Gambia and beyond

Having spent a week on the so-called ‘smiling coast’ (more like a fixed grin), we realised it was more of an African Majorca than the tropical paradise we had hoped for. The only saving grace (for us anyway!) were the supermarkets. When Carruthers and I entered one, we were like children at Hamleys at Christmas, confronted as we were with bacon, Branston pickle, HP sauce and Ainsley Harriot cuppa soups, just like Waitrose but plus 50%.

Appalled by the drunken lobster red English tourists, we headed east. Following the course of the Gambia River we overnighted at Tendaba and engaged a local boatman to take us on a tour of the mangroves the following morning. Idyllic!

Continuing east we crossed back into Senegal, our easiest border crossing so far. Being this remote,  no one can be bothered to be corrupt and pestering, which was a joy… very unlike all the other border crossings in this region.

We arrived in Campment Wassadou further long the Gambia River. A stunning location over run with baboons, monkeys and on another river trip... hippos! Our next destination was the incredible forest waterfalls of Bassari Country, hard by the Guinea Conakry border (which, whilst slightly lost, we almost crossed by accident). After, by far our most extreme off-roading on the trip, we set up camp in the middle of a forest with the last wild chimpanzees in the area. The next morning, after our camp being riffled by mystery visitors in the night (baboons we think), we followed the course of the river on foot and arrived at a beautiful 35m waterfall.  A perfect opportunity to indulge in some adrenalin sports! After scaling a slagheap of a rock face, we made it to the top of the waterfall. Wet suited, helmeted and roped up we launched ourselves off for a thrilling abseil, finished with a plunge into the freezing pool below.

Everything great comes to an end (or so we thought) and we started the drive back to St Louis (over 1000km away!). The road back wound through the middle of Parc National Niokola Koba, a 9000 sq km parc in S.E Senegal. We had the fortune to pass through at sunset and were just settling in to the drive when a car on the other side began flashing its lights franticly… 3 lionesses walked along the road and into the bush. As we stopped in shock, one of the lionesses turned around just 5 meters from the car and gave us a long hard stare. Beni for once was extremely quiet.  Apparently there are only 40 lions in the whole park and therefore West Africa. We were extremely privileged to have seen them.

We were back to St Louis for Christmas and will be here for New Years eve in town tomorrow, which promises to have the streets filled with African beats and a grand fete atmosphere! 

 

Beach Batakunku, South of Banjul, Gambia.

Dinner one night and the Barra/ Banjul ferry in Gambia

Campment Wassadou

Carruthers relations?

The locals

Eggs au Savannah, near Segou

Carrithers moustache making a bid for freedom en route to the waterfall

 

Wetsuit by Channel! Carruthers attire by who knows!

At home in the forest

Lost near the Guinea Conkery border

St Louis in November

Having survived the bloodletting festival that is Tabaski where the streets run with gore... we've spent a delightful month exploring St Louis. We've both been busy at various tasks... Carruthers building a friends campsite at Mbutu on the shores of the Senegal River... tremendously beautiful and not a mosque for miles! I have been filming with an interesting local chap who doesn't speak a word of English, but we muddle through with my French. 

The night before last was Islamic New Year... very different to the debauched proceedings in Europe... here it felt a little like Halloween. Groups of cross-dressing children call at the house and with drumming and well-rehearsed dance routines they ask for small change and sweets. 

As we write, Carruthers is packing the Rolls for a journey south to Gambia, where draft beer, pig products and the English language await. We’re meeting with the Mad Professor to discuss his upcoming festival of reggae music on the beach (www.backtoafricafestival.com/). Looking forward to a clean beach minus the dead goats, turtles and sundry junk that one finds here. Delightful!

Tabaski

Our friends campment at Mbutu on the Senegal River

All the rest of these photos are Islamic New Years Eve.... (except for the Renault below!)

Asagiri Jam 2011

last remements of Japan seeping through..... have just finished this video for the festival....

Time-Lapse of the bridge in St Louis.

Beautiful! 

 

An ode to Bessie

Bessie was a much loved friend of Asagiri Jam and Fuji Rock in Japan... she was there when it counted!
This year's Asagiri Jam was her last. She will now live out her years next to Nakagima's cow shed with a view of Fuji San.

