Goodbye Priscilla

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......

And then there were 6

So, with one less car on our group we made our way south, happy to be leaving Nouakchott and Mauritania behind. Our next stop was the much awaited rest stop at the Zebrabar in Senegal. This camp site is a little oasis for overlanders; a worthwhile stopover for a couple of days. We took the unsealed road to the border crossing of Diama: Be prepared for possibly the roughest roads of the trip,with big potholes and long stretches of corrugations. But this route was supposedly the less hassled way and at the end of it we certainly went through customs very easily, but with a much lighter wallet.
Before we could enter Senegal, we had to spend a small fortune in various fees; about 130E per car. This place fleeced us the most out of the whole trip. For this you don't get to drive around freely, but have to have a customs escort in and out of the country.
We spent 2 relaxing days at the Zebrabar. Then the customs escort picked us up and included another group of about 8 cars. This other group of mainly boy (and girl)racers, wanted to rush for the Gambian border that day. Outnumbered, we went along with them. This turned out to be a mistake and the worst day of the trip. Firstly, you don't drive at night in Africa because you can't see people, animals or potholes on the roads; and secondly, you don't arrive at border towns in the dark because you are just asking for trouble. We should have stayed in Toubacouta while it was still daylight. There was no rush to get anywhere that day. But, as I said, the other group has their way and we pushed on through the dark, not being able to see a bloody thing. The border at Barra was a nightmare. People banging at the car windows for money or trying to sell you stuff. This was unrelentless. One person in the car would be out dealing with the paperwork, while the other (me) sat guarding the car, enduring the constant harassment from all sides. After crossing the border there was a long stretch to the ferry port where we were to cross into Banjul. The roads were terrible and in the dark, even worse. But those in the other group didn't seem to mind thrashing their cars over the potholes (most of their cars were barely working anyhow).
We crossed the Gambian river into Banjul and arrived at the Safari Gardens around 1am. At this time of the day there was no warm welcome, but were shown to a filthy room at a nearby lodging. The following day we moved out into a room at the Safari Garden Lodge. Over the next few days we were provided with 2 very nice welcoming dinners. We watched our cars being auctioned on the 25th. Priscilla fetched £1600, the highest price of the group. The man who brought her says she WON'T be used as a taxi! (Hopefully she will still be contact with the Golf).

The Dons and The Desert

We left the charming town of Nouadhibou for the 2-3 day desert run. This was the part most of us had been looking forward to the most. There is now a sealed road that runs the whole way from the border to Nouakchott, but where is the challenge in that? We let half the air out of the tyres before going off the road onto the beginning of the desert. The first day was very slow going due to the large rocks we had to carefully negoiate! With every loud scrape of the undercarriage (and there were many)I was hanging out the window checking we hadn't lost the exhaust (or worse). Priscilla rolls over everything, but with the extra weight of the fuel and water on the roof, she was lowered even more. But we made it through the day with only a small hole made in the exhaust. Steve repaired it that night.
Nights in the desert are fantastic. The sky is so clear and uninterupted, that you can see millions of stars in all directions. We had paid Bumba 100E for a lamb that he was going to cook for us. It ended up being really awful cuts of meat and a complete waste of time and money (sounded like a good idea at the time!). So it was pot noodles for most that night (the effects of that meal did stay with alot of us for quite some time afterwards).
The second day was when we lost the Dons.

Bill and Ted (I mean, Dick) were bringing up the rear in their Jeep Cherokee, when they stopped for photos, lost the rest of us, took a wrong path, got stuck in the sand up to their eyeballs, stayed lost in the desert for the next 3 days while we were running around Nouakchott trying get some help in rescuing them. What was supposed to be the best part of the trip turned out to be the most frustrating, worrysome, desperate time. In short, the Britsh Honoury Consulate in Mauritania, didn't seem to be in too much of a hurry to provide assistance in finding these guys, nor did the Foreign Office in London want anything to do with 2 British subjects lost in the Sahara. So then what do a group of 12 rally competitors do? We found a pilot at the airport with a light plane and we sent up 3 of our guys to find them (thanks to the Norweign army guys). We had noted the last GPS points where they were last seen, and within 3hours they were spotted, a helicopter from a local oil company then went in to pick them up and they were back in Nouakchott safe and reasonably well. All the previous few days wasted because we were promised a ground and airsearch time after time. We were even told that helicopters weren't allowed in Mauritania, there were no Helicopters in Mauritania, that there had been a Spanish terriost alert at the airport so we couldn't gain access, etc ,etc (we heard it all). We even contacted a UK newspaper with the story in the desparate bid that we would get some attention and help. As time ticks by with the knowledge that food and water were running out, we were trying every available avenue for assistance. There was one 5min window when we made mobile phone contact with The Dons, so we knew they were ok, but the signal was cut off and couldn't be retrieved again.
The guide, who we paid 300E to guide us, basically disappeared, only ringing in to ask for the rest of his money (we ended up having to pay him the balance as we were threatened with being detained in Mauritania by the British Honoury Consulate man, if we didn't! Nice, eh?). I shall be posting a picture of Bumba soon, so future teams can stay away from him.

Bill and Dick are at home, probably having to come out of retirement to pay for all the bills incurred during those days! We'll catch up with soon guys, only, we'll come to you!!

