Morocco, Part 1

Day 1 – 15/5/12

It was with a great feeling of anticipation that we approached the Morocco border – this is supposed to be a place very close to Europe in it manner. The 3 or 4 km of no mans land road is appalling and driven at < 1 km/hr.

We were warmly welcomed by an official and the Gendarme and Police/Immigration formalities were completed quickly. Nice. Then…

We started the customs formalities. The carnet is not recognised, so we needed to complete some additional forms. Then the vehicle needed to go through a giant X-Ray machine. There is only 1 machine for both incoming and exiting vehicles. Then we went back to the customs office to have some more paperwork cone and we also needed to get the form signed off. But wait, the man who does the signing is praying. So, Ray went out to get the vehicle insurance. Euro 275 for 28 days. Ouch – we pay less than that for a year in Oz – seems like a bit of an official racket going on. Then we went back to the customs office to get the forms finally stamped.  3 yes three hours latter we leave the compound. Normally this process takes 5 – 10 minutes (except for the bribe issue at Burkina Faso). And it is very hot!

To make matters worse, we punctured a tube (yes, WE KNOW!!!) in the compound. At the 1^st service station we stopped to get the tyre repaired. But first, the repair man had to have lunch. He asked for 10 minutes, 20 minutes later Ray went to the “tea room” to hurry things along. The repair man used a mattock to break the bead on the finely machined, delicately balanced rim. We discovered that the tube was punctured at the wall (yes we know). The repairman indicated that he could repair the original vulcanised patch that was applied in Niamey, then we will not need a tube. Great. The first item on the critical path was to find a patch in the total mess that was being used as a workshop. Now, we swear this is true; he applied the patch to the tyre with glue and then wound down the press to apply the vulcanising heat. Fixed to the end of the screw mechanism was an old fashion iron (yes, the sort you iron clothes with). For the oldies, an iron with the bakerlite plug and electric cord that goes into the rear of the iron. The repairman attached the electric cord and we waited for the temperature to rise and then to fall. The good news is that this seemed to have worked. So after ~ 2.5 hours we were on our way again.

The drive to Dhakla was some times interesting with beautiful sand dunes and coastal cliffs and sometimes boring with flat Sahara endless white plain. We elected to use the a/c as we have heard that fuel is very cheap in the former Western Sahara.

Dhakla is a favourite location for wind surfers.

We camped at the Moussasfir Campground – which is clean and not as dismal as others have reported. Or, at least it seemed to us having come from the south.

There are a lot of police road blocks, but normally we are waved straight through.

 Avril driving. 423 km. N 23⁰ 45’ 52.3’’ W 015⁰ 54’ 25.7’’. The observant will have noted we passed through the Tropic of Cancer

 

Day 2 – 16/5/12

We made a casual start to the day and took breakfast on the foreshore in Dakhla. Very nice. We then went in search of a tyre place to see if we could get another tyre and so have 2 workable spares. Did we mention that the aluminium repair from Niamey started lo leak, but ever so little. But, there was not a correct sized tyre in Dakhla, so we had a tube placed into the Goodrich mud tread tyre (purchased in RSA). This tyre seemed to have rubbed its inside on the rear chassis – but the repair man swears it will be all right with a tube (yes, sigh, we know). Hopefully we will not need to use it.

The drive to transverse the Sahara continued. In places you can see the ocean and it is a brilliant turquoise (bet you thought Ray did not know that colour). Otherwise, it was just a long drive. At Laayoune, one of the last places in Western Sahara, we filled our fuel tanks – 240 l at $ 0.50/l.

We camped at Le Roi Bedouin a nice camp 4 km off the road. Importantly, they have BEER!

Avril driving (Ray’s eyes are still very sore from the drive across the Sahara). 580 km. 6.5 hrs . N 27⁰ 27’ 41.9’’ W 013⁰ 03’ 06.1’’

Day 3 – 17/5/12

Again, a very long drive. There was a heavy sea mist extending far in land for a lot of the morning (like in Namibia). Initially the topography was flat, stony and basically without vegetation. At some point we started to drive through some very long north – south valleys. The hills on either side were almost devoid of vegetation and not that high, but there was enough to make the drive a little more interesting (sort of like the hills in Jordan). Then we drove up a reasonably high pass onto another “high” plain. At this point the vegetation seemed to change and we started to see some trees.

