Monday 25 November 2013

Two wheels too Many



Steve and I commenced our homeward run today, albeit a little later than  anticipated. It was close to 11 o'clock before having breakfasted with Anita, Cath and Richard, paid the teams bill and said all our goodbyes that we rolled out of the gates of Luigis Complex for the run up to Soma for the Farafenni ferry. After much discussion and debate we had decided to go with Julies advice and spurn the joys of the Barra ferry in favour of the allegedly easier crossing nearly 100 miles up river. It still took a couple of hours to get across to the north bank  but it was indeed stress free and 190 Dalasis a bargain. As was the border crossing from Gambia back into Senegal, although that we did get charged a "sunday suppliment" of 5000 cfa rather than the correct amount of 2500 cfa, however I can live with that one!
And so we headed north towards Nioro du Rip as the sun started its final descent into twilight. It had been a good day and as far as I am concerned, the most relaxed day of the trip. With the drama queen now safely back with his carer, Steve and I have already formed a great team of two...  Dinner, cooked by me from the left over stores was small deep fried potatoes with meat balls, carrots and green beans... with not a chilli in sight. It was going to be followed up with pancakes and butterscotch sauce but I'd forgotten to get the eggs so that treat awaits us a little further on.
As I sit here in the morning twilight it has just started to rain very gently, nothing to get excited about as doubt it will even lay the dust on this rough section of road by which we are camped. We are about halfway between the border at Keur Ayip and Nioro du Rip, so with a little luck we should be at the Zebrabar tonight ready for the crossing to Mauritania in the morning.... or the next day, depending on how we feel.
Tonight (Monday) we are back at theZebrabar. An earlyish start and a trouble free run across Senegal saw us arriving here just before 5pm to enjoy a cold beer and a hot shower, and yes in that order. Both of us are enjoying the relaxed and hassle free nature of the return trip. We've far managed to put the world to rights, solve world debt, poverty and put an end to wars... and that's only day two!!!!  We have again spurned the luxury of cabins in favour of our cosy little tents and about to enjoy the local fresh caught fish for dinner. Our plan is to pay the bill tonight to allow us an early start for the border in the morning... but we'll have to wait and see what time we awake,after all one of the biggest joys of this trip is the lack of schedule.....

I love it when a plan comes together, ok, maybe we were a little later than planned leaving the Zebrabar but only about half an hour. So having not managed to catch Martin last night I worked out our bill and left the money in an envelope attached to the honesty  book. By 8.30 we were tackling our first hurdle...the Senegalese customs at Diama. Wwas I surprised when he found an "irregularity" in our paperwork????????  No,not for a second. However I was very surprised when the guy from the police intervened on my behalf and the customs man phoned through to Farafenni to confirm that we had taken the C90s out of Senegal. All in all, an hour and a half is probably something of a record through this border.
Steve took over the driving as we left the border and as he had never driven off-road in a 4x4 before he was looking forward to the challenge. It was great from my point of view to be able to enjoy watching the vast variety of wildlife as we ran along the piste through the reserve. I've never seen so many different species of birds in one place before; Egrets, pelicans, storks and a plethora of others which I could never identify but loved watching! A whole family of 5 warthogs plus of course the usual cattle, goats, sheep and the odd camel. The drive itself was thankfully uneventful and taken at a sensible pace a joyful and relaxed experience compared to the outward journey where we kept having to stop to wait for a couple of really slow riders to catch up. As one of the front runners was always Chris who had never ridden off-road before it wasn't that the pace was fast....
Approaching a police check at the end on the new tarmac road we spotted a long line of vehicles stopped on the opposite side of the road. On closer inspection it turned out to be competitors on the Amsterdam to Banjul banger rally complete with military escorts!!! This was something we had been offered for the Scoots but I declined it as firstly I still feel that the threat to us is negligible and secondly that it would cause us problems with the low speed that we run at. Something that would have been even more of an issue this year as it is by far the slowest run I have ever done.
Lunch was the ubiquitous cheese triangles with half a banana each; boy do we know how to live !!!! Nightfall saw us neatly back at the same wild camp we had used on the way down, meaning that in spite of only running at around 45 to 50 mph we have covered exactly the same distance as had taken us 2 days on the  way down. We dined well on Spam fritters, saute potatoes, carrots and sweetcorn, which Steve declared to be the best meal of the trip so far ! A nice cold beer or even a glass of red wine would have gone down nice with it but this is Mauritania, dry country!!!!
Hopefully today will see us across the minefield and into Western Sahara where another night of wild camping awaits us. We have a little over 200 miles to the border so as long as we have no problems along the way it shouldn't be too much to ask to get through the border before dark. The trip is turning into a bit of a Zen and the art of motorcycle maintenance type trip with Steve and I discussing and exploring a whole variety of issues and topics which makes the time simply fly by!

