| Ivory Coast's Danané and Abidjan through the eyes of a 20-something Australian hoodlum, veteran of over 50 countries, on his first visit to Africa. And who quickly discovered a place inhabited by some of the most delightful people on the globe. A place where, stranded late on night one in a rural town called Danané, an Islamic teenage boy invited him to sleep in his family's compound. A family who gave him a bed, refused to take money, and in the morning as a group walked him to the bus station carrying his bag without being asked. Where, in the capital of Abidjan on just his fourth day in the country, as he laid in the middle of a four-lane motorway beside his faulty hired moto scooter, right lower leg shattered in four places from the direct impact of a 4WD that hit him at 60-80km/hr, alone, unable to move, unable to speak French, no travel insurance, thinking: "I hope they don't have to amputate my leg," and wondering how he might get to a hospital, locals stopped cars to protect him from oncoming traffic and call an ambulance. Where, after an operation drilling eight screws into his Tibia an iron plate to hold it together, a local woman he met the night before the accident not only visited, but took him into her own one-room apartment, plus suspended the business she runs for a week to nurse him, cook for him, and chase down police reports and a Liberian driver who bribed police at the scene. Had her mother visit to lead a five minute prayer for his leg, just as two ... |