The Bats of St Louis

This was filmed from the balcony of our house... every evening the bats go to work....

St Louis Du Senegal

Tuesday 1^st November 2011

Next week is Tabaski., the Muslim world’s most important religious festival. It’s also called

"Festival of Sacrifice" or "Greater Eid" to commemorate the willingness of Abraham to sacrifice his son Ishmael as an act of obedience to God...before God intervened to provide him with a ram to sacrifice instead.

On Monday morning after morning prayers approximately 50 million sheep will have their throats cut across the Muslim world and a great feast will begin. We have two such sheep in our garden. They are being well looked after by our land-lady and washed daily in preparation of their death. Beni likes them dearly and unfortunately for the sheep, he is not making their last week in this world be a stress free one....

We have been invited by a Senegalese friend to join him and his family for the important event. I am looking forward to it immensely. 

Meanwhile, we have been marooned at home while new brake disks and pads are sent via DHL from Blighty. We thought all was going swimmingly until we received a text saying the package was clearing customs in Cincinnati, USA. Even though we had written St Louis Du Senegal many times.....Dastardly news as we really do have places to toddle off to in the Rolls. The disk brakes have since been to Leipzig, Brussels and Paris where they almost, went to Cincinnati again!!! Do these people not have a map! Thankfully it is now en route to Dakar... now just the local customs to clear! 

Chez Nous.... bottom photo is the view from the balcon

Carruthers showing his many talents.....

Tabaski preparation.... top right is a billboard in Dakar

Rave lives in Senegal

Via Japan

Wednesday 26^th October 2011

Sorry for the long delay…. Having been recalled to old country, Carruthers joined me after several weeks to escape the fever and mosquitoes of the rainey season. Darling Beni was left holding the fort at our recently acquired house and keeping an eye on the gardener etc etc.

In Blighty, Carruthers accepted a temporary posting to Japan, which has the pleasure of joining as a ‘diplomatic wife’. We had a splendid time in the shadow of Mount Fuji at the Asagiri Jam festival. The sun shone brightly, the music played loudly and the sake flowed freely. Whilst there, Carruthers took the opportunity to make an honest woman of me (really!).

On leaving Japan, we embarked on a journey in the vein of Phillius Fogg. Leaving Japan and arriving to Blighty 12 hours later we hurriedly re-packed the trunks and dashed back to the Heathrow aerodrome and departed for Dakar via Lisbon. In typical Johnny foreigner fashion, Portugal’s National Carrier failed to arrive in Lisbon before the departure of our connecting flight. On kicking up a jolly fuss we were housed over night in the Marriot hotel, which proceeded a pleasant afternoon perambulating about Lisbon’s old town. Delightful.

Onwards from Lisbon to Dakar; and the heat and hubbub of Africa again. We’re now back in our residence with Beni our ever-faithful hound and leisurely exploring the crumbling colonial hub of St Louis du Senegal (bloody French builders).  

Shopping Japan style

Food! - Skiaki on the right with Kobe beef top left and Teppanyaki BBQ !!!

 

Asagiri Jam!

 

A punter brings his cat to the festival???

Carruthers in Tokyo.

Senegal

Last week we arrived at last in the beautiful Senegal. We drove to Zebrabar camping near St Louis where Beni fell in love for the first time with a visiting hound. The young lad is growing up!
Senegal is bursting with life, especially after the first rains. After driving through Western Sahara and Mauritania which I must say, in the middle of summer is quite devoid of life..... we are now being dive bombed by cicadas and hopping over enormous crabs. Everywhere there are multi-coloured birds and lizards and yesterday Beni met some monkeys which utterly confused him.
A few days ago I returned to the motherland and left Carruthers and Beni fending for themselves on an idyllic area of land not far from St Louis. I shall return in a few weeks and am hoping neither of them have gone too native.

Meanwhile, for your entertainment, watch this video of our journey through Western Sahara on the Paris Dakar route. (Slightly bigger screen if you click on the link... and turn up the sound!). Delightful!
 http://www.youtube.com/tarawatney

In the Sand 2

as you trundle down the road in Mauritania.... sometimes there is a little sand in the way.....

