The 'Excelsior' left the harbor at 03.00 AM, three hours later than planned but considering the chaos at the harbor customs, police, immigration and loading procedure not a real surprise. The shipping company GNV knows that of course because we reached Barcelona after 30 hours (in stead of the planned 36 hours). We had a cabin and spent this time mainly with sleeping, eating and reading. In Barcelona we stopped for a few hours to visit the 'Sagrada Familia. Last time we were here was about 25 years ago and I have to say, they really made some progress indeed. Another seven years and the cathedral will be finished. From Barcelona we drove in the late afternoon and evening to a small medieval village in France named Viviers. We stayed our last night in a small hostel next to the cathedral. We were just in time to get a pizza in the only (open) restaurant in the village. For the first time in a long time accompanied with a good glass of wine. Cheers. The last day we drove almost 1000 kilometer to Langeweg, our home. First a lot of rain but north of Lyon the weather dried up. The exhaust getting louder and louder, the drive shaft rumbling and shaking and also the water-pump was starting to make more and more nasty noises. But we made it. About eight o'clock in the evening we were back home in a dark and cold Netherlands. The kids and the dog were all very happy to see us all again. The cat decided that evening to dive in the gutter. Welcome home! Next day I checked and cleaned the CX and found even an African stowaway under the chair! (Not good for the cat anymore) After 22 months, more than 20000 kilometers, 20 countries and 27 borders is the CX back home. The last three weeks we drove 5850 km and used 535 liters gas, average price 1 euro for a liter. The old lady is a bit tired now, limping, bleeding and leaking, the skin is faded and blistered. She can now rest for a few months. Next spring we will pamper her, heal her and prepare her body and guts for the next trip starting July 2020, the Atlantic Pacific Ocean Drive from Hamburg to Vladivostok. With my sun Pieter we will be team 95. Another great adventure and another 20000 kilometer or so ....
Sunday morning the mosques woke us up early. Time to leave. From St Louis to the small Mauritanian border at Diama is only a short drive, less than one hour. Going south to north is going much smoother than the other way. The Senegalese custom officer recognized me and the car from the last time when we were passing with the Budapest-Bamako rally. He had already the 2020 edition sticker on his car! These days you can buy Mauritanian visas at the border, really easy. The road along the Senegal river was dry but still a bit hard because water levels were still high and trucks which have been stuck on many places on the dam, had made deep tracks in the muddy road. But with the CX on high level we managed. We saw lots of birds and a few warthogs. After leaving the river the landscape quickly changes in a desert. Poor villages, dust, camels, car wrecks, no women on the street, goats, plastic, very windy and a potholed road. Near Nouakchott the road became better but also more and more mad max traffic. Total anarchy on the road. Most cars and trucks have no indicators, mirrors or braking lights. Surprisingly we managed to navigate through the city without any accident. We slept in a simple but nice place where we met a bunch of French car sellers who just sold their cars and where about flying home. We helped them a bit to get rid of their smuggled Pastis and red wine. The next day just in time we drove out of Nouakchott because the whole Mauritanian army was waiting outside of town, probably for their annual parade and the road would be blocked for hours. Hundreds and hundreds of Toyota landcruiser pickups loaded wilt soldiers and big guns. A typical desert army. The rest of the day nothing really much to see here except a lot of sand, wind, police checkpoints. The police was always polite. After about five hours we reached the Moroccan border which we passed in about 1,5 hours without any problems, a new record for me. Just before sunset we checked in at Hotel Barbas about 80 km across the border. The wind had become stronger and colder. For the first time we had to put on our long trousers and pullovers and sleep under a couple of blankets. The next day it was still cold and windy. Another long driving day in the desert. But this part of the Sahara is more scenic. Dunes, stony hills, salt pans, boulders and sometimes fantastic views on the Atlantic Ocean. The end of the day we reached Laayoune where we spent the night in hotel San Mao Sahara. In the hotel we met a few Dutch participants of the Amsterdam Dakar challenge who where travelling in the opposite direction. They told us about an serious accident that had happened with a Dutch overland truck near Tantan. We checked Facebook and saw that it was a group of three trucks and people we know viavia where on one of he trucks, but not the one that had crashed. The next day we drove another big distance to Guelmim and about halfway we saw the result of the accident.One of the MAN trucks had rolled over one or two times and was seriously damaged but not completely wrecked. Two people were seriously wounded and in the hospital now. Four men were here at the site to get things organized. The crashed truck was back on his wheels and even able to drive again, but what a giant mess to