Carreteras españolas con Franki

A little late in posting but I'll attempt to write several posts over the coming weeks about the trip with Franki, the faithful Mercedes Benz Sprinter 211 CDI van.

Rolling out of the village with 4 bicycles and a wheelchair strapped to the roof, it was Abengourou or bust on 17th December 2016.  I really had the jitters, worried about too many things and whether Christophe and I would get on for the next week or so. He had booked as far as Nouakchott via BlaBlaCar, a car pooling website, we'd never met but had chatted on the phone twice, I had a copy of his passport but that was for the ferry booking.  I found him in a McDonalds in Perpignan just before the Spanish border, he'd caught the train from Avignon early that morning to be able to meet me. Christophe looked sane and friendly, the manager of the branch offered me a free coffee totally out of the blue; things were starting to come together, I downed the coffee and we hit the road south!

Leaving my small French village

Finally feeling somewhat more confident, we exited Perpignan and joined the A9, my first concern was Franki being quite heavily loaded and making it up the hill to the border.  She whizzed up the hill over the Pyrenees without any problem!  We got to Girona and pulled in to find a Decathlon, the bikes on the roof all needed new tyres, inner tubes and a chain.  Franki got her first re-fuelling of the trip since leaving home, we were good to go, aiming to be in Utiel that night, an hour inland from Valencia.

I'd been invited to meet Rosalia & Juancar via the internet.  They were looking for information on travelling in Africa & it turns out they had already bought a vehicle but only Juancar had been to Morocco, not any further south.  Very kindly both Christophe & I were offered beds for the night in return for information about the road south and how to travel in sub-saharan Africa.

The road from Barcelona should turn into the AP-7 and the A-7, friends told me it wasn't easy to find the A-7 which is toll free but just follow the signs they said.  We did, to no avail!  Poor Christophe was doing most of the driving at this point and I kept navigating him onto the N-340, it was getting darker all the time.  We rejoined & exited the AP-7 on numerous occasions but finally gave up, bit the bullet and paid the tolls until we turned right at a windy and rainswept Valencia to head into the hills and Utiel.

In Utiel: Christophe, Juancar, Rosalia & her mother

After a great evening chatting, Rosalia's parents gave me a lovely room at their house, Christophe went back to Juancar's place.  We waited a while in the morning for the guys to arrive, but nothing, we then discovered Christophe was exhausted and still fast asleep!  Unfortunately we had to get back on the road to make Marbella by early evening, a short but wonderful time with lovely new Spanish friends.  They left Utiel yesterday (23rd April 2017) so wishing them the best of luck!  Hope to catch up with them, Ver, Oir y Viajar, in Abengourou later in the year.

An hour or so heading west out of Utiel

The drive south through central Spain was stunning at times, the weather certainly helped us and we were thrilled when we got to Grenada, the weather was so much warmer.  We'd been invited by Jason & Eli of Mayan Monkey Mijas to talk about chocolate, the situation of child exploitation and trafficking.  Jason also offered me the use of his beautiful villa in the hills of Marbella for the night, absolutely stunning!  The following morning I picked Christophe up from Don Carlos, a 5* hotel and we set off for Mijas.  It's a wonderful small town up in the hills where we were treated to a tour of Mayan Monkey's chocolate factory and spoilt with a big breakfast ... not to mention the endless chocolate Eli gave us for the trip!

Fantastic chocolate with excellent ethics!

That afternoon, we drove out of the Marbella/Malaga region onto Motril to catch the 8h ferry across to Tangiers, the trip was really starting now!  We were ready for African soil by midnight!

Return to my Koulango family

Sheep waiting with us at the northern Bondoukou police barrier

After a long six hours in the massa, trouble with the police for some of my fellow passengers south of Bondoukou followed by further problems with the anti-drug gendarmes at the northern Bondoukou police barrier, we rolled into Bouna.  It's a lovely drive, Tanda is a pretty town, stunning valley after Bondoukou then driving alongside the National Comoe Park sometimes spotting monkeys on the road.



Thrilled to see the hills of the Boukani region as we sped ever northwards after Bondoukou, I was looking forward to seeing my friend's family in Bouna.  Previously met the extended family in early April 2016 towards the end of the fatal conflict that occurred between the Peulh (Fulani) and Lobi people; where an estimated 70+ people lost their lives (official figures put it at just over 30 but it was indeed far more!).