Fishy Business

Wednesday 13^th July – Currently in the capital Nouakchott, where it is much cooler. Last night we visited the most active fish market in West Africa. Its right on the beach and fisherman brave the crashing surf to bring their bounty ashore. The myriad of different species combines to produce a momentously malodorous reek, which put Carruthers in mind of his old school dinners. The colour and vibrancy made up for the odor to provide a highly entertaining evening. 

 

In the sand

10^th July ish – On arrival in Atar at the delightful Bab Sahara campsite we languished in 45-degree heat until deciding to venture into the desert to gaze upon the world’s second largest monolith (after Ayres Rock). After several hours driving of fillings loosening washboard roads, we found ourselves up to the axles in the sand. Repeated digging and use of sand ladders and high lift jack saw us taking 6 hours to progress 1km, at the end of which we had shoveled enough sand to build a full size sandcastle. Realising Ben Amira was a further 15km of shoveling and at the end of the day, just another big stone in a desert full of big stones… we camped for the night and retreated down the railway tracks the following morning with our tail between our legs. The self same railway track is the home to the world’s longest train. The 2km long iron ore train from Zouerat to Nouadhibou is truly impressive as it fills horizon to horizon. 

In an effort to entice Beni out of the car, Carruthers spent an afternoon sewing some Dogter Martins boots, as the sand was so hot. He currently walks in them like a dressage horse, but we are confident he will appreciate them in time. 

road kill sahara style

We stopped here to ask directions.... maybe we should swap the Rolls for a camel... In Morocco, Carruthers was offered 12 camels for the Rolls....hmmmmm

Beni in all his splendor

Border Line

Monday 4th July – The turn of the month saw us now leaving our now beloved Morocco for Mauritania. Moroccan customs; as many layered as an onion, is the usual exercise in futile bureaucracy and petty corruption, which took two hours of forced smiling and handing out cigarettes. This was followed by a ‘no-mans land’ of 3kms full of discarded tyres, stripped and burned out vehicles, reminiscent of Beirut or the road to Tripoli. By contrast the Mauritania officials were a paragon of efficiency. Although it may have helped that some were mildly inebriated on confiscated alcohol. Luckily they didn’t find the Gin, and luckily Islam has not yet banned Marmite. When jokingly they asked for Beni-Mallal’s passport, they were flabbergasted when we promptly produced it.

Evening saw us safely in Nouadhibou, Mauritania’s second city and centre of urban sophistication, where we camped down for the night at Camping Chez Abba, a little slice of the desert brought into town i.e more sand!

Currently driving to Atar to gaze upon one of the wonders of the desert… a big rock called Ben Amir. Have just been temporarily delayed at one of the many police checkpoints, however at this one, Carruthers was called upon to produce a 16mm spanner and help with various missing nuts….

Nouadhibou Taxi Servie

Downtown

i think the 2nd goat has pushed it just over the limit

dave being a good citizen

Paris Dakar

Monday 27^th June ish - Taking advantage of delays in the Moroccan mail system, Carruthers and I decided to spend a couple of days touring the Paris Dakar rally route of Western Sahara. Confident in our navigation abilities, we set off on a clearly defined track into the desert, this soon became 38 clearly defined tracks leading in all directions. Soon we were lost. Several hours of serious driving later we arrived at a camel watering station called Acfa, we were 60 kms east of Tamnavvart-At-Ramth which is where we expected to be.dinner On asking the bemused nomads directions, they waved there arm of the general direction of ‘over there’. This we duly followed for an hour and a half until we realised upon crossing a rather large sand wall (Moroccan defence wall against the Polasario, often covered in land mines) that we were going 180 degrees in the wrong direction. With backtracking and diligent use of the compass, we orientated ourselves in the trackless desert and found the town Jdriya where we should have been 8 hours previously. This led us to a rather wonderful saltpan, as flat as a billiard table and upon which we could get the rolls up to top speed. It was a delightful experience after the many hours of picking our way through appalling desert pistes

camels and wild melons

another saharan beauty

back to tarmac at last

saltpan