The Gabon visas finally came through late afternoon, and we left immediately. Getting out of Yaoundé was a little difficult, but the correct way was found eventually! We continued on to a bush camp just outside Malmayo. The next day we entered the town of Ebolawa, no signs of the deadly virus, thankfully!After a stock … Continued
Our attempts at getting Angola visas came to nothing, so we hot footed it out of Abuja. The night was spent on the Jos plateau with some amazing scenery. This time of the year the Harmattan winds sweep across northern sub Saharan Africa, consequently the air quality is very poor, so it was a nice … Continued
Our first day in the Promised Land, consisted of a visit to Tamale en-route to Mole National park. The opportunity to get our hands on tickets for the African cup of Nations football tournament was curtailed by the fact that they hadn’t been delivered to the post office yet!Non-plussed we pressed on. Mole NP was … Continued
The New Year began with a free day in Tomboctou, followed by a gruelling journey by road back to Sevare, lengthened considerably by a broken radiator on one of the vehicles. I had expected the kids back at 2.30pm; they arrived just after 5pm! All were herded rather ingloriously on to the truck for a … Continued
The first order of business was the great pig hunt. It took two buses and an hour of walking to find one! Great experience though, catching local transport and playing sardines, with armpits in your face is definitely recommended! A spit pole was also required and Gary took on that challenge. Besides the language barrier, … Continued
The night at Kayes was spent at the ‘centre d’accueil de jeunesse’, where we camped on the roof. For dinner we feasted on delicious beef brochettes washed down with Mali beer. The next morning was spent attempting to find the correct ‘road’ to Bafoulabe, not that easy as tracks went in all directions. We did … Continued
After over half the crew buggered off to Senegal, the rest of us ventured into town, and promptly got lost amongst the narrow streets. Somehow we stumbled upon a market of sorts and stocked up on some rather sad looking veggies. Then it was on to a campsite on the beach, near the famous fish … Continued
Our first true African border crossing was an experience most will not forget, including a mad German in a camper van who had us in stitches, even though no one really understood him! The boom opened at 9am, and we filtered through with the rest of the traffic into the Immigration area. Passports were dealt … Continued
Laayoune – “capital” of Western Sahara, Sahara Occidental, or just another town in Morocco. Depends which side of the fence you are on. The territory has been in the possession of the Spanish, then Mali and Mauritania claimed rights over it until the “Green march” of November 1975 when 350,000 Moroccans crossed the border to … Continued
The journey to Essaouira was fairly quick, only interupted by an urgent need to re-stock our wood supplies. A stop 10kms out of town furnished us with a load of good stuff, ably cut up by the saw masters. An afternoon visit for some seafood lunch, then off to a bush camp out of town. … Continued