A major pain of driving in Morocco are the massive number of road blocks. The number rivals any country we have driven through thus far. And they have the bizarre rule that you must stop at a small road side sign some ~20 m before the police or gendarme presence – the only other place we have seen this is in the Central African Republic. It seems to be a tactic to try and entrap the unwary and then demand some sort of payment. The locals are aware of this and always stop. At our 1^st post we drifted up to the police with the intention of reducing their walk in the hot sun. This was a bad mistake – we were given a lecture and the police tried to extract a bribe. We resisted. Note, having been warned we were also aware of the Arabic “stop sign” and hence were not trapped by the notorious Tan Tan policeman.

We arrived at Agadir in the late afternoon and not wanting to look for accommodation, booked into the International Camping ground. We discovered immediately on entry that it is a complete dump; facilities are now so badly run down as to be non –existent, the place is quite grotty etc.  We decided on the spot to only spend one night.

We had a pleasant walk around town and were pleased with the food program on offer!

Avril driving; 593 km; 8 hrs; N 30⁰ 25’ 26.6’’ W 009⁰ 36’ 29.4’’

Day 4 – 18/5/12

We spent the morning doing chores and what the kids describe as “faffing”. Avril checked out a hotel opposite the campground and like the facilities and price, so we checked into the Club Al Moggar, sort of 3 star with a breakfast program. Shawarma for lunch.

N 30⁰ 25’ 23.3’’ W 009⁰ 36’ 34.7’’

 Day 5 – 19/5/12

A lazy day. We walked along the Agadir foreshore. The foreshore is well set up with paths and facilities so we had a pleasant stroll past shops and restaurants. Lots of fake bags and luggage around. In the evening we watched to Champions league soccer final.

Day 6 – 20/5/12

A lazy day. We took a long walk to the local souk for a look. Ray bough a “Prada” bag to hold our computers. We watched a bit of Italian league soccer on the restaurant TV. Gee, are those blokes (?) soft or what?

Day 7 – 21/5/12

Avril went for some retail therapy, but a lazy day again.

Day 8 – 22/5/12

A very early start to the day. We were flying to the UK for the wedding of Elena Marshall, the daughter of long standing (Zambia days) friend, Steve & Ing. The more alert readers will remember that they had journeyed out from the UK to join us in the initial part of our trip. Our experience with Easyjet was not as poor as we had been led to believe. We had hired a car for our time in the UK, which all worked very well. We got to Steve & Ings place late afternoon with some balmy English weather – and we did not bring any hot weather clothes. A pleasant evening with a few ales and wonderful food cooked by Ing.

Note, that you need to leave your vehicle parked at the airport and the keys with the customs officials there. It is a very simple procedure with very helpful customs staff. It takes around 30 min.

Mauritiania, Part 2

Day 3 – 11/5/12

The early call to prayer was announced by a large number of very loud mosques, and went on for some time – but we are in a totally Muslim country!

We set off for on the very good tar road for Atar (which now goes all the way to Atar) in the north east of Mauritania. On the way we took a side trip on a rough track to the oasis of Terjit. Here water drips from the west facing walls of a canyon. The canyon walls plus the evaporative cooling effect of the water plus the shade of the palms dropped the temperature by ~ 15^oC, from the +45^oC outside. We had a nice lunch in pleasant surroundings and the locals left us alone to enjoy the calm.

It was still very hot when we got to the campment Bab Sahara in Atar. We camped under some large shady trees. The fridges are working overtime and it is hard to keep our water intake up.

