Overlanding and adventure tours
Overlanding and adventure tours
- Overlanding explained
- Kingdoms and Carnivals expedition diary
- Andi and Grant's Trans-Africa diary
- The Festival of the Desert
- 11th July 2006: Arriving in Cape Town
- 15th May: Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania
- 19th April: From Congo to Nairobi
- 23rd February 2006: Getting to Gabon
- 13th February 2006: Crossing into Cameroon
- 30th January 2006: Timbuktu to Ghana
- 23rd December 2005: Mali
- 15th December 2005: Mauritania
- 2nd December 2005: Morocco and Mauritania
- 6th November 2005: Morocco
- Trans Africa Expedition
- Pre-departure interview with Oasis Overland
- Pre-departure interview with overlanding gapper
- Overlanding the Silk Road
Follow an overland truck across Africa 23rd December: Toward TimbuktuSo this is how celebrities feel... Stocked up on meat, vegetables, ice and beer, we head off to leave Mauiritania and some of the tar roads behind us. We went through some extremely remote villages and as we pass through we discover that we are the show piece - children run from school blocks and houses and people stop what they were doing to give us a wave. What a way to say goodbye to Mauritania. We headed for a town called Nema, then through dry river beds to find our way to the border to exit Mauritania. As we passed through the town, it felt like every child possible was chasing the truck or even hanging onto the back! We wonder why we are such a spectacle, and then realise when we exit the country that in the past year we are only the 36th set of tourists to pass through this border in 2005. As we enter Mali there was a change straightaway, as we are presented with black Africa as apposed to Arab Africa. We are also grateful to find a bar with cold beers - something we have not really seen in the past four weeks!  Heaven is a place on earth We then make our way to Bamako where we find a campsite that we think is heaven, Cold drinks and a swimming pool on the Niger. What more could one ask for?! We spend a few days in Bamako getting visas, treating ourselves to Pizza, stocking up on fireworks and checking the post office for Christmas cards. Some of the guys also check out the Burnake club scene. The guys who went to Senegal finally arrive and let us in on their adventures. We hear stories of amazing jazz, fishing trips, visiting Gambia, queuing for rail tickets as well as a few bribery stories. Everyone sounds as though they are had an amazing time. We then left this enormous city behind us and started making our way to the Dogon country. Heading off on a three day trek with Ok (our guide) everyone makes their way down the escarpment and through the tiny villages with their beautiful mud mosques and colourful markets. The variety of noises you hear in the distance are amazing; from the man singing in the mosque to the donkeys and chickens waking up,. It really is undescribable, one needs to be here to appreciate the beauty.  Court outJas has his birthday in the Dogon village of Kani Kombole, where a few drinks are in order. There is also dancing with the children throughout the night. There was also a session of Kangaroo Court where everyone on the truck was up on a charge for something they had done over the last six weeks. There was a punishment fit for each crime, some alot harsher than others. Do not worry the judge will get his own back. From the Dogon country, we head to Mopti (The Venice of Mali, according to Lonely Planet) and arrange to get a pinasse for a three day journey to Timbuktu, sleeping along the Niger river on the way. Eighteen of the group decide to go up on the boat with seven of us following in the truck as Grant has always wanted to drive to Timbuktu. That's it for now. We wish you all a Happy New Year from Timbuktu!
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