clean up. It looked like an airplane crash site. We tried to cheer them up a bit but no help was needed. The next day they planned to drive in a few days back to Casablanca to get the truck repaired.... This is really the thing we always feared when we were driving around the Africa with our own overland truck. see www.afri-kasa-fari.nl. It never happened with us but tipping over is a real danger with vehicles like this, especially on busy narrow roads in bad condition with high shoulders. By incident we found that evening the most beautiful place in Morocco to spend the night. Villa Boujouf in the oasis Tighmert is really fantastic and the host Francois is a very good cook. After four days driving about 2000 km and sleeping in shitty hotels this was a splurge we really deserved. In the morning we visited the nearby kasba caravanserai. A museum and a very interesting place with Abdou, the owner. From Tighmert we drove to Tata. This part of the Sahara is so beautiful. Unfortunately we don't have much time and not the vehicle to go off-road, but driving on little desert roads is also fantastic. The CX is still doing fine, sometimes we have to fill up with some hydraulic fluid, but still I didn't found the leak. Also the in Liberia repaired hole in the exhaust is growing slowly back but it doesn't worry us too much. We will see when we are back home, only 4000 km or so to go. On the campsite in Tata we met Pier and Jacqueline, Dutch friends of us, who are travelling (and rallying) for about a half year in Morocco and Mauritania. We spent two nights and a day with our friends and slept in our little tent. It was so nice to see them in this setting.They are also real travelers and Africa lovers. Temperatures really start to drop during the night but with some extra blankets is was OK. Time to repair the interior heating of the CX which I blocked in Ghana because it was always on maximum temperature. I installed a manual valve in the hose so in case we need some warmth we just have to open the bonnet and open the valve with a screwdriver. From Tata we drove in two days to Marrakesh. Two days driving in the desert and the Atlas mountains on little scenic roads. This part of Morocco is so beautiful! The night we spent in Ouarzazate in a room which had actually a tented roof and no heating. Even with some extra blankets it was so cold. Night temperature is only 2 degrees here. We checked the internet and we booked a room in a raid (a traditional Moroccan house with an interior garden) in Marrakesh for two nights, with heating! In Ouarzazate we drove along some film sets in the desert. A bit further is the famous ruined city Ait ben Haddou, used in the Game of Thrones as the city Pentos In Marrakesh we parked the CX for two nights in a private parking in the medina and lived like regular tourists for two days. Visiting the souks and palaces, eating in tourist restaurants and buying souvenirs. After Marrakesh one last stop in Fez, another beautiful city with a very old medina. The road is a perfect French style 'Peage' highway. This are the kind of roads where the CX really feels at home. Cruise control set on 120, music, just driving. But always stay alert on crossing pedestrians. In Fez we spoiled ourselves for the last night on the African continent with a palace like room in a centuries old riad. Of course we visited the famous tanneries where Fez is famous for. The next day we drove all the way to the new harbor of Tanger. We are definitely getting closer to Europe, the last hours we drove in the rain. Just before Tanger Med we filled up with the last cheap fuel and took a ferry to Barcelona. After about two hours waiting the ferry brought is to Barra. On our crossing we saw a few dolphins, amazing animals! From here it's only a short drive to the Senegalese border. Also borders are almost always chaotic in Africa and this one is no exception. Immigration and customs where quit OK on both sides but for some reason we where a target for the Gambian DEA. We were buying a Sim Card when a young man, not in uniform, identified himself as a narcotic officer and forced us to drive to an enclosed compound. He said he wanted to see all our luggage. This is going to take hours we thought. Luckily he just chose four bags to take in the office where he and his colleague checked the luggage for drugs and medicines. Well they did only a quick check. In the end he was convinced we were no drugs runners. We spent the night in Foundiougne, Senegal in a nice small guesthouse at the river. The lady owner cooked a lovely traditional meal with shrimps. Another ferry is here to cross the river but not for long. Chinese are building here a huge suspension bridge. We couldn't really figure out why this 485 million Euro bridge is needed and why so high. We haven't seen any ships passing.The ferry is slow and takes half an hour to cross about ten cars, but it is enough. The connecting road is just a small potholed dam through salt-pans. Why not a bigger and faster ferry? After the ferry we drove to the coast to Saly. It' s 40 degrees Celsius today so we were glad our app 'IOverlander' showed is the route to hotel 'Amazones' where we rented an ocean view apartment with a huge swimming pool just 25 meters walking. The owner Jean Paul is an very interesting man who traveled a lot in the last 50 years. The next door ' Ferme de Saly' was a well known overlanding hangout. It is still open but not many