Hmm, i guess it was the 'no problems' that did it!!! We'd had a really good run, arriving at the Mauritanian border at around 1.30. We simple flew through the formalities and headed off into the mine field. We had swapped drivers a bit before the border as it is easier for me to jump in and out of the truck at the various border control points,so Steve took us carefully across no-mans land to the Moroccan side. First couple bits, police and immigration were no trouble then it all sort of stalled... Initially I was sent back and forth between offices and then we were directed to the huge vehicle scanner. Having got into the queue,we were then told to reverse back as lorries were going through in both directions ???? So we sat and waited ..... and waited.... and waited... Well TIA we kept saying ! But it soon became apparent that everyone else was also waiting... and waiting... and waiting... we watched as the little red light on the scanner went on off, an on and off....well you get the picture! Yes, the bloody thing had broken down. Every time they switched it on it tripped its generator! For 4 hours we watched as time and time again the same men went back and forth trying the same thing each time like some stupid comedy, until eventually they actually realised that it wasnt going to run so sent us on our way... although not without a couple of last minute visits back to the customs offices. Four and a half hours after our nice early arrival we finally left the border, fortunately, still in daylight. So now we are camped about 20 miles north of the border next to he ruins of a small building on a rather rocky bit of land. Dinner was once again managed sans chilli and our digestive systems and taste buds are slowly beginning to recover !!! An early night a cold biting wind is whistling around our tents, will hopefully mean an early start as we head north through the disputed territory of Western Sahara tomorrow.
Yesterday we broke the back of our homeward journey. Accompanied by the sounds of The Eagles, Van Morrison, Simon & Garfunkle, et al we ran virtually the entire length of Western Sahara, over 500 miles in our 12 hours on the road. How much easier it is to get 2 people packed and moving than 9! I'm still the first up with kettle on and often first cup of tea drunk by the time Steve stirs, but I love sitting and watching the eastern skies slowly explode into a myriad of fabulous colours as dawn breaks once more. As we are generally snuggled into our tents quite early even getting up at 6am is not a chore. We are now at the Le Roi Bedouin campsite once more, just above Layouune where we dinned on lemon  chicken tagine last night with a nice bottle of red wine. I slept very soundly !!!
Today we plan a fairly leisurely start to our morning before heading on to Tan Tan where will try briefly to obtain a couple of parts we need for the lighting on the truck and trailer. To be honest I'm not too concerned as I'm sure we will get them in Algeciras before our run up through Spain. Once through Tan Tan it's on to Guilmim before turning east and the southern desert area of Morocco. It's an area neither of us have ever been to before and it will be good to get away from our outward route for a while. We are hoping to make a big loop around and tackle the Rif mountains from the East as we run back to the port at Tangier Med.
At the moment it's looking as though we may make the Santander crossing in time for our booked crossing on the 30th November but we'll have to see what the next few days hold in store. With us both now feeling a lot fitter than a when we left The Gambia we are really looking forward to doing a bit of exploring both on and off road. With my asthma now subsiding at long last I'm sleeping much better and Steve's stomach also seems to be getting over his chilli poisening so he is eating better.
The nights are much colder now than on our outward journey so my sleeping bag is being zipped up fully for the first time on since leaving home but the days are still very hot although sometime with a stiff cool breeze
As it sit here typing this the sky has just exploded into a huge red fireball lighting up the underside of the morning clouds in an almost florescent orange as the sun awaits it's moment to burst upon us in it's display of dawn splendour. A magnificent sight to behold!

We had another good days run today, marred only by Steve picking up a 70 euro fine for jumping a hidden stop sign in Tan Tan. He had slowed right down at the junction but to be fair the wheels probably didnt stop and low and behold a gendarme just happened to be lurking behind a rather large tree just around the corner. I tried the indignant Brit abroad routine but to no avail so we paid up meekly and drove away very slowly....
We ran up to Guelmim and then started looking for a camp site. Steve found a few in the guide book that sounded a bit dire and then spotted one that sounded better but in the wrong direction. By now it was about 4 pm so we decided to take a look even though it was some 9km down a piste. Wow! after a fantastic drive through  some small hills we finally found Fort Bou Jerif campsite and hotel and what a find! In a spectacular location sat the best hotel and restaurant of the trip so far complete with swimming pool and best of all lovely hot showers....