Avril driving. 465 km. 8 hrs . N 20⁰ 31’ 09.1’’ W 013⁰ 03’ 42.2’’

Day 4 – 12/5/12

We started early to try and get the desert driving completed in the morning. We drove to Chinguetti via the Ebnou pass. (R5 in Chris Scotts Sahara book). The lead up to the pass reminded us of the Sinai, with some dramatic mountains to either side of the road. The pass is spectacular with the valley you ascend out of gradually climbing and becoming narrower. The road is gravel and generally corrugated (paved through the pass itself) but they are manageable. We proceeded straight through Chinguetti to drive via the “Dunes Route” (R7 in C.Scott) to Oudane. For the 1^st ~ 5 km the sand is very soft and we managed to get bogged once – not driving aggressively enough. There are some nice dune sets in the initial 20 km. After that, the drive does not hold a lot of interest. Driving by yourself in the middle of the Sahara is a little more stressful that going for a weekend with friends in the Egyptian desert. C. Scott recommended 2 vehicles for this trip – but at least we have a sat phone. We are well & truly in the Sahara now and from a temperature perspective at the wrong time of the year. There is little vegetation, occasional acacia trees and low level grass tussocks. We managed to completely cut the side wall of our last remaining Dunlop tyre, which was supplied with the vehicle. These tyres have done a marvellous job. Fortunately we had a track to follow (thanks to Jan &  Mariska). The description in the Sahara book is insufficient to make your way through the route.

We arrived in Oudane Oasis in the early afternoon and checked into the Auberg Vasque, run by a lovely lady; Zaide. It was too hot to look at the ruins so we relaxed in the Auberge salon.

At ~ 18:00 we went with a guide to visit the ruins. Our guide only spoke French, so we did not get a lot of information. It seems that, similar to Siwa, the town was destroyed by torrential rains. The ruins are impressive, seemingly falling off a large hill. Like Egypt, they are protected be a military/para military presence.

Mauritanians in the tourist industry are upset with the portrayal of the country in the western media. Even, every day people will also comment that there are no security problems in Mauritania. The number of tourists has dropped from 70,000 people 4 years ago to ~ 2,000 now. Our impression was that this is a totally safe country. There are lots of road blocks, but for tourists you hand over a “fische” (a A4 sheet with passport & vehicle details) and you are on your way quickly. The road blocks also increase the feeling of Mauritania being a safe place.

Zaida cooked dinner for us; soup & chicken tangine.

Ray driving. 192 km .8 hrs . N 20⁰ 55’ 37.5’’ W 011⁰ 37’ 27.4’’

Day 5 – 13/5/12

Many punctures – 1 day. We left Oudane for Chinguetti along the plains road. C. Scott R9. He jokes that your car will fall apart when you finish this route and it is certainly rough in places. The 120 km to Chinguetti took 2.5 hours.

Chinguetti is the 7^th holy city in Islam. (Mecca, Medina, Jerusalem, Cairo; debate on places 5 & 6 between Fes, Damascus, Marrakesh etc. But Chinguetti is definitely #7). We visited the biggest document depository and we given a wonderful “tour” by the main man. He said he did not speak English and then in a mix of English and simple French took us through the history of the city and repository. We then looked at some ancient scripts, books of poetry and Koranic dissertations. The calligraphy was stunning. He ended our visit by reciting some poetry for us. A very charming man. We then walked around the old town and visited another smaller repository. We have lunch at a local diner.

On the way out of town we punctured a tyre – too badly to repair. Then when we stopped at a road block we noticed a noise and  this the spare was now punctured. .Fortunately we had 3 spares, so we managed to get back to Atar.

Back in town, Ray went in search of tyres. This was not a simple matter. There are NO new tyres in Atar. So the 1^st decision was whether to wait a day and get new tyres from Nouakchott or take a risk on used tyres. We decided on the 2^nd hand as we want to get a full set of top of the range tyres when we get somewhere that actually has a good selection of new tyres. Then there is the negotiation to buy the tyres and then the negotiation to have the tyres fitted to the rims (no balancing here!). When the fitting was taking place we noticed that another tyre had a slow leak – and it could not be usefully mended with a plug, so we put a tube in it (yes, we know, but need is the mother of innovation).This involved a trip to the market to buy a tube, with the accompanying negotiation. Finally we had all the tyres in a ready state to take on the Sahara on the morro. Ray drove back to the accommodation and lo and behold, another puncture on the way home. Another trip back to the man who puts tyres on rims and a quick plug repair is implemented.

