Adventure is allowing the unexpected to happen to you. Exploration is experiencing what you have not experienced before. How can there be any adventure, any exploration, if you let somebody else - above all, a travel bureau - arrange everything before-hand? - Richard Aldington

24 October 2019, Afrancho to Old Offinso, 75km
Primavera Hotel 45GHC (R129)

“Hey, white boy, where are you going?” “Mother white, where are you going?” “Bronii powder, hello.” Reference continues to be made to our colour, so rare is it to see white skin in West Africa. The last-mentioned here is chanted often by groups of schoolchildren from school yards. It was only this evening that we came to understand its meaning. Three or four children had come to stand at our dinner restaurant door. When they began the familiar chant, we took the opportunity to ask our waitress to explain. “Bronii” means foreigner, “powder” is coloured white.
Some days you begin in charity with Africa, but end disillusioned. It was misty when we departed Afrancho at 07:00, and cool for 30km of the 75km done today. We had a nice smooth shoulder to ride, with mild inclines and more declines, having passed the highest point on our route through Ghana. And lizards are back, having been noticeably absent for several days. We passed an enormous market, and after saw people transporting green bananas home in three-wheelers. And we saw a modern-day chief’s palace, testament probably to the greater wealth of southern Ghana.
We were stopped at a roadblock by a policeman in a white uniform. He was curious about our doings and friendly, not asking for our papers. We saw two cash trucks pass by at speed, accompanying vehicles in front and behind, sirens blaring. At a toll, we passed a small truck laden with sacks and a few passengers. It passed us soon thereafter, and not long after that we came across it lying in a ditch, the passengers standing on the roadside.
But an almost inedible lunch of a dense rice ball served with a little meat and a lot of oily soup, disappointed. The first clue that the lunch might not be good, was the greasy spoons we were handed, still wet from half-hearted washing. As we were served, the flies gathered. Seems the lunch was to their taste at least.
Shortly thereafter we saw a large sign for a “supermarket” at a GOIL petrol station. We were optimistic about getting something familiar and tasty there. We strolled the aisles, deeply disappointed. In the end, Charl would have settled for bully beef, but all the tin tops were rusted. Despite a cardboard shelf advertising Snickers, there were no Snickers. The only crisps available were Pringles, which we took home but found to be largely shattered into small pieces.
The hotel we had chosen was not particularly clean and its advertised restaurant closed. When I opened the bedroom window to air the room, it was to find a man urinating against the opposite wall. This pissed me off though in truth we should be accustomed to men peeing willy nilly everywhere.

For today's route see below photos
For overview route, click on ROUTE tab above…