Photo taken whilst in Bouna in early April 2016 after the conflict

Arriving at the bus station, the town had a different atmosphere to my last visit.  People were going about their business, the refugees had dispersed and returned home after almost three months in camps and there was a positive, calm air.  Greeted by my Koulango friend's younger brother as my friend was in Abidjan having had lunch together the day before in Abengourou.  We walked back to the house, part of a 'cour' behind closed gates, the extended members of the family all live in separate dwellings around a rectangular courtyard.

One of the three refugee camps in April 2016 in Bouna, housing 3,200 refugees in town

A wonderful welcome as I came through the gates, the different members of the family came out to meet me and then scurried around to get his house ready for me.  No one was aware that I was arriving!  Totally spoilt, I walked into the sitting room, air-conditioned with a television showing the 2016 Olympics from Rio.  I felt as if I was in total luxury, we don't have much at the centre for CREER not even tiled floors!  After a much-needed shower to rid myself of the dust, I headed five minutes away to an excellent restaurant where I'd eaten in April to be greeted by the staff there.

An early start, I needed to have my meetings finished by 9am to have any chance of getting transport to Doropo and onto Burkina Faso.  Firstly with the head of social services, he was thrilled to see me back waiting on his office doorstep since before 8am, unaware I'd come back to town and we had an interesting meeting, he was keen to listen to our ideas to assist trafficked children that found themselves in the Boukani region.  As Ghana and Burkina Faso are both under 100km away, it's an area that can find traffickers with children crossing the border.  Next was the police, again it all went well but unfortunately the officer I'd met in April who agreed to be CREER's representative for the region was on holiday in Abidjan.

As I left the police station, my friend's brother was outside on a motorbike talking to a friend of his, I hopped on the back of the friend's bike who drove me back to the house whilst a seat in a taxi was being organised for Doropo.  Quickly packed up my things much to the sadness of the family particularly the children, the youngest of which told me he was coming with me!  The taxi arrived within minutes, I said my goodbyes and left ... to be driven around town looking for other passengers for the 2,000CFA 1.5 hour journey north to Doropo, the nearest town to the border.

My taxi north to Doropo

De-railed journey north

After a month back in Abengourou dealing with matters for C.R.E.E.R the thought of the return journey to catch my flight from Ouagadougou was one that I'd been looking forward to for years.

There's a train that plies the Abidjan - Ouagadougou route and several times I came close to boarding the train to go between the two.  This time gave me a perfect opportunity to travel north on the train, the weather in August isn't too hot so the thought of a 30,000CFA first class seat with a possible destination of Banfora in Burkina Faso for a few day's R&R filled me with joy!

Ten days before I was due to leave I started asking about the departure days.  Luckily our Prosecutor's bodyguard's neighbour in Abidjan works for SITA Rail, so a call was duly made and I decided on when to leave.  I then had to find a friend in Abidjan to go and buy a ticket for me, a taxi driver who has become a good friend over the years & had saved me in Bassam during the 2010/2011 crisis was ideal and I gave him a call.  This is where it all started to go wrong.

I discovered another friend, a Burkinabe, had gone to the station with my taxi driver friend to find the train was full until 25th August, a week after my flight from Ouaga departed.  My plans were de-railed quite literally (and in early September a freight train went over the bridge near Dimbokro which collapsed whilst it was still on the steel framed structure!)



Plan B was put into action.  To return to Bouna in the north eastern part of Cote d'Ivoire and cross the border a little further north.  Bouna is a 400km journey from Abengourou, I tried to find a lift with friends north but that didn't happen.  A friend from Bouna called the 'massa' (minibus) station in Abidjan and arranged that the driver should stop and pick me up in Abengourou on his way north. A stop Bouna was ideal as I needed to talk to various people in town about trafficking and our transit centre.

I had already visited Bouna earlier in the year in April during the conflict between the Lobi and Peulh with some 3,200 refugees being looked after by the UN in various camps around town.  They were also in the King of Bouna, Djarakoroni II's compound who I was formally introduced to, enabling permission to enter.  A good friend is a senior figure in town and asked me to visit during the crisis in case there were trafficked children as refugees which there weren't but we assisted the UN organisation OCHA with a meeting of all the main townspeople.

Finally the day dawned and I went by taxi across town to the bus station area and waited in a kiosque where we were aware that some Beninois children were working and presumed trafficked. Waiting for the massa to arrive, initially it was due at 9am, it didn't arrive until after 11am, finally on board with 20+ others, I was in a front seat and we headed north.

