The end, or is it just the BEGINNING?

The day starts later than I’m used to here. I had been used to going to bed with the sunset and waking at dawn but here it’s different.

Having electric light and company has been a big change for me and to be honest it’s been kind of OK..

I have had a couple of months pretty much on my own, meeting people for a day or two at the most, which was what I wanted and on this adventure I have achieved that aim.

The Elephants Nest is a meeting place for travellers and there have been a few here over the last few days too. A young Dutch couple who are driving in a Landcruiser, a Portuguese couple doing the same and a German guy in a VW Transporter Syncro (4X4).

Each have their own stories and they have been nice to be around, but for me there’s definitely too much beer on the menu! It’s OK for the odd night but starting drinking at 10.30am was a bit too much for me.

I do miss having my bike..

I had an interesting trip out to the builders merchants today, the language barrier was a limitation but I managed to buy some floor paint for the owner at the auberge, I was at a loose end and thought it would be interesting to see how things work out here.

Today was a little different as all  the overlanders left to continue their journeys apart from one chap called Baard, a Norwegian Entrepreneur we have been getting on well and tonight we went out for a very interesting meal.

We went into town and found this well recommended restaurant, it’s was a bit of a surprise when we learned about the specials on the menu, not your usual European delights, there was snake, lizard and crocodile! 

Well with that amazing array of choice, and neither of us ever having eaten these things before, we opted for the crocodile, what else?

It was an interesting meal, a bit like chicken but very bony and the very helpful owner said we should also eat the skin. The skin was a bit slimy and not really palatable and as you would expect, the scales were rock hard and I would need some different teeth to get through that!

Nevertheless the meal was good, the pimento (chilli) was incredibly hot, the crocodile was nice when you could actually find the meat, the french fries were lovely and the cold beer washed it all down well. I probably wouldn’t eat crocodile again though! Maybe next time I will go for the snake!!

The taxis in Grand Bissam are brilliant, there’s literally one along every minute, they toot if they have space, it’s fixed price so you pay 200CFA for wherever you want to go in the town, they stop frequently to fill any remaining seats and you meet many people this way, all going about their own business. The taxis however are all on their last legs though and have galactic miles on the clock but the African mechanics keep them running regardless. They knock, bang and rattle as they negotiate the potholed roads and surprisingly most don’t burn too much oil! In this area they are mostly Toyota Corollas and are all painted red, it helps to hold them together!

Back at the Elephants Nest there is mixed news today, almost every traveller here has problems, I had the issues with my bike, the Portuguese couple have an oil seal gone on their Landcruiser, the young Dutch have some issues with the suspension on their car and probably worst of all the German guy, Robert broke his foot surfing at the beach and is now in plaster. It’s going to take a minimum of 45 days to fix that and for him it’s a game changer. He’s driving a VW 4x4 Camper and it’s a manual gearbox. He can’t drive it now, which means that he has to make a big decision, who knows how that’s going to turn out. 

The point I’m making here is that travelling in this area is tough, it’s great fun and you see some amazing things and challenge yourself on a personal basis daily, but the resources are limited, the roads are awful and it’s terribly hard on vehicles which presents some difficult problems all of which have to be solved with severely limited resources. The mechanics do their best but their tools are all worn out and they work mainly outside in the dust and sand. 

Robert, the German decided to cut off his plaster and strapped his foot and is now wearing his boots which will allow him to drive, he left for Ghana to spend Christmas on the beach whilst his broken foot heals, I hope that works out well for him. Baard the Norwegian left to drive back to Europe through Mali, Mauritania and Western Sahara etc. The Elephants Nest has a regular supply of fresh travellers and more arrived today.

I’m now on my last four days in Africa and I’ve been trying to figure out how to conclude this series of blogs, to be honest I’m finding it difficult.

This adventure has probably been one of the biggest and most challenging journeys I have completed in my whole life. When I left home on the 1st October I had the whole journey mapped out on my head, I didn’t plan too much and that worked out well. I have ridden through open plains of Spain, the deserts, gorges and mountains in Morocco, the vast open desert in Western Sahara, the bleached and blisteringly hot, almost Luna landscapes of Mauritania. It started to change upon entering Senegal when I took a few rest days at Zebrabar near St Louis where I swam in warm seas and plucked massive acacia thorns from my trusty crocs. 

I was then back in the road heading for The Gambia and picked up my first ‘project’, a water issue in the Tumani Tendra jungle camp where I swam in The Gambia river, cut my foot and nearly got swept away downriver.