visitors we believe. Two evenings we had two nice talks with Jean-Paul at the little bar next to the beach. From Saly we drove in about six hours to the Zebrabar near St Louis. we had decided to skip Dakar because of the huge traffic jams. For that we didn't came to Africa, we can enjoy them enough at home. On our way we visited Lac Rose, not too far from Dakar, the formal finish location of the Paris-Dakar rallies. It used to be a beautiful natural place but it has changed to an ugly industrial area where salt is mined from the lake and stacked on the beach. We quickly drove by and continued via a brand new road. Parts of it opened just three weeks ago we heard. Surprisingly it was quit cold when we arrived at the Zebrabar. The temperature had dropped in a less than one hour from 40 to 20 degrees because of a change of wind. First night with long trousers! Last time we were with the Budapest-Bamako rally here it was crowded, now only a few guests. We heard we just missed a visit of the organizers of the 2020 edition. We know the owners of the Zebrabar already since 2006.It was nice to talk with them. The next morning the temperature was normal again and after breakfast I checked the essential fluids of our thirsty lady. Especially leveling up of gearbox and hydraulic oil was really necessary. I also discovered that one of the dust-cover rubbers of the drive shaft was broken. I have a spare with me but not the tools for replacing it myself. We drove to St Louis, but first visited a Dutch friend of Jacobine living close to St Louis at the Senegal river. We had a nice afternoon with her. Late afternoon we booked in Keur Dada, a nice hotel in the old part of St Louis. This old French capital of West Africa, it is an island, still breathing a lot of grandeur of the old colonial times It is in one of the most interesting places is in this part of the world. This weekend is was also the celebration of the birth of the prophet Mohammed which means all mosques made a kind of competition to put their amplifiers on maximum power and pleasing all believers and non-believers with very loud hypnotizing prayers all day and night over the town. And all the man singing do their best but definitely don't have the singing skills of Youssou n' Dour. Our hotel and room were at the east side of the island where it was fortunately not too bad. The next morning we brought the CX to a street garage beside the river.They replaced the rubber on the pavement of the street. The owner of the garage was so in love with the CX he wanted to pay 10000 euro for the car. In the evening he even came back trying to convince us to sell it. Well, in Europe I would sell it immediately for this price, but we are experienced enough with Africa to not believe these kind of offers. In fact is is even illegal to import cars older than eight years in Senegal.
The rest of the day we visited the old part of St Louis, including an interesting walking tour along some old buildings where old photographs were displayed. After about nine months we flew the 1st of November back to Gambia to bring the old lady back home to the Netherlands. Our friends picked us up from the airport. Always a great feeling to be back in Africa, the sounds, the smells and good temperatures. We found the CX in a dusty condition under the cashew trees on the compound of our friends, not far from the airport. In the afternoon I tried to start the engine. Not really surprising it started immediately and after the hydraulic system came to be alive the car lifted itself from the blocks under the chassis. No animals inside, no leaks only the paint and stickers lost more of the is color. After a nice evening with a couple of beers and a good night rest we left the next morning to Serrekunda to do some shopping, fill up the fuel tank and have some relaxing time to prepare for driving about 7000 km or so. In 20 days we want to be in Tanger where we will take a ferry to Barcelona. The rainy season ended a few weeks ago but some sandy tracks were still filled up with mud on the lowest parts. Just ten minutes after we left our friends place we had to pass a muddy area. It seemed dry enough to me, but the CX thought very different about this and sank straight away in the soft mud on her belly. The mud was just not entering through the door. What now? Only a couple of huts around, no cars. I tried to call our friends but no connection But as always in Africa there is a solution not far or long away. The first car passed after ten minutes waiting. It was a small four wheel drive rental car with four people inside. Dutch people! I tied a long rope on our goat bar and they pulled us quickly out of the mud hole. Now the car definitely needs a clean up! We thanked our angels and continued the rest of the track without any problems. The next day was Sunday. This means lots of local people on the beach, a great happening. This is something new in Africa. Beach life. Not exactly the same as in Europe, not sunbathing but strolling, playing football, wrestling, sometimes swimming, fishing, eating, praying, joking, selling things, listening to music, etcetera. We spent the day reading books in the shade with some drinks and food. Holiday. After two nights and a day relaxing on the beach we drove to Banjul to take the ferry to Barra. Ferries are always chaotic in Africa but also very colorful and a good opportunity to meet and talk with locals and other travellers.
