Lisa writes: Continued onto Accra. It was a long ride and once again good road but bad drivers. Got into Accra lateish and the day had been so very hot and humid. The ride into the city was bad; it had taken almost 3 hours from the outskirts – almost as bad as Dakar. We headed for the first sign we saw which was Novotel and asked if they could give us ‘discount’ but got a resounding ‘No’. However, we stayed anyway as I was feeling really yuk – a bit of heatstroke again – this heat is really getting me down. However, it was a real treat to have a proper ‘Westernised’ room!! That sounds really bad but when you feel like I did today this is really what you need.

Wanting to make the most of the room, which was costing us a fortune, we watched TV in bed, got up late, and used all the shampoo, soap available. Used every towel twice and called for a room boy to help with our bags…we were determined to get our monies worth.

Our ride to BusyInternet, the internet café owned by Mark was only a short ride away. It wasn’t long before the bikes were parked up. This isn’t a café we thought, surprised by the size of the place, it’s an office complex. Row upon row of flat screen monitors adorn the ground floor level. Up on the second floor the reception explained that Mark wasn’t in yet, a phone call later tracked him down to home. 20 minutes later two large dark steel gates were slung open and Marks grinning face was welcoming us in to his Accra town house as we rode the bikes into his garage. The rest of the afternoon was spent just enjoying good company and some relief from the heat under large roof fans.

7 pm saw us back at Busy in the conference room; Robert was giving a talk about his work in Hollywood and CGI in general. With my interest in computer graphics it was an opportunity not to be missed.

We’d accepted an offer to stay with Stefan (the pilot we’d met in Mole) but as yet hadn’t been able to get hold of him. With things a little ‘up in the air’ we ate with Mark and Robert and spent the night in one of the spare rooms. We must have a guardian angel.

Today is Saturday. Marks house was being made ready for a party, with huge bath tubs filled to over-flowing with ice and beer, tables lined with bottles of wine and a food spread fit for a king, the guests started to arrive by 1 pm. By 10 pm the numbers were starting to dwindle– and we’d had a great day. It was however, strange to realise that having been on our own for so long, the initial impact of meeting so many people and being thrown in at the deep end socially was a little overwhelming. Still great fun.

We woke to the buzz, buzz of the mobile phone alarm, we’d set for 5 am and painfully peeled heavy eyelids open and dragged ourselves up. An hour later the bikes were outside Stefans house and loaded up and ready to go.

Stefan had gone on ahead in the car to sort out a problem with the plane! By 6:30 am we were pulling onto the airfield and had parked up next to Barry’s Beechcraft 200 Super King Air (the proper name of the plane). Barry and Toll were already getting stuck in.

The first job of the day was removing all the aircraft seats, the lot had to be stripped. With the seats out, anything else that could be removed, was; small tables, even partitioned walls all had to come out. We’d measured the height and width of the plane but being inside again doubts began to set in. It’s going to be tight. By midmorning the plane was stripped bare…It was now make or break time as we rolled the R1100GS up to the bottom of the makeshift wooden ramp we’d built, which was now propped up against the door to the plane. After a couple of almighty efforts to shove the red lump up the steep ramp it was obvious we were going to need more hands. The airfield fire crew were only too keen to lend a hand. So with Barry and Toll inside the plane and Stefan, Dieter, myself and the entire fire crew outside, we physically manhandled the GS up and into the plane.

With the 1100 tied down it was time for Lisa’s F650GS. This was a little easier but still took more effort than I think people had anticipated. The day was already getting hot with the lot of us dripping with perspiration. Barry was soaked. He hadn’t stopped and had orchestrated the morning’s activities.

3 hours later the bikes were tied down and by some miracle Barry and Toll had managed to cram in the seats we’d removed earlier, (crammed under, on top off and around the bikes) luggage they were flying back to South Africa as a favour had somehow been re-inserted and bolted back down three seats for Lisa, myself and Dieter, who was also catching a lift. I didn’t think it was going to be possible.

With the plane crammed full, there was still some work to be done on the engine to remedy a small oil leak. An hour later and with the guts of the engine exposed Barry was tightening bolts and getting the job done. Time was pressing on. We needed to be in Sao Tome (a small Island South of Ghana) soon in order to refuel and land in daytime. Landing at night would mean incurring ‘night time landing fees’, which would push our cost way up. The clock was now ticking.With the engine back together and jumping into the car Barry and Toll had borrowed, we set off for a friends town house in order to clean up before taking to the air. We didn’t get far as before we’d left the airport the car simply died. No amount of tinkering under the bonnet was helping and pushing the thing to the nearest Shell station and popping in 20 litre of gas had zero effect. It was now feeling a little like a conspiracy. Maybe our luck was finally running out? Arriving at the town house some time later with the car on tow with help from Dieters 4X4, Barry and Toll donned their pilot’s uniforms and picked up the flight plan paperwork.

In record time we were back at Accra International airport and clearing customs, the Carnet’s still had to be stamped for our exit out of Ghana.It was at last time to go, so with our thanks expressed to Stefan, and Barry and Toll in the pilots seats we climbed on board and waved goodbye to Ghana.

With the plane full there was little breathing space left and the pilots and ourselves all had to climb over and around the bikes and gear just to find our seats.With flight checks complete and the roar of the huge engines ringing in our ears we moved out and started to taxi down the run way ready for take off. Lisa and I simply grinned like excited school kids. This was unreal. Within minutes the plane was air borne and the landing gear brought up. We were on our way and another chapter of our adventure was about to unfold.

With light winds and clear blue skies we landed in Sao Tome in the dark, shame really as the island is apparently a paradise, ah well we’ll get a good look tomorrow. With Barry seemingly knowing everyone, it wasn’t long before he’d arranged a van to pick us up and take us to The Marlin Beach Hotel, owned by another friend of his. Our bags were taken and our room key handed over. A few minutes later we were inside…wow. Air-con, crisp white sheets, TV etc, oh we’re going to enjoy this. Showered down and feeling a little fresher we met up with the guys in the bar. The beer and food was fantastic, fresh pieces of large fish marinated…Mmmmm.