I was then back in the road to Senegal heading for Guinea Bissau where I headed off piste to wild camp in a superb spot at Ponte Biambo where the vultures homed in on my camp and stayed the whole night, it was at this point that I decided it was time to wash my sleeping gear! The smell must have kept the vultures interested.

I then decided to step things up and take a dry season road whilst still in the wet season and a three day, almost torturous ride through the jungle was probably the best experience I have ever had. It was incredibly physically hard and technically difficult and of course included loading the bike into a canoe to cross a huge river. I remember that very well, everything I had was at stake, if the canoe went over that would have been the end, all this in 38 degree heat and about 80% humidity in full bike gear, it was amazing and I would do it again in an instant!

Jungle borders are a different world, thatched mud huts on nothing more than footpaths, guns, chimps, huge lizards, it felt like a lawless place, but in the end it all worked out fine.

Guinea Conakry was next where I secured my last visa, then headed into Sierra Leone where ultimately I lost the bike. 

It all changed in Sierra Leone, i picked up two more projects which I will study in more detail when Christmas is over. I met the preacher, attended an African wedding and spent a week experiencing the various delights of this country whilst trying to sort out the bike and ultimately arranging to have it shipped home. That was a sad day but I had to continue, my flight was booked already and I decided to bite the bullet and travel by public transport

The bike bit was over and it took a little time to get over that. Travelling here on local buses, taxis and 4X4,s gave me a real taste of what’s its like to live and move around here. Half of the time I had no idea what was going to happen, I was now at the mercy of local drivers. The cars were on their last legs often only being repaired when the drivers had the money from that days passengers in their pockets, imagine that in the UK!

Inevitably the cars didn’t make the whole journeys and broke down in the middle of nowhere, so I had to sort out other options.

Riding through the jungle on the roof of a pickup at night, coupled with terrible road conditions followed by hair raising Moto taxi rides, again on extremely challenging jungle roads with deep water crossings thrown in to reach my final border, was another highlight for me, I won’t forget that in a hurry!

The following 14 hour bus journey, crammed in like sardines with 40 or so other passengers, including the chickens and various other forms of cargo was an interesting experience. I can’t pretend it was comfortable but I enjoyed the journey nonetheless. It did take several days to ease my aching bones though!

And so I arrived at my final destination, Abidjan, I didn’t really expect to arrive so quickly and this left me at a loose end. I’m not a fan of being in one place for long periods but without independent travel I just decided to stay put and relax for a while.

I’ve met loads of travellers here, all with their own personal agendas, all was going well until I woke up a couple of days ago to see a Overland prepped Husky 701 parked on the drive! A sad reminder of my own bike, the rider a 30 year old woman called Charlotte heading for Cape Town, I had to get over that, I can’t change my circumstances now.

I’ve had an amazing time and I have enjoyed writing the blogs, it took a huge effort at times and I worked against all odds to keep them rolling. Internet and constantly changing SIM cards was a pain in the rear but overall it’s worked out fine.

So it’s here I will officially sign off, I do have a few more days left but for this blog the goals for this adventure have been achieved.

Massive thanks to all those who have followed my adventure, your encouragement and constant support has helped me stay on the right track, the liking and sharing worked well and I’ve made lots of new friends as a direct result of this.

So I’m sat in the sun, at the halfway point to Cape Town, after two and a half months on the road accepting the challenges and experiences that an adventure like this delivers on a daily basis.

Out of almost all of the Travellers I have met in Africa I have been the oldest, many nearing my age declare it’s their last chance, I feel like I’m just getting started !

This is Africa.

Max Jowett

Patrick was removed by the police from an abusive father on a jungle plantation, thankfully he’s now enjoying a much better life.

Bitten on my eyelid by the ever present mosquitoes, don’t you just love em!

There are some amazing colonial buildings in the French quarter at Grand Bissam, sadly falling into disrepair after many years of neglect.

It’s difficult to appreciate but the surf was 4 to 5 meters here. The one advisory from the German Embassy is to stay out of the sea! A couple of weeks back five travellers went in to surf and only four came out..

Amazing beach but sadly littered with plastic, on a Sunday this area comes alive and the beach is crowded with locals enjoying the sun, sea, sand and beer!

Horse riders at tearing through the crowds at full gallop!!

It’s beginning to feel a lot like Christmas!