It is very hot in The Gambia, so 2-3 days would have been long enough to stay on. It is a very small, flat country (smallest in Africa) so not alot to see. I'm not that sure whether the local people are that appreciative of our efforts either. We saw alot of disregard for possessions (except mobile phones)and the environment. This went for the most of Africa we encountered. We carefully drove Priscilla down, not thrashing her so she would fetch a good price for charity. We had her washed for the auction, all shiny and attracting attention, then some bastard in a van (given to him free for use as a prison van from one of the teams) drove into Priscilla as she was parked outside the lodge, denting both sides of the rear panels. They went with such force, shifting Priscilla sideways into another parked car. Then they drove off.
Events like that, along with the constant hassle for handouts, has changed my view of charity events like the PBC. While the trip itself was a great experiance, I won't be donating cars, other goods or money to these places again. I think that african countries are in desperate need help, but not coming in the form of handouts. Go build a school, show people how to farm the land, do something where your efforts can be directly seen, something practical and useful.
Priscilla turned out to be the perfect car for the trip. As soon as you hit Tangiers, there are Mercedes (all taxis) everywhere, so getting any parts is dead easy and all the mechanics know how to fix them. She drove beautifully, and besides from the leaking waterpump (during which she never overheated)nothing else failed. She glided over bumps and was the only car in the convoy that never got stuck in the sand (aside from when steve got bored and drove into a dune for the fun of it - but that wasn't Priscilla's fault). Being rear wheel drive and diesel, she just slowly churned through the desert like we were out on a Sunday drive. I was very sad to see her being sold (wish I wasn't such a girl).
So where to next?
I hope to stay in touch with the guys from the group: Iain and Darren ("the Golf's misfiring.."), Rui and Eduardo(for Portugeuse sardines), Mike and Pete (your wedding pics are in the mail), Jeffery and Graham (for a nice cup of tea), Bill and Dick ("I thought this supposed to be a camping holiday..."),Nick and Josh (his Misses and his Magazine).
Thanks for the great company; it has been fantastic traveling with you all.
PS
the UK to Mongolia rally looks interesting......
3 comments:
Hi,
Looks like you had a fantastic trip. Overlanding in a Merc definitely looks like the way to go.
Hope you make it down to southern Africa some time.
PS: You're right on the money with your attitude towards handouts. Too many people think the only way to solve Africa's problems is to raise money or send clothes. Accountability and democracy in government are what's needed.
Hi there, visiting as well via Tony's blog. My curiosity got the better of me and I came over to see what this trip is all about. Goodie, that looks like major fun fun fun ... and hard work. I agree also with you and Tony, handouts will make people lazy to work, they will become like the baboons in Cape Town, a major nuisance to travellers because at the end of the day they expect more and more. I also believe in teaching a man to fish ...
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