It’s a remarkable tale of a cross-continental road trip, spanning from Accra, Ghana, through multiple African countries to London, United Kingdom, covering a distance of approximately 10,000 kilometers. Teddy Kwabena Peprah and his fellow companions from Wanderlust Ghana, a group of philanthropists and tourism enthusiasts, have undertaken this extraordinary journey.
Traditionally, stories have revolved around people traveling from Europe to Ghana by road, but this time, it’s the Ghanaian tourism enthusiasts who are reversing the narrative. Their expedition began on July 23, 2023, departing from Accra and passing through Aburi, Nsawam, Kumasi, Sunyani, Dormaa, and entering Cote d’Ivoire via Golokrom.
Initially a group of 12 individuals, one participant had to halt their journey in Senegal due to work commitments, and two others disembarked in Morocco. By August 4, 2023, they were on the outskirts of Monaco in Europe, about to enter France. Their route took them through Cote d’Ivoire, Mali, Guinea, Senegal, Mauritania, and Morocco in Africa, then into Europe via a ferry to Spain, with a three-day stopover in Morocco.
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The conclusion of their expedition is expected in London by Sunday, August 6, or Monday, August 7. Post this journey, they intend to ship their vehicles back to Ghana. The group’s caravan consists of five Ghanaian-registered vehicles: a Mercedes Benz G-Wagon, two Toyota Land Cruisers (V8), a Lexus RX 350, and a Ford F150.
Each vehicle consumes around 250 liters of fuel daily, covering an average distance of 800km to 900km. Videos shared on social media depict their travels through deserts, showcasing the challenges and triumphs. Teddy, in particular, had long harbored plans for this trip, initially aimed for 2020 but postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The journey through West African countries relied primarily on their Ghana Cards (ECOWAS cards), except in Mauritania where they obtained visas on arrival for 60 Euros, facing an increased charge of 120 Euros due to alleged extortion by security personnel. They secured a visa on arrival for Morocco at $10 and entered Europe via Spain with a Schengen visa, ultimately heading to London with their UK visas.
This venture, undertaken by a team of 12 Ghanaians, is driven by the objective of raising funds for rural primary schools, as conveyed by Kwabena Peprah. The team shared their motivation in a radio interview, explaining that their inspiration stemmed from stories of road trips from Europe to Africa and within Africa, motivating them to embark on this challenging yet fun-filled journey to explore different nations.
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“We are explorers and we are doing this for fun. We’ve read about people driving from Europe to Ghana all the time, and we also planned to do it and we are almost there.”
Asked why they decided to do “this epic journey” in a BBC television interview monitored by Graphic Online when they reached the outskirts of Monaco on Friday, Kwabena Peprah answered; “the simplest answer is why not. We are adventure enthusiasts and tourism enthusiasts. We’ve been driving around our continent, we’ve been driving around our country and we decided to take it to the next level.”
“But most importantly we knew we will get some traction with the media and we’d use it to raise funds to help under served communities in our country through EduSpots, which is a philanthropy organization, which creates educational hotspots for schools in deprived areas.
Highlighting their experience on the road, Kwabena Peprah said “the craziest was when police men extorted us and kept us for seven hours in Mauritania. That is not a friendly country, they started off by giving us one reason after the other on why we needed to stay with them. They were going to impound our cars for two days, just because they said there was an infraction on their traffic rules. They were made to pay a fine for tinted windows.
He said there are two favourite countries, and that one was Senegal and the other was Morocco. “They are beautiful, they are clean and the infrastructure is awesome. The people very friendly. There was a police man in Morocco, we stopped at a traffic light and he came over and he was curious about the [Ghana vehicle registration number] plates, and he asked us, which country and we said Ghana, and he goes like Abedi Pele, our footballer, I said yes, this guy [policeman] just turned on his sirens and gave us an escort out of town, it was so wonderful.”
Kwabena Peprah explained that when they get to London, they will engage in a number of activities with the Ghana High Commission organising for them to meet other people to pitch their philantropic plans.
“We will be having a party in the park with the Ghanaian community next Saturday.”
Source – Graphic Online