Before dinner, whilst Steve sat and read, I wandered off for a walk and found the actual Fort from which the place takes its a name. A huge complex which i assume to be from the French Foriegn Legion, not very well preserved but interesting never the less if only for its sheer scale. Dinner did not dissappoint, home made soup followed by beef brochettes served with a lovely fresh tomato salad and finished off with a slab of rich chocolate cake..mmmm!
 This morning when I awoke it was to the first rain we have seen in over a month... very light and gentle, but still very wet! We are quite near to the coast so the hope is that we will lose it as we run inland this morning towards Zagora. Tonight it will be back to wild camping, hopefully somewhere on the piste a bit before Zagora but we'll have to wait and see what transpires on our run across. First we have to pack away our soggy tents and do breakfast which if it follows the form of last nights dinner won't disappoint...
Back on the road once more our first port of call was the fort itself. I had walked down to it alone yesterday evening but was happy to pay a return visit to enable Steve to have a wander around the majestic ruins. It was back along the 9km to the road before picking up our route across the base of Morocco, or at least what would have been the base before they annexed Western Sahara which has almost doubled the size of what was already an enormous country. Our plan was to cross to Zagora and then Erfoud by the lowest practicable roads, be they surfaced or piste, stopping wherever we happened to find ourselves just before sunset each evening. Then to head north to the eastern end of theRif mountains if time allowed before crossing to Spain on Thursday morning. We reckoned that should give us just enough time to cross Spain in time for our Ferry on Saturday afternoon from Santander. Which is why we are now camped just outside Foum Zguid !
Oh well, WiFi just doesn't want to play ball on this trip. Coming out of Zagora this afternoon I was thumbing through the campsite directory and spotted a site which boasted WiFi, only toget here to discover that the internet througout the entire area id down...Ho Hum!!
Another spectacular drive through and over the mountains today, most of it on piste rather than tarmac. The driving wasn't difficult as none of it was at all technical, although it would be very different after heavy rain as we crossed and re-crossed a river numerous times and some of the climbs would also be very slippery. But it was great fun, even thiugh we were both wishing we were on two wheels rather than four. Arriving in Zagora we spotted a small cafe restaurant as sat down to salad and tagines. We  were soon joined by another couple of toubabs in the form of an Australian couple who were on a four month world tour after recently retiring from work.
From Zagora we ran up the Draa valley which is supposed to be one of the "must see" sights of the area, but I must confess to have been a little disappointed as it simply didn't stand comparison with what we had driven through earlier in the day.... However tour buses are not exactly known for their offroad capabilities so to your average package tourist i guess it is a bit special! Tonight we opted for the soft option of a camp site with the promise WiFi, cold beers and hot showers.... Hmm, that'll teach us! Not even 1 out of 3 was to be had...

Sorry about lack of photos (again !) will post later

Tonight back at Midelt campsite with temperature about 25c lower than when we were here on the way out.... Think it might be thermals in bed tonight but trying a nice bottle of red anti-freeze with dinner which may help to keep out the cold.....

Friday 15 November 2013

Apologies!


Leaving Eddies Place in Faraffeni



And so another Scooters in the Sahara trip draws to a close as we head out to the coast and a little bit of luxury before the team fly home and Steve and I prepare for the long journey back overland to the UK. We will probably be spending 3 nights at Banjul relaxing and meeting up with Sulyman as well as having a last mealand debrief with Anita and Co as they arrive on Saturday afternoon. One problem we face is that with the temporary closure of the Barra ferry for repairs, we have to drive all the way back to at least Soma and maybe even Janjangburreh to cross the Gambia river river before heading north for the Zebrabar

Our reception committee as we arrive at Bansang on the ferry

Its been a hectic few days for those of us that stayed at Bansang, but I think all who stayed at the hospital have thoroughly  enjoyed it and all would have liked to have just a little more time here but such is the schedule on a scoots trip, it just can’t be done. The work done by the guys has been magnificent with most of the mosquito screens put up and a completely new systems of wires setup in the newly refurbished male ward to carry privacy screens which can be pulled around any bed, replacing the old broken portable screens. The system wouldn’t look out of place in an NHS ward !

For a variety of reasons communications have been a little difficult this time around with WiFi being very hard to find and incredibly slow when it was found. Even mobile phone didn’t want to work once south on Morocco in areas where we have never previously experienced difficulties. Hence the lack of blog and website updates for which I can only apologise. It also hasn’t helped matters with me suffering with the worst and most sustained asthma attack of my life which has been leaving me feeling pretty exhausted at the end of each day. Couple that with the stress of having to deal with a whinging willy every moment of every day….. well I’m sure you get the picture.  However the other guys (and lady) have been great in the support that they have given, which is probably the only reason that there isn’t a body buried somewhere deep in the Sahara Desert….

A little bit of luxury - Luigis Complex, Banjul

If you want to catch up on the real flavour of the trip our youngest (and newest) rider this year Chris Smith has been avidly typing into his smartphone at every available moment as only the young can! Chris has give his blessing for me to copy it over to my blog, or I thought better still you can read it in its entirety at http://critsmit.tumblr.com/ It is very well written and certainly gives a flavour of the trip from a different perspective.

