Day 103, 9747 km, Adome, Ghana

I only managed to leave Abonse this afternoon following an early run & extensive royal tour of the village. Unfortunately the 100 year old village chief was ill and therefore unable to meet me, as he let my host, Queen Letitia, know via mobile phone! This provides yet another illustration of how huge mobile phone companies in Africa have become with masts, merchandising & adverts everywhere. It’s not just mobile companies either, with signs for countless charity initiatives, churches and even to commemorate the lives of people who haven’t had the good fortune of being saved from bandits by angels (see yesterday’s blog)! There are large witch doctor billboards with traditional medicine men surrounded by exotic creatures such as crocodiles and tempting sales lines like ‘can cure madness’! I’m still on the look out for one that offers to ‘make saddle sores a thing of the past’, even if it means wearing crocodile pants! I’ve wound up in some budget accommodation following a fruitless search for a friend’s brother’s football academy (www.righttodream.com) led by various eager to please locals. It’s gutting the Togo v Ghana game isn’t on to add spice to the border crossing tomorrow, but at least the shootings shouldn’t affect my plans to travel through Angola given that the incident occurred in Cabinda province.