Exhausted, we had a very quick bite and went to bed.

Avril driving. 216 km.. Bab Sahara, Atar

Day 6 – 14/5/12

We were up early to get on the piste to Choum and along the well known east – west railway line in the north of Mauritania. C. Scott R2.

But before hand, Ray had arranged to see the tyre man to make a final check. And yes, the plug repair did not hold so we put a tube in that tyre.

The drive is neither technically challenging nor really visually interesting. For us it was a long drawn out day ploughing through sand tracks. Our impression was not helped by the lack of visibility due to the heat haze and dust, this with the glare off the white sand made for a very closed in feeling. Also, of course, we picked our hottest day so far, + 46^oC, to make a Sahara crossing.

There is a reasonable amount of activity beside the track, nomads with camels (yep, even right out here), track workers, police etc. At one point we were waved down by an elderly nomad – nice old fella just wanted to have a chat. On another occasion we were waved down and it seemed there had been a bad accident. Unsure of the language we drove back 9 km to the previous gendarme station and asked them to come along. The gendarmes needed to connect the vehicle battery, get some water, get weapons ready etc. This all took a little time.

Finally we reached Bou Lanouar at ~ 19:00. The overall piste had taken 453 km and around 11 hrs (to this must be added the 18 km for to get the gendarmes). We had managed not to get bogged and ripped the wall out of another tyre along the way. We pumped up tyres and Avril drove into Nouahibou on a fine tar road. We had been waiting for the coastal breeze to drop the temperature and it did not fail. We camped at ABBA camp – which is a little more basic and not as clean as some overlander had reported.

Ray driving. 556 km. 12.5 hrs . N 20⁰ 54’ 29.8’’ W 017⁰ 03’ 12.3’’

Day 7 – 15/5/12

We made a latish start to the day and then drove to the Mauritania – Morocco border. We are not entering the debate of Western Sahara or Morocco.
The police and customs formalities were completed very quickly with no hint of a bribe.

Mauritania Summary

We loved Mauritania. It is a low/no hassle country. The officials were unfailingly polite/courteous/friendly and professional. The sights and driving were nice & worthwhile. There was practically no cadeauing i.e. begging. The towns had electricity and water, which is unusual for Africa.  For us it was very safe and we did not have any security issues. There are not a lot of people around and we wondered how the nomads survive in the middle of no where in this day. It seemed to be a place where things worked.

The only downer was the very hot weather.

No rating for the guides as both Kindles had frozen! Riese Knowhow map for the Sahel countries = 6/10.

Senegal, Part 4 & Mauritania, Part 1

Senegal, Part 4

Day 15 – 8/5/12

A dreadful night. We had sundowners on the beach followed a nice spaghetti for dinner and after reading for a bit we went to bed. At ~ 01:00 we heard some dogs barking and then an explosion. The park owners Landcruiser was on fire. Ray rushed out to assist (carrying water) whilst Avril secured our site. It took some time & effort to get the fire under control. It seems that a disgruntled former employee had taken out a sever vengeance. This did not enhance our view of Senegal.

In the morning, we took our car into CFAO, St Louis for a service. They discovered that the gearbox oil drainage plug had previously been badly cross threaded and they had used Teflon tape to get a seal. So the CFAO folks searched for a new plug and managed to implement a secure solution (we hope).

As mentioned, we had run out of pages on our carnet, so home office organised a new one to be couriered over. Thanks to Peter, AAA (Peppina) and RACV (Susan). It arrived late in the day.

We spent a lot of the day doing internet “stuff” including arranging a replacement kindle for Ray.

Day 16 – 9/5/12

Our original intention was to head directly to the border, however Avril’s Kindle froze (yep, the 2^nd one!) so we went to the patisserie in St Louis to get internet and see how to fix it. Unfortunately it was not possible, so for the 2^nd day a replacement was organised and will be couriered to the UK. We managed to download kindle for PC and so will be able to read our travel guides on the gold old PC.

