as I landed on the other side, the sleeping night guard was about 10 feet away in his chair and he woke with a start at the sound and sight of a person jumping over the wall. Although Mr. night guard was sleeping on the job, he deserves credit for waking instantly and rushing at me with his machete (large knife/sword) in hand. I was impressed, and thankfully the sleep cleared from his vision and head as he closed the distance between us, I assured him I meant no harm, that I really was a guest here. We had a good laugh over it, as I can explained he was sleeping so soundly, the sound of my voice could not wake him, but clearly the rattling of the gate was enough to bring him to his feet. 

Oh, and an interesting side note on our trip to Ouaga, we thought we would have to spend the night at the border, since our mini-bus left so late from Tanguieta (4pm), however one of my good friends from Cotonou   (Mahomet, track athlete) just happened to also be on his way to Ouagadougou the very same day! The bus could not stop for us in the small town of Tanguieta, so I waved at him from the side of the road where we were waiting for our taxi to fill up. An hour later, he called me and said that he had convinced the bus driver to wait at the border for us, since our taxi was only going as far as the border, we really were not sure how we would make it to Ouaga or even Fada (small town with mission guesthouse) before the next day. The entire bus of 60-70 passengers waited at the border for over an hour while our little mini-bus chugged along at 60kph, and it really was a blessed sight to see my smiling friend Mahomet waiting for us at the border! :) I was not looking forward to camping in a bush village at the border. As luck would have it, we still ended up sleeping in the ditch for a couple hours, but at least it was with a full bus of other people and not just the two of us. 

That was yesterday. The weekend in Parakou went by far too quickly for me, but I am really thankful that I was able to connect with many of my soccer girls and friends around town, enjoyed afternoon coffee and visits with old friends, went for a run at my favourite stadium, cheered on some of my girls in their high school soccer tournament, and just enjoyed catching up. Best part of this trip so far has been reconnecting with the girls I used to coach, seeing how they've progressed in school, university, sports, started families, etc. 

A couple of "before and after" shots with my friend's kids, three years really is a long time!

My Parakou nephew (Kelly, as in R.Kelly), all smiles and grown up 3 years later! :)

My other nephew, he's the baby on the right in first photo, he had a great time with "Tantie's" camera. His sister was a little more camera shy, but she's in the photo below with her mom. 

Visiting more friends around town.

Hard to leave Parakou after just a few short days, especially when my former soccer kids (now grown up teenagers!) were eagerly asking what time Wednesday's practice would start, and promising to show up on time! :) A few noticeable changes in Parakou over the past 3 years, but even with the changes some things stay the same, such as the warm welcoming smiles and greetings from friends, inviting me to sit for a meal or a soda, and the endless hospitality and generosity. Achi densu mes amis de Parakou! (until next time!)

From Parakou, we took an early morning bush taxi to Natitingou, making excellent time even with the miserable "road" conditions, our driver was quite skilled at navigating the pot holes, driving mainly in the ditch. Nice visit and stay at the Litweiri (sp?) Centre on the mountain with the Baynes, there's definitely something special about the view from the mountain top. By 5:30am we were on the road with our driver and park guide, headed up to Pendjari Park to hunt wildlife with our fancy cameras. I was a bit skeptical of the sofa chairs tied on the roof of his truck, but they proved to be quite secure as we rumbled through the park, scanning for random animals in the tall grass. The only animal we didn't manage to spot was of course the main attraction, lions, but otherwise we saw hippos, buffalo, elephants, warthogs, baboons, and every imaginable species of deer, antelope, and gazelle.  

Our accommodation for the night was definitely the highlight of the park tour We stayed at the newly opened Pendjari Lodge, an eco lodge/tent on the top of a hill overlooking the park. The lodge is run by a French family, and they seem to have thought of everything with solar energy for the tents, running water (showers/toilets in the tents as well), wifi internet, cold beer, French cuisine, and lovely rock veranda overlooking the valley. I highly recommend it to anyone traveling in Benin area, much better than the other Pendjari hotel in the park. 

We left Pendjari yesterday morning and arrived in Ouaga late last night (or early this morning...) and now we're taking a couple days to prepare for the next leg of the trip through southern Burkina and northern Ghana. More wildlife parks and villages visits on the itinerary, hopefully not as many "exciting" transit stories, but "c'est l'afrique" (that's Africa) so who knows!