Today (Saturday) Steve and I will be trying to sort the trailer out to make our lives a littler easier on the road back. We will also be popping up to the local supermarket for some food, as whilst we still have a huge amount on board I think if either of us has to face another 5 bean chilli or curry we may well scream… in fact I don’t think I will ever be able to look a chilli in the eye again!!!!

Hopefully the truck will be OK after it’s interface with a rather large goat at some considerable velocity on the way down! It’s made a bit of a mess of the front panel and aircon radiator, but as the aircon wasn’t working anyway it should be too much of a problem. I think both Steve and I will be running somewhat slower than Sutay’s pace when we set off, not least we are both looking forward to being able to just stop whenever we wish for photos of anything else.

I may get a chance to upload another short update before we leave otherwise expect silence at least until we arrive in Morocco.

Monday 28 October 2013

Friday 25th October




Today marks the first day of our second week on the road. Two weeks today we are scheduled to be in Bansang and there’s a hell of a long way to go yet ! Our second day of riding in Africa has gone really well, if a little slowly, but we have got to where we should be so that is a huge plus point. The team are working reasonably well together, whilst occasionally knocking the rough coners of each other if you get my drift… No dummies have been spit too far and all’s right with the world.

One of our Coffee Stops... Contrary to popular belief I do let them stop occasionally

Today has been a fairly low mileage day but with the route taking in the infamous road through Zoumi it has been anything but easy riding. A very special mention must go to Chris who lost his off road virginity with a long section of loose soft gravel where the road has just been regarded, and handled it magnificently. However the surface was a thousand times better than when we road it on the Scoots trip when it was nothing but a lattice work of tamac with huge potholes everywhere, give me the gravel anytime. At the moment I’m sitting outside Volubilis whilst the team do the sightseeing bit. As I’ve seen it several times before I volunteered to stay with the bikes so that they could leave there jackets and helmets on them with confidence that they will still be here when they return in an hour or so.

The camp site at Moulay Idriss is only about 5 miles away so we should be set up nicely before dark ready for another treat from Andy the Chef! As most of us had something of a disturbed night last night with a disco or something of that ilk going until 3am then the 4am call to prayer, a very noisy cockerel and some equally noise bikers starting the bike about ½ an hour before they actually left the camp, I don’t thing anybody will be staying up very late tonight. Tomorrow is something of a longer day mileagewise as we head down to Midelt and a camp I haven’t used before, so it also has something of the unknown about it as the only time I have run over the route I was on my good old airhead… but I finished up in Marrakesh that time. A trip that will take us at least two days…More pics to come once Ive recharged computer....

Africa Day One!


Goodbye Gibraltar!


Our first days riding in Africa also saw our first puncture of the trip. Andy (The Chef) managed to collect a flat rear but stopped without further incident. The resulting inner tube change wouldn’t have won and prizes for speed, but Joe and John got stuck in and sorted the problem, which was the important thing ! As is also often the case in such situations, someone wasn’t watching their mirrors very often and consequently 4 of us road on for some mile until I spotted something wrong on a bit of a loop in the road which enabled me to see back further than I had previously been able to. By the time we rejoined the group the wheel was off and the punctured tube already removed.

Little and Large at Chefchaouen Camp site.


I think everyone enjoy4ed their first days riding in Africa, except for poor old Steve who was the subject of a most unfortunate incident in the Supermarket car park. I was trying to make some room in the back of the truck for the water,beer and other supplies I had just bought, when on passing a bag to Steve, something in his arm gave way, leaving him in agony for the rest of the day. Thankfully, tonight, he seems a little better and has stated his intention to ride tomorrow. Hopefully a nights rest and a few more pills will see him OK come morning, if still a littler sore.

Tonight we are at the usual first night in Africa haunt of Chefchaouen’s Camp Asilan, grateful for the warm, dry ride we have had and the reasonable ride down through Spain. Tomorrow we head south once more and inspite of some reservations I have decided that we will run across the road to Zoumi. My misgivings are due to the state of the road when we last ventured over it in March 1012 when the tarmac had all but disappeared, leaving us with a very slow and tortuous ride. But I still think that overall it is worth the hassle. I just hope we don’t get too many punctures.  By nightfall we should be at our other regular campsite in north Morocco; Moulay Idriss. Whether we will visit Volubilis remains to be seen. That really depends on the group and whether Roman ruins float their boat or not.

It has cooled off somewhat, but we are camped at a little over 700 metres so it is to be expected. With a perfectly clear starry night sky above us I think we should all sleep well in out little tents full off anticipation of the day to come.