FINDING MY WAY

Cee always wanted to travel but growing up with very protective parents made it harder as they restricted her movement and still saw her as a child. If it wasn’t work or something important, she was not allowed to sleep out. Her first trip by air was to Abuja, story for another day, and it obviously was with their consent.

She got invites to visit Ghana many times but turned it down because she knew what the response would be when she sought permission, she finally told her parents about it. They disagreed but she never gave up. Cee spoke about it for a long time until they eventually agreed to let her go on the condition they get to know this friend (Tee) that invited her. After some days of chit chat, the date was fixed and all she could do was look forward to it.

Cee wanted to explore Africa by road so she decided to go by road so she could get a glimpse of other countries they would pass through and Tee told her to book a ride with one of the transportation companies in Lagos that plied the Accra to Lagos route. Being a rebel, Cee didn’t listen, instead, she made up her mind to find her way on her own which led to her major adventure.

The night before the road trip, Cee could barely sleep. She packed her bags and double checked to make sure she didn’t forget anything. She was prepared for any situation or so she thought. The next morning, she was left home very early and at 7am she was at Iyana Iba in a vehicle calling passengers to Seme Border. The bus left the park a few minutes after 8 and the journey began. The ride was bumpy as the road was in a terrible state and there was the morning traffic for those traveling.

She had done a mental calculation of when she would arrive in Accra without thinking of the time that would be spent at the border.

Trouble started when the vehicle got to the first checkpoint. Only then did she realize there were foreigners in the vehicle and many of them were without their international passport😳. After a 30 minutes wait, the journey continued. As they passed badagry, another set of immigration and custom officers stopped the vehicle and the same set of people were asked to go with them. Cee was getting impatient and a police officer stopped a vehicle for her to continue her journey.

On getting to Seme border, everything had changed. It was totally different from how she remembered it 8/9 years ago when she visited her aunt in Cotonou. Since she didn’t know her way around, she was handed over to an immigration officer who took her to the office to get her passport stamped. Little did she know what she was getting herself into.

To be continued…….

#TheTravelSeries #RoadTrip #GhanaExperience

This is the struggle of every adventurer who has no idea of how to navigate the roads and would decide to travel on their own without doing proper research or going with vehicles or people who already know the way and process.

Feel free to share your stories with me. On IG & Twitter @ladycath_.

Also, drop your comments in the box provided.