From Koundara in Guinea it was another long day driving to Ziguinchor in Senegal, in the coastal area called the Casamance. After a relatively quick border crossing we drove on good roads and a few pistes. It's lowlands here again and very very hot and dusty. At the end of the day we reached camping Casamance in Ziguinchor, a really nice shadowed garden where we could put up our tent. A shower, a nice meal (Yassa) and a few Gazelles, the beer of Senegal, made us very happy. There will be elections in Senegal in a few weeks and one of the president candidates was campaigning in Ziguinchor that day and evening. Which means making lots and lots of noise and loud music during the whole night. Lucky us. After about 3300 km driving in about two weeks we are now only about 200 km away from our destination in Gambia. We have a few days left to relax. The next day after breakfast and another small repair on the exhaust it was only a short drive to Abene, at the coast of the Casamance. Halfway the other electric window failed. Beside punctures and a battered exhaust, the electric windows are the other issue we have this trip. In the lowest position the window shakes sometimes out of its guiding rails and gets completely stuck. Both doors have now a piece of wood on the bottom to prevent the window to reach the critical low position. Let's see if it works. In Abene friends of us are living. They had prepared a nice lunch for us. It felt really like coming home. We had two wonderful days of relaxing, chatting, eating tasteful meals, visiting a name giving ceremony and see an amazing sunset while colorful fishing boats come in at the beach. From Abene we drove to Banjul for a last splurge. Sleeping in a tourist hotel with a swimming pool and eat Indian food in a proper restaurant. We cleaned the in and outside of the CX and will leave it again with our friends living near Banjul The CX drove about 14000 km on African roads now and is still going strong. On average it takes one liter petrol every 10 to 12 km depending on the road. Of course, we have problems now and then, mainly small electric issues because of bad connectors for which this car is famous. The speedometer and other instruments are not working anymore but strangely enough the cruise control still works! Not that we use it... We got some more bush striping last weeks but compared to the overwhelming majority of African cars the CX still looks perfect. Everywhere people love and admire the CX . All fluids which can possible leak are leaking but that's normal under these hot and very dusty conditions. Only the smell of petrol, mainly on bad roads, is sometimes a bit annoying. We still didn't find the leak. The exhaust is slammed so many times on high speedhumps that is shaped to the bottom of the car and makes the noise of a real rally car. Better! Probably in November we will drive our 'sportscar' back home to the Netherlands. The last stage of the adventures of a Citroen CX through 10 beautiful countries on the Dark Continent.
The CX is parked on concrete blocks under the cashew trees again, to be continued... From the peninsular south of Freetown it is just a few hours driving on good (toll, but very cheap) roads to the border of Guinea Conakry. In Kossoh town we changed a few Euros (easier than US dollars) and filled up with petrol, water, beer and bread. We had decided to avoid both Freetown and Conakry. Big African cities are interesting but time consuming to drive through. The border crossing was not too bad and we could spend our last Leones on a few nice banana cakes. The first 80 km in Guinea Conakry were real African roads again. Lots of huge potholes and sometimes only bad gravel and stones or no road at all. This area is densely populated compared to the Sierra Leonean side. The whole road is more or less one big market and every 15 km or so a police checkpoint. Every checkpoint they want to see all the paperwork and of course hoping for a 'petit cadeau'. Of course, we never gave. Just before darkness we reached Kindia, a city on the N1 highway from Conakry to Bamako in Mali. Highway means in Africa most of the times only lots of heavy traffic, dust and noise. The road itself is not more than a remote local road as we know it in Europe. In Kindia we found hotel Masabi with a nice restaurant and ice-cold Guinean beers. We slept well on the sound of passing trucks.The next day we drove further in the direction of Mali. The road was not too bad and because it's Friday there was not too much traffic. After Labe we arrived on a the even more quiet road to Senegal. After a while we took a small piste to the waterfalls of Sala. A beautiful place where we've been 12 years ago with our truck and our kids. See link The last few kilometers were quite difficult for the CX and only possible in the highest position in which you normally are not supposed to drive... We slept on exactly the same spot as 12 years ago, but now in our little tent. In our sleeping bags because it gets quite cold at 1000 m altitude. In the evening we heard a gunshot from across the falls. We heard loud cries and barking. We think a baboon was hit and probably died. After visiting and washing ourselves near the falls the next morning, we drove all the way to Koundara near the Senegalese border. A quiet and excellent good road through a mountainous area, like driving in France. Only a piece of 25 km was still the old and gravel road we knew from the previous time. In Koundara there are no real hotels but behind a local bar we found a room without daylight, electricity and water. Like a prison but we had to pay 100.000 Guinean Francs, about 10 Euro.... In the room which functioned as the bathroom there was a jerrycan which obviously was used many times for transporting diesel. But we were happy and as tired we were we slept well, smelling to diesel on the sound of African music, dogs, donkeys and lots of early roosters.