Then we drove to the border. With trepidation we approached, everyone seemed to have to pay bribes here. First to immigration, they stamped the passport for entrance! Then asked for Euro 10. Ray refused and the next trick was to put a guilt complex in place. We were the 1st Europeans not to pay – yeah, that will work. I should have pointed out we are Australians, not Europeans and do not like to pay bribes to people doing their jobs. So, no bribe here.

Then to customs where the carnet was stamped with no request for money. We had to pay Euro 6 to cross the barrage – but it seemed legit and we got a receipt.

Senegal Summary

What with aggressive rastas, intimidation in the markets,  fire bombing etc, Senegal was not our favourite country. The part of Senegal south of The Gambia is OK. It was nice to meet Pierre and his family. We had a great time with Patrice et al at their home. This made the stay in Senegal memorable. In general the camping accommodation was good.

The roads are good in some parts (~ 50 – 60%), but other wise are OK to poor. For the 1^st time since the DRC we felt our personal security was threatened. There are some persistent/aggressive “bumsters” and they were prepared to bend the understanding/agreement reached up front to make a few extra CFA, this is really a 1^st for us in Africa. We found the rastas very intimidating almost to the point of violence (we have heard it is similar in Jamaica?). In general there were no corruption issues, but there was the one occasion where a policeman tried to pin something/anything on us.

There are some nice local attractions, but nothing that would stand out as a highlight of a trip through Africa. 

Guides: Lonely Planet = 6/10. West Africa Rough Guide = 6/10. Riese Knowhow map = 5/10 (not as bad a previous experiences, but not so good you could rate it above 50%).

Mauritania, Part 1

Day 1 – 9/5/12

Again we approached the border with some sense of foreboding. Immigration was completed quickly and they requested Euro 10. Ray pointed out the cost of the visa and that the Consul was a friend of his and we were allowed to proceed without a payment.

We needed to buy insurance and this proved to be a lot moe expensive that others. The price came directly from the charts and was fully receipted, but Euro 35 for 10 days was a lot more than expected.

After registering with the gendarmes, we set off to Nouakchott. Along the way you pass through a “National Park” which seems to be mainly cattle grazing. We were stopped and asked for an entrance fee. This started at US$ 40, but we objected strongly. They only wanted Euro or the local money (onjbh). We said we only had US$ and only a small amount. A stand off developed and we went through the charade of getting out lunch etc. Eventually they settled for US$ 11. We understand this is a lot less than the official entrance?

The country side was wonderful dunes. Initially there were low acacia trees and the further north we went the lower they became until it were only small shrubs. ~ 50 km before Nouakchott a plain redevelops and there is little vegetation. As we got closer to the coast the wind intensified and became very, very strong (Beauford ??).

When we got to Nouakchott we changed some money and headed out to the Suttanes Plage camping area/restaurant ~ 15 km from town. The beach is clean, firm and very nice. The camping facilities are basic, but OK. We had a great fish dinner and chatted to some American & German men who were in town for business.

Note, the conventional overlander wisdom is to go via Diama, which is what we did. However the 80 km of gravel road in Mauritania after the border is very bad. It took 3 hours to drive. It would be worth while testing the Rosso crossing. It may be worthwhile to pay ~ $ 50 if you can pass quickly and not to subject your vehicle to 3 hours of stress.

Avril driving.  293 km. 6 hrs . N 18⁰ 13’ 10.8’’ W 016⁰ 02’ 09.0’’

Day 2 – 10/5/12

The big downer of the night was the strong wind. We “jerry” rigged up a temporary rope to hold the tent in place. But, when we finally went to bed, the whole frame was shaking and the tent canvas flapping so violently that sleep would have been very hard. So, we pulled down the tent and Avril slept on the accommodation unit floor and Ray slept in the cab.

We did manage to get some sleep and decided to stay at the beach for the day. Ray managed to get severely burnt on his face, despite not going into the sun all day. Avril managed to go into the sun and improve her tan!

We decided not to risk another night of wind, so camped at the well known Auberge Sahara in Nouakchott. We did a little shopping, changed some money and generally got ready to go to the desert.