We are home

We arrived back in the UK in the early hours of yesterday morning.
I'll pick up where I left you all back in Dakhla. It is difficult to access the internet south of Dakhla, and there is no mobile phone connection until you reach The Gambia. I did do a write up in Banjul, but the woman in the shop decided to reboot the computer as I was about to post, so I lost the lot! and it was too bloody hot to stay and retype it!
Anyway, we left Dakhla after filling up all Jerry cans, on about the 13th Feb in our convoy of 7: Teams Turbo Tortoises; Cops and Fothers; Norfolk 'n Chance; Bodgit and Scarper; The Costa Blanca Dons; the Mechanical Brothers; and us. Bumba the guide traveled with Mike and Pete in the Volvo. We set off early morning for the 300 odd km drive to the Mauritanian border.This drive is on very long and straight road, but still rather scenic with the sun rising as we went along.
After a 2hr wait to exit Western Sahara, we then drove through no-mans land (a rubbish-tip type of place over a rough dirt track; very weird) to the Mauri border control. After paying 20E each for a visa and 10E per car, we were let on through with no problems. The scenery is now devoid of any vegetation, with miles of rocky land. We headed for Nouadhibou to make camp and refuel before entering the desert.


Nouadhibou is one the most run down places I've ever been to. The cars on the roads are all so battered, that it is amazing they are still held together and going forwards. We made the mistake of going into the town to look for the campsite recommended in the roadbook. To future PBC competitors: avoid this place; it is apparently lawless and is definately dodgy looking! The kids here give you real hassle whenever you attempt to leave the car ( a very effective method of getting rid of them, is to point to the car behind you (preferably it being a black VW Golf), and say how generous the occupants are):).
Before you enter the town and before the police check point there, turn left to the campsite by the beach (signposted). There are no facilities here, but it is very peaceful; a really nice place to camp, we virtually had the place to ourselves.
We did make a morning trip back into town the following day for water and fuel (we have been using the plastic fuel filter south of Morocco; takes a long time to fill up, but leaves behind loads of water and debris).

We are still here

Sorry for the delay yet again but internet cafes are getting few and far between. This will be the last blog update until we reach Banjul.
We met up with a few teams in Marrakech and went to the medina for a meal. Being with mainly Brits, we soon found the only local bar serving beer.Steve and I have seen the city before, so we were keen to move on the next day and not have to endure the constant hassles from the shopkeepers. Team Cops and Fothers and ourselves headed for Tiznit the following day via the Atlas Tiz n test pass. Absolutely superb route on surprisingly good roads. At the top of the pass we stopped for saffron omlettes in the sun. I can highly recommend this route if you are ever passing this way. Priscilla cruised up and down the other side quite happily (especially with a new water pump). As we were merrily making our way toward Tiznit the Costa Blanca Dons passed us in the opposite direction! The funniest thing Id seen all day, as these guys dont know where they are going half the time. We soon put them on the right track before they ended up back in Tangiers.
We spent the night in a hotel in Tiznit. This place is interesting with the old city enclosed by an ancient mud wall.
The following day we drove about 500km to a camp site just out of Laayoune. The camp is down an off road track; following markers on rocks which is tricky in the dark. The wind was blowing a gale so we flagged the tents and stayed in huts.
The scenery is now changing to rocky flat land, as we followed the ocean down to Dakhla. We are currently camping in Dakhla with a large group. Today is an official rest day as we wait for all the teams to catch up. The sun is very hot now and the land is mainly all sand. Welcome to the desert.
We have organised a local guide for the Mauritanian desert crossing tomorrow. Bumba has promised us a no problem drive over the following few days. The numerous police checks along the way have so far been no great hassle; we give away nothing as "gifts" and don't try any French (which isn't hard as we know zip). They soon get bored with us and wave as on. From tomorrow on though, the police and border guards become more of a hassle, with delays of up to 8hrs expected at places.
Steve fixed a rusty hole in Priscilla's exhaust and now she sounds perfect (fussy,eh).I am starting to dread handing over the keys, as Ive grown fond of her. Considering turning round and driving back (wishfully). But we are really returning Priscilla back to wilds where she belongs; a place with wide open spaces and fresh air.
So see you all in Banjul! I'll continue to try sending the text messages though with no guarantees they'll get through.
Thanks again for the messages!

Stayed in Beni-Mallal last night, slumming it in a four star hotel as we arrived late, so a bit hard to find a camping ground (thats our excuse and we're sticking to it). Nice short drive to Marrakech, which was good as Priscilla was leaking water like mad. Steve found a local mechanic after some bad French and not so bad sign language. Water pump replaced by the the side of the road in very efficient fashion and looks good. Toured the souks a little bit in the Medina and met some of the other teams for dinner (we recommend the chicken tangine at Chez C...something).

This morning we head for the Atlas mountains to really put the new water pump to the test. Bonn chance Priscilla.

Scenery, souks and scams

finally found a wireless connection! We are alive and well in Beni Mallal which is roughly between Fes and Marrakech. After a lengthy customs clearance at Tangiers, we set off to Fes in a group of 6: Norfolk ' Chance; The Costa Blanca Dons; Reservoir Frogs; Cop & fothers; Turbo Tortoises and us! The scenery varied from mountains and snow to flat and dry plateauxs. All very beautiful. All eyes focused on the road ahead, watching for potholes. We all stayed in an Ibis Hotel in Fes after a local guy on a moped took us around the whole city to finally get there. It was dark then, making it a rather hairy drive through the town. The next day we took in tour around the souk and tannery, then on the road toward Marrakech. Today we have a nice 200km drive to Marrakech with a stop at waterfalls.
Priscilla has a water leak back, not too significant; she isn,t overheating or losing power, but we will see if we can get a mechanic in Marrakech .
The really funny thing is, all the cars on the roads here are Mercedes!!!! There are Priscillas everywhere!!! We keep getting flagged down as a taxi where ever we go; could make a few dirrhams.

Thanks for the messages. See you soon...