From Monrovia we drove in about 5 hours to Robertsport. But not before a repair on our exhaust at a street garage next to the Chinese embassy. It was almost completely broken. The CX sounded like a real rally car but we still prefer to drive it like a limousine. Leaving the city took us two hours because the ever huge traffic jam. But you are never bored in this traffic jam. It' s driving on a huge market and there is always something is happening around. After about three hours driving on beautiful roads we arrived at the Hippo Surf Lodge near the small fishing village Robertsport. The lodge is still under construction, but we were welcome to pitch our tent. We met a nice bunch of people from Switzerland, Georgia, South Africa and Liberia who are building the site. We were invited to drink a few beers with them, enjoying an oxtail 'poikie' (South African cooking pot) and have some very nice talks ending with a bonfire at the beach. This is a truly one of the most beautiful spots in Africa and we really enjoyed our stay. PS The Barracuda was catched by Hugo, the Swiss and not by me. But I did some really nice snorkeling on a small reef close to the beach. After two nights we had to leave because we are on a tight schedule. With some Barracuda in our coolbox we said goodbye and left for Sierra Leone. Lots of people warned us for the horrible road in Sierra Leone. After the border crossing it was indeed a very bad road we never got in real problems. After about 15 km the road became better and better. A Senegalese construction company is building a new road between Potoru and the border and in two years or so the whole road will be tarred. They are even building a big bridge across the Moa river. After the bridge we drove on a small piste to a village near Tiwai Island. The road was dry but because of a high center of the road we had to drive sometimes a bit beside the road. Unfortunately, we had another tire destroyed because of this. We could leave the car at the village and a man brought us on a small canoe to the island. Tiwai island in the Moa river is one of the few unspoiled rain forests in West Africa with the highest density of primates in the world. Twelve species on just 12 square km. We got a small tent in the camp and cooked our own diner. The next morning, we went early fir a forest walk with ranger Mohammed. We saw lots if huge trees and a few groups of monkeys. Especially the Red Colobus are very nice. But because if the enormous height of the trees not possible to make close pictures. From Tiwai we drove the next day to Bo where we bought another tire. This time a second-hand winter tire, a bit too small but good enough as a spare. From Bo we drove on an excellent road to the peninsular south of Freetown where we found s beautiful spot with private beach. The owner Martin was not there but helped us perfect and organized a small rondavel right at the beach. The next day, today, we could rent their Hobie catamaran and sailed almost to Banana Island. Wonderful! What a beautiful place again. How lucky we are to experience this. Liberia and Sierra Leone are really the most beautiful countries of West Africa. The people a super friendly, the landscapes are stunning and the beaches among the cleanest we saw in Africa.
After one week of driving, hardworking, enjoying scenery and people we made it to Monrovia, the capital of Liberia. The day after our arrival in Accra, Ghana, we picked up the Citroen CX at Wendy's place. The engine started immediately after turning the key! After two nights in Big Milly's Backyard in Kokrobite we drove to Capecoast where we visited the huge castle from where hundreds of thousands of slaves were deported to the America's. After Capecoast we stayed two nights in the Esape3points ecolodge where we stayed before. Did some small repairs on the car. Main problem was that the heater didn't turn of which is really not nice with outside temperatures above 33 degrees. At sunrise we again helped to bring a few turtles to the ocean. From Ghana we traveled to Ivory Coast to another place we already knew, Grand Bassam. At Casa Bleu in Grand Bassam you can eat the best steak in West Africa. In the next two days we crossed Ivory Coast to the Danane, at the border with Liberia. The roads on the first 250 km to Yamoussoukro are excellent but the rest is quite terrible. Lots and lots of deep potholes and chaotic traffic. One deep nasty pothole was too much for the front right tire and was completely destroyed. Luckily, we found about 100 km further in a small town a new tire of the same size. For 3 euro the tire was replaced in a workshop beside the road. From Danane we drove on a small piste to the Liberian border. Border formalities took less than 1,5 hours or so, which is OK for Africa.. The Ivorian customs told us that the road in Liberia would be impossible for a car like ours. The IOverlander app gave us similar information. Hmm. We were warmly welcomed on the Liberian side. What a pleasure to talk English again! Also, the Liberian customs and immigration had their doubts about our car. They only see motorbikes and 4WD cars here. But after we showed them our secret weapon, the hydraulic system to lift the car they were more confident. Of course, nobody had seen such a car ever before. We drove about 80 km on a piste to the tarred road. We never got in real trouble, the weather was beautiful, no rain today. A few times we had to use the highest level to cross high humps or deep dips. The CX drives really good on bad roads! In Sanniquellie the piste ended and changed in a road constructions site. Here at another immigration office Bien even met the chief of this area! From Ganta there is a brand-new tarred road all the way to Monrovia. The last few km took us about one hour because of a huge traffic jam and because the roads are also used as a marketplace. After a long day driving we checked in at the A la Lagune Hotel with air conditioning and WiFi. Cheapest room is 50 USD. All prices are in US dollars in this country and even ATM's gives only US Dollars
The routeThe next three weeks we will drive back from Ghana to Gambia. The last months we collected a fresh Carnet de Passage for the car and visas for Ghana, Liberia, Sierra Leone and Guinee. Tomorrow, friday we will fly to Accra where we hopefully will find the CX ;-) at the beach in Kokrobite.
