A 250 km drive led us through Abidjan and up north weaving through banana and mango plantations. Most of the journey was through jungle and malarious swampy pools with little boys splashing about in them.

The roads here have been good but today saw red soil and the start of the Ivorian whacky races. Cars and lorries swerved from one side to another to avoid potholes which was good fun until a huge logging juggernaut started to bear down on us. Connor the driver kept his cool and would have made Penelope Pitstop proud. We left 'Scarface' and 'Jesus loves you' in a pile of dust and 'Liberty' floundering in a ditch. Would you get a public minibus called these things?

And on to the local witch doctor / faith healer. I have seen these in Benin but it is much more undercover here, apparently because they are persecuted by the local Christian and Muslim population. It was quite hard to follow but the healer takes in teenage girls who have been possessed by an evil spirit (mentally ill to you and me). After 2-3 years there is of course a 100% cure and they go back to their villages to become healers themselves. The girls looked contented enough and there were no signs of anyone seriously unwell. Maybe just normal teenage angst. We are going back tonight as a new girl who arrived when we did has her initiation ceremony. This will involve dances, singing, sacrifices and smearing her with nasty looking things.

We were also to see the local king but he is on holiday until tomorrow so it was pizza instead......