Attempting the Cotonou-Ouaga journey in one stretch… 1120km or so… The little bus station in Akpakpa in Cotonou is tucked away next to the Grand Mosque. I left the guest house in what I thought was plenty of time to get to the bus station by 7pm, but… As I stepped out, I met one of the staff, who asked me, what time my plane was at…it should have been a warning sign! The zem driver I hailed had a gentle smile and gave me a really good price, so I did not pay much attention to his bike, mistake! It’s only 500m down the road that it started huffing and puffing, and came to a stop. I wondered if maybe my backpack straps got caught in the wheels, but it was nothing to do with me. He triumphantly held in his hand a broken bit of electric wire, he then proceeded to tie back where it belonged under some rotten metal plate with some double knots, at the same time reassuring me that the brakes were still functioning! I made a mental note to tip him well, so he could get his bike fixed and we set off again, a slight smell of burning coming from the engine, but no flames! 
We needn’t have worried about the brakes, because we hit the worst traffic jam, I ever came across from China to Mexico and it took over 1 hour to make a 15 minute journey. Cars and motorbikes were bumper to bumper and the air was thick with exhaust fumes, so that like often in Cotonou, I felt like I’d been chain smoking again. There was no lack of explanations for the blocked streets, as we made slow progress towards the bridge though: two broken down cars on the pavement with angry drivers shouting at each other, further down a broken traffic light with a disabused policeman trying to clear the crossing, and to top it all off, on the bridge a truck had lost its load of pineapples and they were rolling down the gutter… But at last, the way was clear!
At the bus station, boxes, bags and cases were already piling high, but it was going to be another 3 hours until we left Cotonou. Our bus was adorned with a running jaguar and the promise of a fast smooth trip… When I booked my ticket two days earlier, I’d been given the choice between a 505 for 18000 FCFA, but the guy thought worth mentioning the chances of road accident and mugging were higher traveling at night, or a bus for 16000 FCFA, a safer option according to him… what he did not put in the equation was the chance of the child sitting next to me puking, and people traveling to Ouaga without any ID papers that would mean, we’d be delayed for long hours either side of the border! Now it only took 21 hours door to door, compared to 20.5 hours to do the Ouaga-Accra stretch that is a little under 1000km, so not bad going at all! Writing this from the comfort of my little home, listening to the pounding rain on the metal roof…
We needn’t have worried about the brakes, because we hit the worst traffic jam, I ever came across from China to Mexico and it took over 1 hour to make a 15 minute journey. Cars and motorbikes were bumper to bumper and the air was thick with exhaust fumes, so that like often in Cotonou, I felt like I’d been chain smoking again. There was no lack of explanations for the blocked streets, as we made slow progress towards the bridge though: two broken down cars on the pavement with angry drivers shouting at each other, further down a broken traffic light with a disabused policeman trying to clear the crossing, and to top it all off, on the bridge a truck had lost its load of pineapples and they were rolling down the gutter… But at last, the way was clear!
At the bus station, boxes, bags and cases were already piling high, but it was going to be another 3 hours until we left Cotonou. Our bus was adorned with a running jaguar and the promise of a fast smooth trip… When I booked my ticket two days earlier, I’d been given the choice between a 505 for 18000 FCFA, but the guy thought worth mentioning the chances of road accident and mugging were higher traveling at night, or a bus for 16000 FCFA, a safer option according to him… what he did not put in the equation was the chance of the child sitting next to me puking, and people traveling to Ouaga without any ID papers that would mean, we’d be delayed for long hours either side of the border! Now it only took 21 hours door to door, compared to 20.5 hours to do the Ouaga-Accra stretch that is a little under 1000km, so not bad going at all! Writing this from the comfort of my little home, listening to the pounding rain on the metal roof…
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