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The
Journal Travel Journal Africa Day 40 - Birnin Konni, Niger to Kano, Nigeria Because of the mechanical problems, we had decided against the Lake Chad (off road) route and opted instead to chance our arm in Nigeria (according to some a nightmare due to constant police stops, where they demand money). Partly because we were keen not to draw attention to ourselves, and partly because we wanted to reach Kano that day and were unsure how long it might take, we got up a dawn and were 'on the road again' by seven. Just before the border we filled both vehicles and all our Jerry cans as Nigeria is supposed to have frequent fuel shortages. With some trepidation headed for the border post. The Niger side was fine and the initial Nigeria police check no problem. At the customs check however we started to see what people had been talking about. On the wall was a list of all the items you're not allowed to import: medications, air compressors, bottled water etc. Basically a licence to print money if you're so inclined. Fortunately for us, only one custom official caused us any real difficulty, insisting for a gift to avoid him searching Bert and Ernie. Given that if all of the 'contraband' had been found we were sure the fines would be equally ridiculous we reached an amicable solution. Next hurdle were the police checks which are at regular (often every 20km) intervals and where we had heard they often ask for money. We decided that only slowing slightly (NOT stopping), smiling, waving and a loud 'hello' would be our approach and it worked remarkable well, only actually having to stop twice. Even when we stopped and they inevitably asked for a gift, a polite 'no' always meant they waved us on our way. The even occasionally asked if we were there to observe the election. Kano is a city of about 3 million people and attempting to navigate around it to the State Campsite with nothing but the Lonely Planet at dusk on a Friday proved fun. Miraculously it only took about an hour and a half. At the campsite we were told due to the local elections throughout the country the next day, the Government had banned all non-essential road travel and that it was possible/likely we wouldn't get through the police checks between eight and three. Over dinner that night we decided to press on regardless, figuring that we had our green crosses on the vehicles and as white people might be mistaken for election observers or health workers. If we stuck to our police stop method we might get lucky. We decided to leave extra-early so that even if we were stopped at eight we would have at least made a start. Day 39 - Niamey to Birnin Konni We were woken at just after five by the call to prayer - never the best alarm call - and got up shortly after. Andy and Giles headed to the Chad Embassy in town whilst Austin and Duncan did the daily vehicle checks (fluid levels, tyres etc) and crawled around under the cars to check there'd been no more oil leaks. All was looking good and we all agreed that we would keep our fingers crossed and plan to drive to Chad before addressing Bert's loss of power again. The Chad Embassy had our visas ready a couple of hours later and after a 'quick' visit to the bank (no ATMs) we were all done by lunch-time. As we'd thought getting the Chad visas might take 24 hours we decided to make the most of our extra time and head out of Niamey straight away. Again with the thoughts of banditry in our minds we wanted to make it a good few hundred miles away before pitching camp. Despite shocking roads inside Niamey, the roads outside town were good and we made it to near Birnin Konni, pulled of the road behind some bushes (to keep out of sight) and set camp. Giles treated us to wonderful Hamburgers for supper (who says you have to rough it) and we settled in for the night. Day 38 - Ouagadougou, Burkina to Niamey, Niger With the oil leak eventually fixed but still no closer to solving Bert's lost power we decided to press on to Niamey. The reports of bandits around Niamey meant we were keen to make it there in one day and avoid bush camping. Fortunately the roads were sealed and in quite good condition except for a small stretch just before and after the border and there were no problems on the border itself, meaning we were able to make it to Niamey just before six o'clock. The Lonely Planet describes Niamey as 'like the end of the Earth' but we were much more impressed. We found it much more modern and friendly than we'd expected and with a pleasant (if noisy) campsite in the heart of town. We decided to treat ourselves to a meal out and after failing to find our first choice restaurant ended up at a very nice Chinese to fill our faces. Tired we headed to bed at our usual ten o'clock - crazy. On
our first morning we split up to try and get started on both acquiring
Niger visas and fixing the vehicle. The unfriendly immigration official
initially said that the visas may be ready that day. However, when
we failed to respond to his subtle hints that he required 'motivation'
to achieve the lengthy process of lifting up the stamp and placing
on a page in our passport, he changed his tune and said that we'd
have to come back next week! Having
slept well following a night undisturbed by mossies, fires or local
children we set off for the Burkina border. The Carnet again worked
wonders and we crossed into our ninth country without any spurious
'border taxes'. Bamako
proved to be a pleasant surprise, especially after the difficult
previous day. We were ready for something positive and hoped we
would get the visa for Burkina Faso that we needed with a minimum
of hassle. Because
of our relatively sleepless night we didn't exactly leap out of
bed but nonetheless managed to be on the road again and making our
way towards the capital city of Bamako. We had picked up a newly
laid road outside Kayes and were pleasantly surprised to find it
carrying on way beyond where we were expecting. This meant that
we had made a considerable mileage by the time the road eventually
ran out and we were looking like we could make Bamako by nightfall. After
an early start we arrived at the border to Mali raring to go. The
border is set rather impressively on a bridge and having eventually
discovered the correct offices we made our way across the bridge
and found ourselves in our next country, Mali. The surroundings