Our planned route is visible on the map below, 3400km according to Google. We will see. We will cross one of the wettest area's in Africa and also a few of the worst roads of Africa. February should be the driest month of the year so let's see how our little 2WD CX will do..... Rendezvous in KumasiThe time came to drive to Kumasi, the goal of this part of the trip, to visit our daughter Janne who does an internship on a primary school in Kumasi, the biggest city in Ghana. The road from Elmina to Kumasi was OK but it took almost seven hours to drive 250 km because of the many giant speed bumps and countless police checkpoints. They always stop us because also the police never saw a car like this. Today I had to show my driver's license about 15 times, but no real problems. Sometimes discussions, for instance because they think we got false Ghanaian plates (also yellow). Then, in the late afternoon we arrived at the New Destin Education Centre. (destineducationcentre.com) It was happy rendezvous. Janne and Nathalie just had finished their lessons and together with a few children they showed us around. We met most teachers and a lot of the almost 400 children! The next day we joined a few lessons, it were their last lessons in their internship of three months. After the last lesson we went to the market. Next week they will fly back home. We met Eugene, the Dutch-Ghanaian founder of the school, and a part of his family. Fantastic man, fantastic family where the girls found a good and safe place to stay. After two nights it was already time to leave Kumasi. It was a full day driving to guesthouse Bigmillys, Kokrobite, near Accra. Here we leave the car for about seven weeks before we will continue our trip, driving a CX to Africa. We spend our last two days at the coast again, cleaning, packing and relaxing. The CX got a high pressure cleaning including the interior! That's the way they do it in Africa.... To be continuedThe car performed very well just a few small repairs. The CX used 340 liters of petrol in 3750 km, which isn't too bad for an old heavily loaded car designed in the seventies, driving mostly on bad roads with lots of stopping and accelerating.
The 26th of January we will fly back to Accra and hope to drive the CX back to Banjul, maybe via Guinea and Sierra Leone. Especially in Ghana the people really loved the car. Everywhere we in Ghana people shouted to us: I love your sports car! Down to the oceanThe next morning, we visited the interior of the biggest church in Africa. A friendly guide showed us all the fantastic details like air-conditioning in the benches and elevators in the main pillars. Everything is just huge. Lots of marble everywhere and huge stained-glass windows. From Yamoussoukro we drove the same day to Abidjan on the only real four lane highway we saw so far in West Africa. What a pleasure to drive 100 km/h without potholes. Some parts where a bit dangerous in our opinion because they closed one way and guided all traffic in both directions to two lanes without any warning or signs. We passed Abidjan and drove to Grand Bassam where we checked in at a nice hotel right at the beach. After about ten days we saw the Atlantic Ocean again! From Abidjan to Elmina, GhanaThe CX is driving better and better, we think because the better petrol and maybe also something else fixed itself. Or it just likes Africa! We only lost some balance in the front wheels because we hit a few terrible potholes with high-speed. The front rims are a bit square now... Because of a terrorist attack a few years ago the tourist business almost completely collapsed in Grand Bassam. We had the beach for ourselves and the restaurants and bars were empty. A real pity for all the people who made a living out of this beautiful place. Grand Bassam is a World Heritage Site because of the many historical buildings from the old days in the 19th century when it was the main harbor and capital of Ivory Coast. The second evening we had the best food so far in West Africa, in Case Blue during a tropical rainstorm. A nice restaurant in the old part of Grand Bassam. The streets were flooded when we drove back to our hotel but with the CX in high position we managed easily. After a day relaxing at the beach we drove to Cape Three Points in Ghana where we want to have another two days of relaxing at the beach. The border was not too difficult, it was only again the Ivorian customs who took a very long time to stamp our carnet. Because of the unusual rains of the past week the small road to Cape Three Points through the jungle was quite a challenge for the Citroen. But it did excellent so now we know it also drives quite well on muddy roads. When we arrived the car really looked as a rally car. Mud everywhere. We stayed three nights in the Escape 3 Points eco lodge. A little paradise on a deserted beach, a bar/restaurant and a few nice bamboo, natural ventilated, huts. Two mornings, at sunrise, we saw the release of sea turtles who came out of there buried eggs that night, crawling to the ocean. From Cape Three Points we had an easy three-hour drive to Elmina. We checked in at the Stumble Inn. Elmina is the oldest and one of the biggest formal gold, ivory and slave trading posts in Africa. The Dutch had an important role in that terrible history. Elmina has been a Dutch trading post for many years in the 17th and 18th century after we captured it from the Portuguese. That is why still so many cultural habits and even the language in Suriname resemble to the culture. We did a tour in the impressive castle and visited the rooms of the governor and the dungeons where the slaves were kept before they were deported through ‘The door of no return'. Unfortunately, the guide was not very good. The people in Ghana all love our 'sports car'. They just never saw a car like this. (Look at the rim) From Bamako we drove in two long days to Yamoussoukro in Ivory Coast. The scenery changed from dry savanna to lush green forests. The roads in Mali were most of the time fine but Ivory coast was almost the whole day a battle with terrible deep potholes. For the CX not a real