Again, a very nice dinner at a local Lebanese restaurant. There seem to be a lot of restaurants and well stocked shops in Nouakchott. The city seemed to be well organised with functioning traffic lights and a power grid that stayed on all night. As per the rest of Africa, there still seemed to be a problem with litter and sand control on the roads.

N 18⁰ 06’ 10.1’’ W 015⁰ 59’ 49.3’’

Senegal, Part 3

Day 5 – 28/4/12

A latish start to the day. The road to M’bour was not the best, some good bits with potholed, over repaired and totally degraded sections. There were lots of trucks on the road and Saturday seemed to be market day at a lot of the towns.

As we approached M’Bour Ray joked, we might find a clean restaurant, with good food, cold diet coke and internet. And, guess what we did. Very nice people at the Restro Paolo. Pierre Younis a friend of Didier (from Gabon & Ivory Coast) came to meet us there.

The topography is flat, again. The vegetation seems to have returned to savannah/transition/Sahel. Very dry, hot and dusty. There was a vicious northerly wind blowing all day which reduced visibility considerably and made conditions very unpleasant.

We camped at the Ferme du Saly, a bit off the beach and went for a swim – or rather a paddle. Somewhere between Sierra Leone and here the currents have changed and the water was quite cold. A bit too cold for us wimps to swim.

In the evening we had dinner with Pierre, Sandra and their 2 children

Ray driving. 181 km. 3.5 hrs . N 14⁰ 25’ 36.7’’ W 016⁰ 59’ 44.9’’

Day 6 – 29/4/12

Not such a good night. We arrived home from the dinner late and there was a loud beach party or disco going on. OK, but to make matters worse it seemed that a nearby mosque had decided to compete with them. So, we had a mix of disco and Islamic prayers blasting out. At some point the whole thing ended – for a time. Then at ~ 04:45 (Ray checked the time) the mosques started up again. Not as per our Egyptian experience, all at ~ the same time for a few minutes. Here, the various mosques staggered their times and as per the African experience, they turned up their amplifiers until the sound from the speakers was distorted. The whole cacophony lasted until after 06:00. Then there was another burst after sunrise.

So, sleep deprived, we set out for Dakar. The weather was horrible. The landscape is flat and almost devoid of trees. A hot north wind blasted across the plain with loads of dust making for poor visibility and a really dreadful day. Overnight, the dust had covered all our “stuff” so we will need a couple of days cleaning when the storm finishes.

We drove to Dakar and Avril managed to, subtly, find the best restaurant in town – Lagon 1. So, we had a wonderful lunch sitting over the ocean, waves crashing and wonderful food: Avril Lamb shoulder and Ray tagliatelle sea food.

Just after we left the restaurant we got a message from Pierre, by coincidence he was spending the day with Patrice & Picky, a lovely French couple we had met at the Niokolo Doba National park and their friends Anne & Francis. They had asked us to stay with them near the beach, but we could not make contact (turned out we had the wrong phone number). They were now “insistent” we come back to spend some time with them. Fantastic.

We drove back and managed to find some one who knew their security guard and hence their house.

After we settled into the guest house we had a swim followed by aperitifs. Then Pierre, Sandra and their family came around and we all went out for dinner.

Avril driving. 217 km. N  14⁰ 22’ 08.4’’ W 016⁰ 56’ 30.5’’

Day 7 – 30/4/12

We had our best night sleep in a long time, then a late breakfast. We then went to the local M’Bour market with our hosts. Unfortunately this was not the best time. Before we even entered the market a couple of local lads hassled Francis and tried to steal his camera, Ray managed to get between the robbers and Francis and prevent the theft. As we went into the market we were continually hassled by numerous men, some times aggressively. It became quite unpleasant. A one point Ray bundled Avril into a cloth shop to wait out the aggressors. One of the (rasta) men then tried to trip Patrice as he walked pass. Eventually we managed to get to the fish market, make our purchases and take a different route back to the vehicle.

We may not have mentioned it before, but there is a lot of rasta people in the Gambia and the northern section of Senegal. They are not the cool dudes as represented in the west, rather it seems, some chaffs, with a bleary/glassy eye look and the dread locks, a big coloured beret/hat and swagger but rapidly become very aggressive.