Back to my second home

Deposited by my Ghanaian Immigration official near the Tatiekro border just a kilometre or so from Dormaa Ahenkro I discovered without any surprise that transport was sorely lacking.  There was a minibus without any passengers, the village was incredibly quiet apart from two boys who offered me a ride to Agnibilekro on the back of a bike.  "How much" I asked, 15,000CFA Madame ... well this Madame doubled up laughing and kept walking with all the luggage to find the Ivorian immigration post!

I got to the post, a run down dwelling with the ubiquitous steel framed bed with it's ever-present filthy foam mattress.  A few officers were standing outside whilst two uniformed officers were behind the desk. Upon opening my passport, seeing all my Ivorian stamps I got a hearty welcome back and received an entry stamp with the minimum of fuss and no mention of espionage!

Back outside I was offered a chair and we discussed transport options, a few taxi's were due to come to the village.  It was a Sunday afternoon so I didn't hold out much hope, but having done the journey from Ouaga in 3.5 days at this point I was raring to get back to the centre in Abengourou.  The most senior officer (an anti-drugs gendarme) asked me what I was up to in Cote d'Ivoire to be in and out of the country so much.  I told him about www.creer-africa.org and we had an excellent conversation about trafficking, he and some of the others took my business cards for the centre and promised to spread the word in Bondoukou where they were based.

Finally a few taxis went past, I was told to ignore them but five minutes later small car pulled up, my new found friend asked him to return when he had dropped his passenger.  I got in and was told it was 4,000CFA to Agnibilekro, after a lot of goodbyes we set off down the dusty road for a tense 40 minutes to reach Agnibilekro, the road is known for 'coupeurs de route' ambushes by bandits.

We got chatting and I arranged for him to take me onto Abengourou, I was too tired to get a minibus in Agnibilekro, wait for it to fill up before we would set off again.  He gave a very fair price for the final 40 kilometres on newly tarred road and we had a long chat about his dreams, a young guy of 24 with an entreprenurial head on his shoulders.  Finally around 4pm in mid-July 2016 I was in front of the gate at the centre, with a very surprised children's assistant thrilled to see me back!

PS.  In August, Abengourou sadly lost it's Head of Customs, he was assassinated near Tatiekro for what reason I don't know ...

Is this the beginning of the end?

I haven't been able to post for a few weeks, it's been a terrible time that might have calmed down now, but time will tell ...

The violence that has occurred in Cote d'Ivoire over the last month has been horrific; a few 'memorable' nights of shelling in Abidjan when many lives were lost.

As far as I know my friends are fine.  I had one contact me via social networking asking for assistance, a female member of the family had been shot & needed surgery.  The same friend lost two cousins, RIP to them & all the others ...

The orphanage I used to support, EMSF in Bassam were out of touch with their directors.  Luckily I got to hear of their plight, again through #civsocial on twitter, they received food from the Mayor of Bassam amongst others having not eaten for a few days.  For a NGO to leave children stranded in these circumstances is beyond belief.  Their President in France hasn't really given a straight explanation as to why this occured or why their staff haven't been paid for 18months and therefore didn't have the funds to assist.

For the moment, peace almost reigns in Cote d'Ivoire following the capture of Laurent Gbagbo & his wife Simone.  Today via journalist friends I heard of shooting of Abobo, Cocody and in Yopougon which seems to be the worst hit.  This should quieten down over the next few days, hopefully arms will be confiscated & the UN might do their job.

My worry now is the whereabouts of Ble Goude, the leader of the 'Jeune Patriots', a henchman for Gbagbo who has had UN sanction imposed against him since 2006 & unable to leave the country.  The rumour is that he has got to Ghana.  Good luck Ghana, I wouldn't like him in my country!


Focussing now on C.R.E.E.R, getting the centre built by the end of the year, the NGO is now on Twitter CREER_RCI for anyone who wants to join us online.  The need to get it up & built for the children that are now roaming the streets of Abidjan amongst other cities is URGENT!!!  I've been getting stories of more & more children who are in danger.  Many of their 'patrons' will have fled the violence leaving the trafficked kids behind, left to fend for themselves.

Anyone who can assist with funding would be very much appreciated; we've been fundraising but it's more urgent now than ever!!!