2025 AIS-5 Quintuple Quest

Overview

Attendees

• rider — 07 — Daniel Ashrifie @TheMotoChecker AIS organizer Yamaha Ténéré 700 World Raid Edition
• rider — 01 — ⁠Ahmed Mohammed Ouedraogo @owend_yooda Road Captain BMW R1250 GS
• rider — 12 — Rosina Kokui Kwawukume @salsarozie Yamaha Ténéré 700, flew back from Dakar
• rider —      — Charles Mensah (AKA Chalitos AKA More Fire, from South Africa and Ghana) BMW R1250 GS, flew back from Dakar
• rider — 23 — ⁠Joseph Ampadu AKA Two Spare Tires @two_spare_tires Ducati Desert X
• rider — 05 — Kwasi Nkansah Donkor AKA Norry on a Ducati Desert X Rally Edition, out with tire problems on day 14, drove back from Labé
• rider — 08 — David Adomako AKA King D Yamaha Ténéré 700 World Raid Edition returned from Man, then rejoined for the final leg
• rider — 007 — Chris Uhlik (@c_uhlik) from Washington USA on a Yamaha Ténéré 700

• crew — 45 — ⁠Sadique Musah AKA Danlad mechanic, rode More Fire's bike back
• crew — 00 — Ekow Dawson @ekow.dawson offical photographer, rode Joseph's bike back
• crew — 02 — Jacob Neequaye (Coded Jaguar mechanic, Rode Rosie's bike half way back)
• crew — ⁠05 — Ethel K. (Motochecker's Administrator @__ESK__) @__esk__ trip coordinator
• crew — 09 — Daniel Asamoah Ansah AKA Cash Pixels Photography @cash_pixelsgh official photographer
• crew — 10 — Grace Afanyi Owusu Arhin (Asiedua) @asieduaafanyi

• ?? — Thomas Brown (Mr Brown) returned from Man with King D's car
• ?? — Rufus returned from Man with King D's car

• day 1 rider — Colonol Fiifi Deegbe BMW R1250 GS turned back at Abidjan
• day 1,2 rider — Alloysius Attah - BMW R1250 GS
• day 1,2 rider — Patrick Laryea - Ténéré 700 World Raid, turned back at the Liberia border
• day 1,2 rider — Jacqueline Adeleke (Jackie) Yamaha XSR900 turned back at the Liberia border

• Côte d'Ivoire riderz club rider — Cisse Yaya riding a Harley Pan American (Jan 10) and Honda FC6 Valkyrie (Jan 26)
• Côte d'Ivoire riderz club rider — Cisse Asmi riding a BMW R1250 RT
• Côte d'Ivoire riderz club rider — Badr riding a BMW R1250 GS Adventure
• Côte d'Ivoire riderz club rider — Yacou 1111 riding a Honda Fireblade RRR

• Liberia Driver —

Daily Details and Naration

Where we stayed

• Hotel Ibis Styles Accra Airport
• ONOMO Hotel, Abidjan Airport
• Hôtel Amoitrin Man
• A La Lagune Hotel, Monrovia
• New Brookfields Hotel, Freetown
• Mamba Point Hotel Restaurant Lagoonda, Freetown
• Résidence Jaffal, Labé
• Café U.S.A. de Koundara (aweful)
• Hôtel Le Malahika, Tambacounda
• ONOMO Hotel, Dakar
• Some household, Labé
• Hôtel Saala Relais, Labé (aweful)
• Foungbe Toure's Home in Yaraouléna
• Sana Hotel Odienné (worst bed ever)

Ride Summary

We spent 77 hours waiting at border crossings compared to 52 hours actually riding our motorcycles.

Google estimates the route to Dakar at 55 hours by car and our entire round trip was about 52 hours of moving time, less than half of Google time. Either we drive very fast or Google includes border crossing delays. Our break time was roughly half again of our moving time which matches my expectations. But we also lost 19 hours to unnessary morning delays (Ghana time).