The rest of the day went quickly around the pool, lunch, a couple of beers and for Ray and afternoon nap. Patrice had purchased a large fish and backed it in salt. We had a wonderful dinner.

Day 8 – 1/5/12

Again, we had a good nights sleep. After breakfast we purchased a freshly caught fish, “capitan”,  from a local chap who had come to the gate. $2 for a good sized fish which the fisherman also gutted and filleted. We said our thanks to Patrice, Picky, Francis & Anne for a wonderful time. This was a great break for us.

We then drove to Lake Rose, just north of Dakar. The road from M’Bour to Dakar is OK, but has heavy truck traffic. The road north out of Dakar to Lac Rose is very bad. The lake is famous for being the end of the Paris – Dakar rally. It has a very high salt content (> the Dead Sea) and is a dusty red from the iron oxide secreted by bacteria.

We went for a walk around the lake, but were hassled by a local rasta trying to sell something. Our rejection generated an immediate aggressive response. Of course, that made the walk unpleasant, so we returned to our camp and went for a drive around the lake.

We camped at Ma Petite Carmargue. Nice people, good food, cold beer and clean, OK facilities.

With the north wind, we have not seen the sun for a few days. Hopefully the “return of the harmattan” will not be too long.

Avril driving. 91 km. 2.5 hrs. N  14⁰ 49’ 49.1’’ W 017⁰ 13’ 31.6’’

Day 9 – 2/5/12

We drove up to the Zebrabar, a well known overlander stopover south of St Louis. The country side now is all Sahel, quite flat with low scrub and not many trees. It seemed that the towns along the way use the ville entrance as a rubbish dump. This then makes for a very unpleasant view and odour leading  into the town. The north of Senegal has probably the worst litter we have seen for a long time.

We settled into our camp and greeted a couple of Dutch overlanders and a French couple. After dinner they all came over to “ours” and we sat around chatting for a few hours.

Avril driving. 251 km. 5 hrs . N  13⁰ 18’ 46.4’’ W 014⁰ 13’ 28.9’’

Day 10 – 3/5/12

We drove into St Louis for a look see. There is a single bridge leading to the island and it was closed. There was a student strike and demonstration – a lot of the arts faculty baby boomers will remember those. So, we waited out the time. Avril took the opportunity to make some new boy friends.

St Louis has the potential to be the local Venice. Unfortunately the “bumpsters” and young boy beggars make it impossible to relax and have a quite stroll. The lack of litter control, lots of urban animal husbandry and a medieval approach to sanitation (i.e. they throw waste out the windows) also need to be improved before the touristic experience will be enjoyable.

There was a nice patisserie with Wifi which we enjoyed. We had a look in the local market for some material (Avril needs a new frock for an upcoming wedding in London), but nothing took her fancy here.

Day 11 – 4/5/12

Ray went into St Louis to have a chat to the local CFAO re a vehicle service. Avril remained at camp to do laundry. We relaxed in the afternoon.

A few environmental points since crossing into The Gambia and north Senegal:

We think we have now seen some of  the worst flies, ever – Avril reckons she will never complain about the flies in Oz again.

The mosquitos are worse than further south. Maybe the time of the year?

Away from the coast it is very hot, however at the coast it is cool. We need to wear long pants and a warm top in the evening. Still no need for a blanket on the bed.

Day 12– 5/5/12

Chores & relaxing.

Part of the days interest was watching a snake kill and then eat a lizard in the camp ground. Australia may have a reputation for snakes, but we have seen a lot more in Africa than at home.

Day 13 – 6/5/12

Cleaning & relaxing.
We invited a Uwe Welitsch (German chap) Jabril ElBandar (his Moroccan) driver; driving North to South, over for dinner and had a good natter about routes, places to stay etc.

Day 14 – 7/5/12

Relaxing and Avril washing (but she finds this relaxing anyway!). We walked to the local village to get some fruit and veg. The north of Senegal does not seem to have a supply of good quality fresh produce.