problem compared to the overloaded trucks and buses. We saw many of them wrecked on or beside the road. Flat tires, broken axles, etc. the border wasn't too hard but of course it takes a long time and they tried to get some money out of our pockets. But as always we refused to pay anything and in the end they let us through. That's really the only drawback of travelling West Africa. Lots of checkpoints and annoying policemen and soldiers. But keep smiling and with a bit of small talk and a joke they will let you pass. i was glad I repaired the wiper because just before Yamoussoukro we had our first tropical rainstorm. In a few minutes the road converted in a awful smelling river. The rainy season is still not completely finished. The one and only wiper of the CX could hardly get the water from the screen... Here two other small videos we made in Mali. What a nice country! After one week travelling we arrived in Bamako, the capital of Mali and the original finish place of the Budapest to Bamako rally. Because we are the only participants reaching Bamako I think we won actually the rally!! Everything really fine so far. We enjoy travelling with the Citroen CX. It’s comfortable, fast and very silent compared tot our Mercedes 1113 truck with which we normally travel. We arrived in Banjul a week ago and found the car in good condition at the place of our friend who lives near the airport. Only dust everywhere but no animals, insects or whatsoever. It even started quite easy after nine months waiting. We cleaned the car a bit and did some repairs on the car the next day. Changed a front wheel bearing and the starter, cleaned the spark plugs and fixed a few other issues. The rest we, will try to do on our trip. The screen wiper is completely stuck and not working anymore. Maybe a problem because sometimes it rains a little bit… After two nights we thought the car should be ready to go so we said goodbye to our super kind hosts and drove to Banjul to do some shopping's. The car was not driving really smooth but with a few adjustments on the carburetor and the timing we made it. We decided to have a lazy Sunday afternoon at Pocoloco, a popular tourist beach bar. The next day we drove to Janjanbureh, Georgetown in the old days. Lots and lots of police and military checkpoints but never a real hassle. The CX seems to like fresh petrol because it’s running like never before. From Janjanbureh we drove in one day to Mako in the southeast in Senegal. Mostly the roads and pistes were OK but sometimes it was hell because of roadworks and loads of trucks producing clouds of red dust. In Mako we stayed at the Keur Annick at the Gambia River were we even lucky with a glimpse of a hippo in the river at sunset. After few Gazelle beers and a good rest we drove the next day almost 450 km to Manantali. A very long day indeed including a border crossing which is always time consuming in Africa. Mali is landlocked so all goods have to come by truck either from Dakar or Abidjan. So the borders a quite a chaos. The first thing we discovered in Mali how unbelievable friendly most people are. Quite a difference. No annoying police checks here but giant speed humps in every village. That meant we had to turn the CX in every village in high position, something surprises the locals every time. They never saw a car like this before! The last 100 km were on a beautiful piste through small villages. The last hour we had to drive in the darkness. Something we normally never do but we wanted to reach Cool Camp Mali (http://www.coolcampmali.com) where our travel friend Casper has a campsite at the Bafing river near the hydro power dam. With the help of our four big Cibie rally light beams we drove safely to Casper. It was a nice rendezvous with Casper who we had seen the last time in 2010 in Ethiopia when he was still travelling himself. Now he built a nice relaxing place at the river with lots of nice trees, gardens, a banana plantation, animals, etc. We joined Casper the next day for a visit to a nearby village to do some talking and to fit glasses to the older people which was very funny.
When we arrived back in Cool camp a lamb was just born. We had another nice evening with Casper and slept another night in our little tent. From Manantali it was another long day driving to Bamako, the capital of Mali. First the same beautiful but rough piste of 100 km and then a good tar road. Just before sunset we crossed the mighty Niger river in Bamako and checked in at the Sleeping Camel guesthouse/bar/restaurant next to the German Embassy. I think our car looked a bit like a Mad Max Jihad terrorist car because we were stopped in the road with a policeman with a machine gun. They just had never seen a car like this before. After explaining what we were doing there they let us through. The only signs of a little tense situation in this part of Mali. There still are a lot of foreign soldiers in Mali to protect the people, but not in the southern part of Mali. We spoiled ourselves with a big air conditioned room, a few big Castel beers and pizza’s and cheeseburgers. We will stay another night here, fix some issues on the car, talk to fellow travelers and other interesting people here. Tomorrow, Sunday we will head to Ivory coast This Friday we hope to see our CX back in Banjul, Gambia to continue our epic trip through Africa. Same driver, different copilot, this time my wife Bien will join me. See the TEAM page. The plan is to visit our daughter who is doing a trainee ship as a teacher in Kumasi, Ghana. In three weeks we will drive about 3500 km from Gambia via Senegal, Mali, Ivory coast to Ghana. From the Sahel to the tropical rain forests. The rainy season is ending, let's see how the CX will manage.... We will try to fill this blog regularly for the next weeks Driving on the market in Banjul
Finally found some time to make a video of our trip from Budapest to Banjul. Enjoy the video The CX Rally team is back home. After a warm welcome on the finishline by our three beautiful ladies we spent a week relaxing on the beach in Banjul and visiting friends in the Gambia and the Casamance.
