Tate & Keegan making progress; Togo to Benin to Nigeria!

Hello followers, sponsors and members of the COW herd,

Keegan and Tate have been on the move and covering a lot of miles over the past few days. Starting in Turtle Beach, they went east to Kata and ended the night staying in a large hotel. The interesting thing about this hotel was that Keegan and Tate were the ONLY people staying there. Imagine, a large resort in Hawaii or Mexico completely vacant! From there, they drove to Lomo, then north to Sojode following the roads that were much more suitable fro travel. During this northern route, however, they saw around 10 flipped semi-trucks. The guys got through without much trouble.

After reaching Nadoba, Togo they crossed the border into Benin on dirt roads. While traveling along back-roads they came across a tribal society that they learned had not been “touched” by white people until the 1970s. Keegan described their housing as miniature castles; I can’t wait to see the pictures! After this, they ended their day for such much needed rest at a crappy hostel in Natitingog, Benin.

For Nigeria, a little improvisation was needed with their international licenses. Keegan and Tate’s licenses were valid for Niger luckily, so they used a photocopy machine to simply add an ‘i’ and an ‘a’ so it would read Nigeria. All turned out well as they crossed the border into Nigeria a day later. The boys said their goodbyes to the tropical (but dusty) Benin with a little nervousness as Nigeria is the most dangerous country they have to travel through

When I asked the guys via satellite phone how fast they were traveling they told me about 300 miles a day if the roads are good. Funny, seems that the roads are never quite “good” enough to hit that mark.

A very funny trick that Tate and Keegan learned about toll booths and police barriers is that most are unofficial and are there to simply bribe people who have enough money to own or drive a car. After the hundreds of bribery attempts, the guys have found that if you just speed up and drive through them, the police cannot chase after them because they do not have any more transportation than anyone else!

Anyway, the boys entered Nigeria through the city of Nijki and exchanged their old currency for Nigerian’s currency in a back room with large stacks of money; don’t worry parents, the exchange was official. After about 10 miles of wonderful roads, everything changed. The road became a dried lakebed and all speed was lost. The guys had to drive 10 miles/hour for an entire day over the most treacherous roads they have encountered. During this disastrous drive, the COW car sustained multiple injuries. We can now say the guys only have one working shock (2 more were taken out of play) and the transmission is now leaking. The guys may need to take a few days to get the car in working order.

While they took a short break to get the car at least in functional order, a large group surrounded Tate and Keegan and the car. Keegan counted 79 at one point and noted that many more came. Before getting too nervous, Keegan did the best thing he could think of: pull out his camera. Once he did this, everyone started to go crazy with excitement. In a place where civil war plagues many innocent people, Keegan and Tate bring fun and excitement. With a little coaching, our COW travelers recorded 100s of Nigerians chanting “U-S-A” and then, as the guys are Oregon State Beavers, led the “O-S-U fight, fight, fight” chant. Personally, I cannot wait until I can see that video.

Right now, Tate and Keegan are in New Bassu, Nigeria with a little over 900 miles to go of traveling. While they pass village after village, city after city, they try and bring excitement to the people that are around them. They are driving long days and living off little food for a good cause. Keegan told me over our last phone call that one of the biggest things he misses about home is the food. We can’t wait to see him and Tate soon.

From everyone involved in COW, we would like to thank our sponsors for their commitment to our cause; each and every dollar and/or car part has gone to unimaginable good use.

Thank you once again,
Connor Deeks
PR director COW