Emmanuel Bandoh

Joe, the Black Ulysses.` Emmanuel Bandoh

The author's own experiences have been documented as vividly as possible, to make the narrative of the book more interesting and informative. Readers tend to participate in those experiences and relate to the ambiance and environment that the writer found himself at every point in his travels. In all travels, strange and unfamiliar things could happen, and the inclusion of them were likely to teach some lesson that could be of use, when a traveler personally came across them and to be able to avoid such lesson, if need be. The author has to compare his own demographic status with almost all the people he met through the places he would traverse, and in situations that were sometimes very unfamiliar; for example, the food, particularly the meat, shouldn't be peculiar, as he was used to Beef, Mutton, Fish, Poultry, but not Pork or anything related to it, such as Ham, Bacon, etc. There were times, when he refused to eat the food, because all he was eating was "scrumptious ingredients", he was told. Finances too became problematic, as changing from one currency to another was not easy. The rates would change from one place to another. In Liberia, for example, the author had an argument of why merchants there wouldn't accept the Franc that was used in the Ivory Coast, a neighboring country of Liberia. Hotels would accept one type of currency, but not another, making one to switch from one place to another. Those could be some of the experiences along the way, and one could only learn from them. Socializing also became difficult, because relationships demanded money, like buying someone a drink, and then asking the person to keep one company overnight. There were "services" offered in those places; however, they were not free, and it became arduous to shell out the little money that one had; and if one wasn't careful, all one had could be stolen. Yet, the book, Joe, The Black Ulysses, has been written to far more fascinating, and it made a delightful reading than a few paragraphs about it.