Some background on how this came together and some of the preparations

In September, 2024, I hired Leo (a guy from Ghana) to help me clean out the Chalet pond.

While dragging mud out of the pond, we talked about life and I mentioned my love of motorcycle touring.

Leo asked if I had ridden in Africa and mentioned Around In Seven.

Later that evening I did a little digging and found this.

Around in Seven (AIS) @aroundinseven

The @motochecker Daniel Ashrifie (AKA Dan Lee, Neil Ronaldo, and "The Moto Checker") is the originator of this.

The Moto Checker

Youtube Channel

A group of motorcyclists who go on a 7 day nationwide tour around the beautiful country called Ghana on adventure motorcycles.

We highlight Road Safety Advocacy, Charity & Interesting Tourist Sites.

We also have plans of touring neighboring countries also in 7 days.

Past AIS routes

Around In Seven first ran in 2021 and has run every year since. In past years, they have ridden around Ghana for seven days, but this year they plan to ride for fourteen days to Senegal and back.

AIS-1 2021
AIS-2 2022
AIS-3 2023
AIS-4 2024
AIS-5 2025 upcoming, Accra to Dakar

2024 AIS Route

Route part 1: video 1     map 1

Route part 2: video 2     map 2

Total AIS-4 (2024) route was 52hrs (7.5 google hrs/day) 2542km (363km/day) avg speed 49 kph

Waypoints extracted from those two Instagram video clips

1. Kwame Nkrumah Memorial Park & Mausoleum, Accra, Ghana
2. SO Energy Filling Station, Alajo St, Accra, Ghana
3. Rock City Hotel, Agogo-Mpraeso Rd, Nkwatia, Ghana
4. Lake Bosomtwe, Ghana
5. Macoba Luxury Apartments, Agyapongmaah Street, Kumasi, Ghana
6. Boabeng Fiema Monkey Sanctuary, Boabeng, Ghana
7. Kintampo Waterfalls & Fuller Waterfalls, just after falls rest stop on the kintampo-tamale highway, Kintampo, Ghana
8. Yakam Hotel, Kintampo, Ghana
9. Royal Cosy Hills Safari Resort, Jirapa, Ghana
10. Ganass Hotel, Bolga Stadium, Tamale Rd, Bolgatanga, Ghana
11. Tongo Hills and Tengzug Shrine, Yinduri, Ghana
12. Nim Avenue Hotel, Tamale, Ghana
13. Mognori eco village (Latif's eco tours), Mognori, Ghana
14. Eusbett Hotel, Sunyani - Berekum Rd, Sunyani, Ghana
15. Maaha Beach Resort, Near Ghana Gas Ltd, Elonyi, Ghana
16. Cape Three Points, Ghana
17. Fort Metal Cross, TortoisePath.com, Dixcove, Ghana
18. back to Accra

Oct 6 conversation on WhatsApp

With Kathi's help, I contacted @MotoChecker on Instagram and had a conversation with Dan Ashrifie.

7pm
Hi, I'm Chris Uhlik. My friend Leonid Adotey Brown Maclean from Ghana told me about AIS.
I reached out to you via my wife's Instagram account.
I look forward to joining your AIS 2025 trip.
Where can I find information like the dates, approximate route, etc?

11:30pm
Hi Chris.
Good to hear.

Route:

IN: Ghana - Burkina - Mali - Senegal 57 hr, 3298 km, (8+ hrs and 470 km/day)

OUT: Senegal - Mali - Ivory Coast - Ghana 48 hr, 2974 km (7 hrs and 425 km/day)

Dan Ashrife is calling this ride, the "Quintuple Quest" as it visits five countries in 2 weeks.