had changed fairly subtly over the last couple of hundred miles
as it became more lush and verdant and flat plains started to show
some undulation. A less pleasant change was going from tarmac to
pot holed track again and our speed reduced to a crawl at times. Day 28 - The Gambia to Senegal We
bid a fond farewell to Joe, Wolfgang and the Sukuta Campsite and
headed with Joe's advice on the route to set us on our way making
for the border. The contrast to the first crossing into Senegal
was remarkable with the Carnet de Passage making life considerably
easier. This had been DHL'd out to us in Banjul after finally being
cleared and was gratefully received. The end of four days in Sukuta saw ourselves and the vehicles in a far better state. Bert
and Ernie have now had a good service as well as the jacking point
on Ernie being mended courtesy of the local ingenious welder. An
unfortunate discovery was made when we put both the vehicles up
on ramps to inspect the underside and grease the various universal
joints, this being that Bert seems to be losing oil from near the
transfer gearbox. We topped up the levels and arranged for a new
seal to be fitted and kept our fingers crossed. Naturally the camp site owner 'knew a man' who could help us out (there's no official Land Rover dealership in The Gambia) but he obviously wasn't available until the next day - the same day the Carnet was due. The clutch seems to be sticking somewhere but we're not exactly sure why and so have opted to replace it with the spare we were carrying and see what happens. The garage are changing the tyre with the dodgy valve and we can replace that ourselves. Both vehicles are going to be serviced at the same time and we're also hopeful that a solution to our bent jacking point can be found as we're not happy to jack the vehicle from that point at as it is. The campsite has proved a real find; friendly and helpful German owners and a site far enough away from the slightly grotty resorts to be peaceful and relaxing. Highly recommended to all. Up at eight for breakfast and do the daily vehicle checks so as to be ready when the border guard arrived at 10. Luckily he was bang on African time and arrived at Midday - about as late as it would have been possible for us to leave and make the border. The next 300km were pretty uneventful (thankfully) and were marked by the rising temperature (it's getting really quite hot in the Land Rovers now) and the worsening state of the road. The border crossing into The Gambia was amazingly easy although for the first (not last) time we were surrounded by hordes of money changers on our arrival. It's amazing what a difference speaking the language makes and the fact that everybody speaks English seemed to make life a whole lot easier. A short journey down to the river and across on the (last) ferry at ten o'clock meant we didn't make the campsite (Sukuta Campsite) here until almost midnight again. The plan was to refresh both ourselves and the Land Rovers (particularly Ernie's clutch) and collect our Carnet before the push on East. All that could wait until tomorrow. Another early start to try to repair some of our mistakes the night before (successfully) and now there were seven of us. Confidence was high that despite our lack of Carnet, JP would be able to get across the border. Confidence dipped somewhat when he got us lost within the first 2 miles….. The journey to Senegal made a nice contrast to what we'd seen before and the scenery was at least starting to resemble African Savannah. JP guided us South to Rosso (by all accounts a very difficult place to cross with no Carnet) and then along the piste to Djama - a small border post where we might be able to blag our way over without it costing too much money. Sadly the border guard there was less than impressed with the age of our cars and would only agree to us entering Senegal if he escorted us the following day to the Gambia - naturally we would have to pay for his 'expenses'. It was the best of a bad deal and so we headed to St Louis for the night with an agreement to meet him next morning for our onward trip to The Gambia. Day 20+1 Nouaghar to Nouakchott Due to the tides (!) we weren't able to leave until one o'clock (we'd passed on the opportunity to leave at 1am) and so were looking forward to being able to have a slow start to the day. Sadly the local children didn't agree and breakfast (deep fried dough balls) was served at 0730 accompanied by much singing. Comedy Ahmed decided it was unwise for the camper van to continue (what exactly had he thought and where were they to go from there?) and suggested just the Land Rovers head South from there. As there's no road (obviously) the route takes you along the beach. The journey has to be timed correctly though, as the sea comes up to the dunes at high tide and many vehicles have been washed away due to getting it wrong. Fortunately for us, we had Comedy Ahmed to guide us so we were able to spend an hour or so exploring the town before heading off with confidence. It's amazing where and how people are able to survive and Nouaghar is a case in point. Only a collection of a few dilapidated shacks on the edge of the most barren desert yet the people were friendly and helpful. We left the village at 1 ish (slightly later than Comedy wished) and still ended up stopping on the beach to allow the tide to go out a bit more. Speeding over the beach, up against the waves and with the seagulls scattering will remain one of the highlights of the trip. After that short stretch we dropped Comedy off and made 'surprisingly good' time along the well pisted (and eventually tarmac - hurrah) roads to Nouakchott.. We checked into Auberge Sahara - an absolute oasis of a place with hot showers, friendly staff, other English people and a dodgy Frenchman. As the valve on one tyre was playing up we decided to change it. We can now conclusively say attempting repairs on your Land Rover at six o'clock in the evening, in the semi-darkness, on gravel, after a two day hard trek across the desert is not a good idea. Fortunately (again) we didn't cause too much damage and have only a slightly bent jacking point as punishment. On the plus side, we met two English people who we offered lifts to and JP, our French 'businessman' who 'had done the Paris-Dakar many times' and could guide across the notoriously difficult Senegal border. |
