Christoph, his wife and daughter came early this morning to my house. We walked our dogs together quickly as his daughter had to be brought to school. But before his wife and daughter left to school, they admired Eeyore, our home for the next days and weeks to come.

After a quick coffee and breakfast, we pack the final things into the car, took a few pictures and hit the road with only a little delay. The roads were busy but fortunately not jam packed as they tend to be on a Monday morning especially when it is rainy. We left town within 25 minutes and made quick progress on the motorway towards Yamoussoukro. Of course, we had to stop at my favourite petrol station at the Toumodi exit for a coffee and a nice and fluffy pain de chocolate.

The capital of Cote d’Ivoire welcomed us with some sunshine and we filled up on Diesel. The first real figures emerged on how thirsty Eeyore really was heavily loaded with all our gear and belongings. Just over 14l per 100km. Not too bad. I had expected worse.

Being slightly underpowered makes Eeyore the perfect vehicle to decelerate, plan and think way ahead down the road and overtake when it there is absolutely no soul on the road except the vehicle in front of you. We made good progress and the weather cleared up. Lunch were sandwiches we had prepared somewhere in the middle of nowhere near Boaflé.

On the outskirts of Daloa we came to the first police checkpoint. The officer whistled us out, of course. We were too noticeable. We handed him the car papers and he thoroughly checked them before he drew his attention to his mobile phone to check whether my car was properly registered in the national vehicle insurance database. It was not. To my understanding it did not have to be as it still had a valid insurance under the old paper version scheme. For him that was a problem and a discussion started. His boss came over and tried to explain the situation to us. I called our insurance broker who explained to the three gendarmes that there was a massive backlog of insured vehicles to be processed and she would do it “a la minute”, send the requested file and her client, me, was not to be blamed for this. The gentlemen retreated to return after a while. They left us literally backing in the sun. The top boss of the police check point explained to me that after deliberation I was not to be blamed and he believed our broker to resolve the matter quickly. He returned my car documents with a remark that my vehicle was badly packed, i.e. the rear seats flipped over and the entire back full of luggage. That would usually cost a fine but he would this time leave it up to us to decide what to do and how much to pay. We thanked them very much for resolving the issue so quickly and professionally and for their outstanding services to the keep the road safe and chose not to pay anything as it would probably have been a bribe. Waving from the car we continued our way into Daloa.

On the western side of Daloa, we met the next police checkpoint who of course, indicated we had to stop next to the road. While inspecting the car papers, he did not want to check the insurance but also remarked about our loading. A few nice words exchanged and soon we were trying their German skills they had left from high school. It always works. They returned the papers and wished us a safe onward journey.

Later, we were stopped by a lonely gendarme, who just wanted a chat and ask if we were fine. How nice of him. All other roadblocks we passed without being stopped and checked.

After 567km and nine hours on the road we reached our destination for today: our hotel in Man. Quickly checked in and parked the car in front and we grabbed a quick cold drink to wash down the dust of the road before heading down the driveway to the maquis (restaurant) where we ordered chicken thighs (that was probably from a turkey by the size of it) with attiéké and tomato sauce accompanied with a nice cold beer.

Tomorrow will be interesting. Our first border crossing of this trip and me leaving Côte d’Ivoire with an expired visa. Please keep your fingers crossed for us it goes smoothly.