15-Aug-2004 -- Continued from 9N 5E.

Still in the dark, just before 6 am, Armin, our driver Matthew and myself left the Kwara Hotel at Ilorin where we had spent the night. Our mission was to visit the Yorubaland and the confluence 8N 4E and, if possible on the way back to Abuja, to try a visit to confluence 9E 4E.

With the help of the GPS we navigated our way out of Ilorin onto the A1, followed the road to Ogbomosho and then towards Oyo. Approximately 22 km outside Ogbomosho, we started enquiring about a village called Wusari, and not long after that we found it. There we turned off onto a small but good natural road, which should lead us to the Confluence. To save time, we decided not to off-load our bikes but to continue with our vehicle as close as possible to the Confluence. We managed to get as close as 150 m.

The closest village to the Confluence is a very poor place called Elaemu. The Confluence lies in the middle of some fields on which the villagers grow ground nut, cassava and yams. We were at the Confluence just after 8 am. Matthew our driver was very glad and very proud to have been able being with us this time, since he always had to stay behind when we were riding with the bikes to visit the Confluences.

After taking some pictures, we left the area and headed back towards Ilorin the same way we came. Outside Ilorin we turned off and followed the road towards Alapa, Igbette, driving through the Oyo National Park to a small village on the border of the Park, called Soro.

There we were 3.3 km from the confluence 9N 4E. We managed to get as close as 2.2 km to the Confluence but then there was a small river to cross also called Soro, and then the National Park started. It would have taken us at least 3 hours to get there and back, so unfortunately not having enough time, we could not achieve out target. We left Soro at noon and started the long journey back to Abuja via Ilorin, Jebba, Mokwa, Bida, Lapai, Lambata, Suleja, and arrived at Abuja at 7 pm.