Average speed while moving: 60 kph which implies a lot of highway driving and some pretty long days

11:32 PM
Wow, that looks amazing.
I'd like to learn a bit more about your group. Are you a commercial touring company, group of friends riding together, charitable organization, ...?
Do you have dates for the ride?
I'll also need to arrange a bike.  Ideally I could rent from someone or some company you recommend.  But I could also buy a bike if I could find a way to keep it in Ghana for future visits.
11:35 PM we began a phone call

• Event always begins on Jan 10
• This ride is 14 days, round trip to Senegal Dakar and back to Accra
• Renting bikes is difficult, he can buy a bike for me, Tènèrè 700 is ideal
• Runs a motorcycle training school called Gear Shift Academy
• AIS organizer is a guy going by the name MOTOCHECKER, Dan Ashrifie --- WhatsApp conversation above
• Oct 17, he found me a Yamaha Tènèrè 700 for $7,500 USD

OK, now it's time to get busy finding flights, applying for visas, getting vaccinations, etc.

The Route Change

On Dec 15 news breaks about Burkina Faso, Mali, and Niger withdrawing from ECOWAS. These military dictatorships have been suspended from ECOWAS since 2021. Now, time is up and ECOWAS is telling them they are permanently rejected unless they consent to some democratic reforms. The juntas said "No", so ECOWAS is giving them 6 months grace period, then they will be officially withdrawn in June 2025.

This made Motochecker nervous about security in Burkina Faso and Mali, and he called me to discuss. We agreed to a change of route through Guinea, Sierra Leone, and Liberia. Now I need to get 3 more visas. Two of them are eVisas which should be quick, but Liberia requires another round trip of my passport to Washington DC. Again, time to get busy.

Meanwhile, Dan publishes a new route.

Tour Promotions

Visas

I've applied for and received visas from these countries:

Country	duration/entries	visa process	visa price + shipping
Ghana	5 yr/multiple	Ghana Embassy in Washington DC	$207 + 78.30
Burkina Faso	3mo/single	eVisa	$172.73
Mali	4 mo/multiple	Mali Embassy in Washington DC	$190 + TBD
Côte d'Ivoire	4 mo/multiple	CIV Embassy in Washington DC	$261.73 + 68.30
Liberia	2 yr/multiple	Liberian Embassy in Washington DC	$260 + 136.60
Sierra Leone	1 yr/multiple	eVisa	$168.03
Guinea	1 yr/multiple	eVisa	$153.54
Senegal		no advance visa required for Americans, get this on at the initial border crossing	$TBD

Health and Vaccinations

Travel Health Consultations

I scheduled a consultation with Kaiser but it was a few weeks out, so I did that AND found that Costco offers a more immediate $39.95 travel consultation from SafeGard and a Yellow Fever vaccination for $182.

Here's the result: Safe Guard Health Report (pdf) 60 pages

Vaccinations

On Oct 18, I went to Costco and got the following vaccinations for $810.10:

• Yellow Fever (live, subcutaneous right arm)
• Meningitis (Meningococcal disease) (right arm back deltoid)
• Polio (right arm front deltoid)
• MMR (live, subcutaneous left arm)
• Boostrix (Tdap) (left arm back deltoid)
• Typhoid (left arm front deltoid)
• Azithromycin 250mg for traveler's diarrhea (8 tablets)
• Atovaquone/Proguanil Hcl 250-100 mg tablets for Maleria prevention (29 tablets)

2 weeks later, I went to Kaiser and got

• Covid-19 booster
• Influenza
• Hepatitis A/B combination

The following were not recommended

• Cholera

2 weeks later, I went to Kaiser and got

• Hepatitis B first booster

6 months later, I still need to get

• Hepatitis A/B final booster

Medications

For Maleria prevention, I have Atovaquone/Proguanil Hcl 250-100 mg tablets (29 tablets) 1 pill daily starting 2 days prior to entering the malaria area. Take 1 pill a day while there and 1 pill a day for 7 days after leaving the area. Best tolerated if taken with a large meal.

Azithromycin 250mg for traveler's diarrhea (8 tablets) Take four tablets once daily OR two tablets twice daily for diarrhea that comes with either fever, bloody stool or both. Enough for 2 separate episodes of travelers diarrhea. If unresolved, seek medical attention.

