Distance: 82km
Country: Benin
Song of the Day: What's the Frequency, Kenneth? - R.E.M.
Had another lazy morning. Satin was kind enough to make some breakfast. Really
good omelette's. Yum. Thanks Satin for letting me stay. Good luck in your village and your third year in Cotonou.From there it was back on the road. Or in this case the bush path. It was tougher going this time as it was mostly uphill. The last hill into Houegbo was a killer. After Houegbo things got a bit easier. The highway made for pretty quick riding when I wasn't just smashing into the wind.
Getting to Cotonou wasn't that fun though. The last 15km into town was through heavy traffic. I even got hit by a car. Here is a hint for divers, two objects can't occupy the same space. If I am to your right, you can't turn right without hitting me. Fortunately no damage was done to either me or the bike.
When I got to Cotonou I called up Liz and she said she would meet me at her place. It took a bit of finding, but I got there eventually. Liz is actually going to a conference in a different part of town, so won't be around. That means I will be taking care of her dog Yovo. Yovo is really adorable. I have missed having dogs around.
Liz had to head out for a conference dinner just after dark. She did give me a map to the Thai restaraunt in town. I have also missed Thai food. (That is one of the great things about the U.S., all the best food from around the world comes there.) Getting there was a bit of a trick. Liz had also loaned me a spare motorcycle helmet, so I took a Zemidjan (motorcycle taxi) there. I even showed the driver the map and he said he knew where to go. He didn't. I don't know why I expected an illiterate zem driver to understand how to read a map... We got most of the way there and I had to tell him which directions to take. A block away from the place he stopped and refused to go unless I paid him an extra 50 CFA. Again, this is about 10 cents, so not that big a deal. I just don't like being jerked around. He agreed to the price, it isn't my responsibility to pay more because he doesn't know how to get there. So I got off and gave him 50 CFA less than our agreed price. Hell, I wasn't going to pay him the full price for almost getting me there. It was all the mor rediculous because it was so close. It would have taken about a minute to walk. Finally he relented and took me the last block.
The place itself was very nice. I had some chicken curry and rice, it was pretty good. The bill seemed a bit much though. I know it is in the ritzy part of town with all the embassies and NGOs. I got charged 900 CFA for rice, or about $2. Probably what you would pay in the states. Still, I could get the same amount of rice from a street vendor for 100 CFA. Ah well.
-Dravis
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