Saturday, September 15, 2007

African dreams….

13 days on the road, four countries under my belt, a few more to go before I find my way heading back home again

Day one of my journey took me to the Middle East, the UAE and Dubai. A lonely visit this time, for I was, for the first time, without a friend, and Dubai is not a city to be in alone.

Work occupied most of what little time I had; the rest spent walking around looking at the sites and sound that make that city so vibrant!

From the ME it was off to WA, entering my favourite continent through Accra, Ghana. Two days there, to meet with clients, walk the market and see how the new product was doing before taking (8 hours delayed) wing to Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso and the first of the francophone countries I will be touching base in.

Ouaga is a quaint little town, laid out, at least in the city centre, along parallel streets, which means that even a mutt like me can get around.

Seven days there spent in meetings, walking the market and most importantly getting visas for the next leg.

My journey this time will take me on to Niamey in Niger (where I am right now typing this) by car, back to Ouaga to fly on to Bamako Mali. Hopes to travel this time to Timbuktu (just want a t- shirt from there, lol) will not work out though. From Bamako to Guinea and the city of Conakry, then Dakar, Senegal.

With that part completed I am done of the French speaking countries, for now. The Gambia is English speaking and a country I like. Perhaps it’s because of the party atmosphere of the area that my hotel is, Senegambia, a few km short of the city proper.

From Banjul I go on to my favourite, Freetown, Sierra Leone. Crowded, narrow, congested streets, it somehow has a charm to it that I relish. From Lungi International airport, I board a helicopter to fly across the Sierra Leone River , a big, old Russian troop transporter, now ferrying arrivals and departees to and fro from the airport, a ten minute journey.

Freetown, then on to Accra for a short drive down along the coast to Lome, Togo and back into a French speaking country; with this done, my journey in this immediate area is done.

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