How to get lost in West Africa.....

Okay, so this last week was more than interesting and wins the award for hosting the LONGEST DAY of my life! What was originally supposed to be a simple 3 hour drive to a remote village outreach turned into nearly 10 HOURS of endless driving on dirt roads exploring all kinds of small stranged named west African villages that I really hope to never see ever again. Our first mistake (and most deffinately the last one of its kind) was taking a local "navigator" - something that is almost an ironic statement in itself. They say here that in Africa you can't get lost....... HA!!! - soooo not true!
So here's the "how to" on getting lost in West Africa: Step one - When heading to a remote village, make sure to take someone with you who barely speaks French. Step two - ALWAYS assume he knows the way to his home village, I mean, why not - he only grew up there his entire life. Step three - Don't ask, "Soooo are you sure this is the right road" until you've driven half way accross the country and see a stop sign with a crossing paved road. Step four - AFTER admitting that he has ABSOLUTELY NO CLUE where you are at, ask him for further directions including the following - "sooo, at this Y in the road, should we go right or left?" (he said "yes" - so of course we went that way......for nearly 80 WRONGLY DIRECTED km.) or this one "soooo, you recognize this village riiiiiight?" (of course he's gonna say "ya sure" I mean don't ALL west African villages look totally unique?!?!?!) and my personal fav. "heh, we've been driving for over 4 hours now - is it much further?" (oh yes - it was much, much further - in the EXACT OPPOSITE direction that we were headed)
All that said - it is nearly impossible to get lost in West Africa- the catch: DO NOT take someone with you and instead simply ask people along side of the road where to turn next - cause those are the people who live there and know what they're talking about.