Again we wish to thank all our donors and sponsors, see also the the sponsor page. We collected 1718 euros for the two projects we support. Thanks again everybody! .Garage Hydraulique supported us with fresh spareparts to make our return to Europe possible. For the CX we found a safe, inshallah, place for the next half year or more before we will drive it back home. Or maybe further into Africa. Mali? Ghana? We will see. To be continued. In two days we drove on tar roads from Georgetown to the finish line in Banjul. Roads were fine but really too much checkpoints. In this part of Gambia there is a military, customs or police checkpoint every other 5 minutes. The last night before Banjul we spent in Tendaba on the shore of the river Gambia. Last night in our tents! The finish in Serekunda was a great happening when all teams went through the finishline. All people really like the CX very much! We made it! I was even interviewed by Japanese TV.
Yesterday we arrived in the Gambia, the final destination of the rally. The border crossing was smooth except the Gambian customs. For some of the crews it took over three hours. We followed the northern bank route over horrible gravelroads for the first part but slowly the road became better and better. The CX runs really well on these kinds of roads. Most of the time we put it in high driving position which gives the car about 4 cm more ground clearance This route involved two ferrycrossings, always a nice happening in Africa. For entering the ferry we had to put the CX in the highest position which gives an extra 6 cm clearance. The night we spent on a deserted birdwatching camp. Beautiful spot but no cold beers;-(. Happily we still had a cold South African white wine in the fridge ;-) This morning was the official opening of the waterwell, one of the charity projects of the rally for which we also collected money and donated 1200 US dollar.
Today an easy day and a short stage if only about 250km. We drove from the Baobab camp to Wassadou camp, a beatiful spot at a river. The CX is running like never before. She starts to like Africa I think. In Tambacounda we ended up in a few roadblocks of protesters against the plan of the government to implement taxes on motorbikes and scooters. Burning tyres and lots of stones on the road. A tense situation but the police looked in control. This was one of the very few days we arrived with daylight at the camp and were able to have a proper shower before our sundowner. Ice cold beer from Holland...
I will upload more pictures when we have proper internet. Today we drove deep in the Sahel. Life in the rural areas seems to be the same as ever. Beautiful people living in small huts with goats and cows. Transport with donkies and horses. Big cities are completely different. Noisy, dirty, full with rubbish and chaotic. But also fun to drive through. The stage ended on a beautiful spot, about 40km of the main road under a group of big baobabs. We arrived just before total darkness. The last cars arrived 3 AM in the morning!
After a few days of hard working through sandstorms in Mauretania we finally can enjoy a cold beer in the Zebrabar, St. Louis, Senegal. Because of the sandstorm we skipped the beah section and won one day in Senegal. Mauretania is an amazing country with big diffetences between very poor and very rich. We saw the longest train of the world. We got our visas in the bivouac which was perfectly organised. In Nouakchott we spent the night in a nice place which we knew of our previous travels. The CX was behaving more and more like a wild horse, driving only half to full throttle. On smooth roads no problem but in cities and potholed roads a real disaster. Every time we haf to slow down the engine died with a loud bang. Because of this racing the rear brake protector plate broke and cut the braking tube
We had to block the pipe pemanently. From now on we drive with only three brakes. Yesterday we finally could repair our wild horse. After hours of searching, cleaning the carburattor we replaced the coil and the transistor and the car runs like a real CX again! After that she deserved a proper washing with a African shining wax finish: with gasoil! One week on the road and almost in Mauretania. Yesterday a bivaque near Dakhla which was the first time we spent the night with a big group. Today is border passing day. Will take the whole day probably. From there in three days through the desert without hotels and internet before we reach Senegal.
In two days we drove about 1000 km from Ouarzazate to Laayoune. Another two long days of driving but on reasonable good roads. Well, with a CX every road becomes reasonable good… 😉 The scenery is most of the time beautiful, temperatures are slowly rising every day. For the first time we can lunch beside the car in our T-shirts. We spent the night in Tafraoute in a hotel with a lot of participants. Room was OK but the Tajin was certainly not the best you can find in Morrocco ;-) The CX is still suffering from the heat and long hours of working. We have to find a solution. We also had a leaking hydraulic hose but could repair it with tape. Slowly the CX is Africanising. In two days we drove from Tanger to Ouarzazate. About 1000km on very good and sometimes very bad roads. The car is now looking like a real rallycar. The bullbar has proven its strength already. We catched a big goat on it yesterday. So now it is our goatbar. We crossed the High Atlas on a small muddy and snowy road. Partly in darkness. Tiring but very spectacular. Car is having a minor problem with ignition/carburator on the bumpy roads but hopefully we fixed that issue now. A loose connector and a broken idle valve. The rally has really started now.
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Kees and Bien A limousine, a grand lady but also a tough winning rally car in the 1977 -1979 editions of the Rally du Senegal and winning! |