Moto Training

Well it has been quite a while since I was last able to blog, the internet here is rather sporadic.

I moved on from Tamale and reached Bolgatanga to complete a week of moto training. Having only ridden a scooter (twist and go) in the UK, I was very quickly introduced to a larger, geared motorbike ! ! The fun began with a trip on the back routes to Bongo, here we encountered a problem with a huge lake that had appeared on our route due to heavy rainfall. This wasn’t a challenge for the Ghanaian teenagers who appeared with a canoe to take us across to the other side.

The next day was a trip to the border with Burkina Faso. This was a testing day as not only did I come off the bike twice, going down potholes and through thick, slippery sand, I also nearly killed a cow in the process. Animals rule the roads in Ghana and you have to be fast to avoid anything from a goat to a chicken to as I found out a cow.

Next was a trip to the DVLA for a whole mornings wait to get our Ghanaian licences. A grilling about my UK licence, a few photos and an eye test, I am officially a Ghanaian licence holder and can drive both cars and motorbikes. That afternoon we took a trip to the Tengzug hills, a bit like the view in the Lake District. I saw a guy go up what is a very steep hill, in what was probably the wrong gear and he came flying off his bike half way up. That was enough for me and there was no way I was going up there. I stayed at the bottom and tried to chat to a group of children playing with an old tyre and a stick. They enjoyed having their picture taken and looking at themselves on screen.

The final day we took a trip up to Paga. This was a very long and tiring journey with only one stop for a cool coca cola. Paga is rural village which houses a huge crocodile pond with over 200 crocodiles. This is when I got the chance to not only stroke him but also crouch down and ‘sit’ on him. Very scary but the closest I will ever come to a croc again. (I hope)