Team Sanddodgers

So we’re now traveling south (as usual) towards another new country – Senegal. The border is protected and defined by the river Senegal which limits our choices of crossing and entry into country. With its dreaded border crossing at Rosso (previous year’s teams have been forced to drive through the barriers as patiences waned), we are taking an alternative route closer to the coast at the quieter flood defense crossing at Diama.

The crossing was a doddle in the end, other than the Clayton Farm Crew’s Fiesta attempting to jump two 2foot ravines 2kms from the border. it made them both, at the expense of their universal drive joint which was pulled apart, and two wheels with very impressive dents in the rims! Suffice to say we patched it up in a few hours and made it to our relatively regal standard campsite near St Louis in Northern Senegal complete with cold beers & cokes! mmm…

Our travels so far have covered 2 continents, 4255 km, at least 3 languages and for gareth, disturbingly few toilet stops – having emptied Boots’ warehouse of immodium and brought 16 toilet rolls, his stomach has met every challenge he has thrown at it including various ‘fresh’ fish, Moroccan tagines, mussels, assorted parts of a camel, including milk still warm having been freshly milked.

I’ve lost count of the number of times I’ve found Jon lying under a car of some description – leaving me to wonder if he finds engines, clutches and exhausts easier to talk to than his team mates. Not only has he been invaluable to keeping the car running as each day presents its own new problem, but having torn up most of his t-shirts for various fixes, he’s now also helping repel even the most determined insect with his reduced wardrobe!

The facial hair growing attempts are proving disappointing, I think the main memento I’ll be left with from the trip is a weird tan pattern from the shaggy hair and stunted beard growth. Gareth and jon have risen above the temptation to go to seed while away from civilization, leaving me to make up by applying the Bill Oddie school of grooming while in the wild.

The group we have been traveling with now numbers 7 cars – our saab (battered, usually tempremental in the mornings, but still turning heads and earning respect everywhere), the fire rescue ready Landrover (recently powered by the mighty Saab), a VW Jetta (now less some body trim following one dune jump too many), a battered Renault 4 van (which is defying its appearance by handling every terrain it meets with style), a 20 year old fiesta (carrying two of the most interesting middle aged blokes we’ve ever met), a rover maestro (which we thought was great till it kept getting stuck on the sandy beach!), and recently joined, an LDV Ambulance (with any clues to it’s being an emergency vehicle cunningly covered with masking tape to escape awkward questions at the border).

We’ve met a couple of other groups who seem to be making steady progress behind us and are finishing their desert crossings now. There are also an assortment of other westerners who cross our paths, but our time has been spent with the group and the odd family of nomads we have stopped in to see as we have crossed the Sahara. Probably the main thing which has surprised me is how habitable the Sahara was, obviously it helped being here in the ‘winter’, and we didn’t see many dust storms which would make things unbearable fairly soon. 3 days was easily enough to make us forget just how dusty we had become – at least until we saw how much washed off in the shower in Nouakchott! As with most nomadic peoples, we were warmly welcomed everywhere, always with shots of green tea with mint and saturated with sugar. Gareth topped off his cultural experience with a ride on a camel, complete with many a rude sound (from the camel of course) and a fairly abrupt lift up 15 foot in the air. What’s next mate – bucking broncos?