Doxycycline is used for Maleria prevention but can also prevent some additional infections and so it may be preferred by people planning to do lots of hiking, camping, and wading and swimming in fresh water. I'll carry some Doxycycline Monohydrate (8 tablets) which I will take if I think I might have been exposed to Leptospirosis (Touching urine or other body fluids from an animal infected with leptospirosis, Swimming or wading in urine-contaminated fresh water, or contact with urine-contaminated mud, or Drinking water or eating food contaminated with animal urine) or Schistosomiasis (Wading, swimming, bathing, or washing in contaminated freshwater streams, rivers, ponds, lakes, or untreated pools.)

Take doxycycline on a full stomach with a full glass of liquid. Avoid milk and other dairy products within a couple of hours of taking a dose. Avoid lying down for 1 hour after taking doxycycline to prevent irritation in your throat. Certain antacids (containing calcium or magnesium) should also be avoided while taking doxycycline.

Med Kit

My general travel med kit also contains

• Asprin — general headache and fatigue
• Acetaminophen — fever, soreness
• Ibuprofen — anti-inflamatory, injury
• Oral Rehydration Salts — WHO formula
• Bismuth Subsalicylate — mild diarrhea, heartburn, or upset stomach
• Simethicone — upset stomach, gas
• Loperamide HCl — acute diarrhea
• Bisacodyl — laxative and stool softener
• Calcium carbonate — heartburn, sour stomach, acid indigestion, and upset stomach
• Loratadine — sinus congestion / runny nose, allergy
• Pseudoephedrine — sinus congestion / runny nose
• Dextromethorphan plus Guaifenesin — cough suppressent + expectorant

Insect repellents

West Africa has several insect born diseases that are strange to North Americans.
Use DEET liberally.
Wear long sleeves and long pants.
Bring a head net and a repellent-treated bed net.
Picaridin 20%
Permethryn

Water Treatment

For safe drinking water on the trip, I'm taking

• Katadyn BeFree filter with 1 liter squeeze bottle $40 should make hotel water safe
• Aquatabs (Sodium dichloroisocyanurate) 49mg tablets × 100 (1 per liter) (1 tablet per 0.75—2 liters)
• Potable Aqua (Tetraglycine hydroperiodide, 30min) 120mg × tablets (2 per liter)

Currency and payments

In all West African countries, the default is cash and cards were not useful except at ATMs and high end hotels.

Ghana	GHS Cedi	14.7/USD	Cards sometimes OK	Wise worked at Hotel Ibis Styles
Ivory Coast	XOF West African Franc	629/USD	Cards sometimes OK	Wise does not work in Côte d'Ivoire ATMs
Senegal	XOF West African Franc	629/USD	Cards sometimes OK	Wise works in Senegal ATMs
Liberia	LRD Dollar	183/USD	Cash & USD	USD is the preferred legal tender
Sierra Leone	SLE Leone	22.9/USD	Cash	Old code was SLL 1000:1
Guinea	GNF Franc	8640/USD	Cash	10,000F == $1.15

The Wise card does NOT work in these countries: Afghanistan, Belarus, Burundi, Central African Republic, Chad, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Republic of the Congo, Cuba, Eritrea, Iran, Iraq, Libya, Myanmar, North Korea, Russia, Somalia, Sudan, South Sudan, Syria, Venezuela, Yemen. And, because my card is US-issued, these additional countries/territories are denied: Bolivia, Cambodia, Cote d’Ivoire, Ethiopia, Kenya, Lebanon, Nepal, Niger, Pakistan, Paraguay, Sao Tome and Principe, Sri Lanka, Tajikistan, Tanzania, Turkmenistan, Uganda, Vietnam.

So for me, this suggests WISE should work everywhere except Cote d’Ivoire.

Internet and cellular connectivity in West Africa

Networks in West Africa include: MTN, Airtel, Orange, Globacom, and 9Mobile.

T-Mobile has a roaming agreement with 215 countries and it looks like I should have coverage in all 6 countries
though coverage will be spotty in Sierra Leone and Guinea.

Our plan has 2GB of high speed data domestically then it drops down to 256kbps and international coverage only at the low speed.
I purchased a 30 day, 15 GB high-speed data package for $50. Then sharing hotspot with Dan, he quickly burned through my 15 GB and I bought 15GB for $50 again 2 more times.
In general, cellular data worked almost everywhere and hotel WiFi was often useless. Plan on paying for Cellular data instead of relying on hotel WiFi.

packing checklist

Paperwork:
* passport, visas, medical info
* USD cash
* one paperback book to read

For the bike:
* rack, top bag, straps
* small, light day backpack

Crash gear:
* Aerostich suit
* Helmet
* Boots
* Ear plugs
* Elkskin Gloves (regular)
* compression socks
* Rain gear
* glove covers
* Rain pants
* Rain jacket/ windbreaker

Clothing:
* socks and underwear for 7 days
* bathing trunks
* 2 T-shirts short sleeve + 1 T-shirt long sleeve
* jeans 1 pair (wear on the plane along with one of those T-shirts)
* walking shoes

Cold gear:
* Fleece sweater 1

Toiletries bag:
* toothbrush, tooth paste, small shampoo
* bite guard
* hair brush
* ziploc bag of emergency toilet paper
* ziploc bag of laundry detergent
* net laundry bag
* clothesline and clips
* USB charger for toothbrush

Med kit (see "Meds" below):
* aspirin
* allergy meds (sudafed)
* anti diarrheal
* cough suppressant
* water treatment: aquatabs, iodine, filter, bottles
* bug repelent: DEET, Picaridin, Permethryn for clothing
* sleeping bed net
* head net

Electronics:
* handlebar phone holder, tablet holder, cables
* extension cord with socket multiplexor and USB ports
* small laptop, charger, wireless mouse
* USB A-C cables x 2
* USB C-C cables x 2
* wireless charger
* USB power pack x 2
* prep OSMAnd with maps of planned route
* insta360, and accessories

On the plane:
* wireless headphones
* eye mask
* compression socks

Meds

• OHS Oral Rehydration Salts
• Atovaquone/Proguanil Hcl 250-100 mg tablets for Malaria prevention (29 tablets)
• Azithromycin 250mg for traveler's diarrhea (8 tablets)
• Bismuth Subsalicylate: used to treat diarrhea, heartburn, and upset stomach (Pepto-Bismol) 2 ounces or 2 tablets up to 4x daily
• Simethicone (Alka-Seltzer, Maalox) treats gas / uncomfortable or painful pressure, fullness, and bloating.
• Calcium carbonate (TUMS) is an acid neutralizer used to relieve heartburn, sour stomach, acid indigestion, and upset stomach
• Loratadine (Claritin) is a piperidine histamine H1-receptor antagonist with anti-allergic properties but without sedative effects. For allergic rhinitis (hay fever) and urticaria (allergic skin rash). Loratadine is an effective, second-generation antihistamine with use in a variety of conditions such as relief of pruritus, watery eyes, runny nose, and sneezing associated with seasonal allergies
• Cough suppressant dextromethorphan or guaifenesin
• Bisacodyl (Ducolax) small yellow pills and suppositories, is a stimulant laxative and stool softener. Tablets take 6 to 12 hours to work. Suppositories take 10 to 45 minutes to work. The most common side effects are nausea, diarrhoea, stomach pain or cramps.
• Loperamide HCl is used to control acute diarrhea including travelers' diarrhea.
• Pseudoephedrine a nasal decongestant used to relieve nasal congestion caused by colds, allergies, and hay fever. It is also used to temporarily relieve sinus congestion and pressure. Pseudoephedrine will relieve symptoms but will not treat the cause of the symptoms or speed recovery.

Chronology