Take On Africa

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I spent two weeks in Ouaga. Camping in the car-park of the OK Inn Hotel. Sandwiched between  a truck park and the hotel reception. Doesn’t sound so OK. But what more do you need when camping than a flat piece of ground in the shade? Not much. Included in the free camping was use of [...]

Leaving Mali
Leaving Mali was tougher than I thought. Not due to any particular attachment, although I did enjoy my time there. It was the wind and the rough, corrugated, roads. Mostly the wind though. It tried it’s hardest to blow me right back into Mali, even after I’d got the Burkina Faso entry stamped permanently [...]

A month’s break from the bike seems to have been the perfect medicine for re-igniting my interest in my travels in West Africa and Mali specifically.
It’s been a fascinating month and I’ve seen so much. I hope to get chance to write an update about the last few weeks (it’s been a [...]

Below are three photographs showing all the gear and equipment I arrived in Africa with on my bike.
I have since got rid of the MSR stove and fuel bottle as I had problems with this and I forgot the bike helmet in Bissau (although I never actually strapped it on my head before then anyway).
Regarding [...]

Day 14: 19th Feb 2010
Fast rapids – Boat unload – Stuck! – Decision to quit in Kouroussa
It was a successful start to the day, with calm open water which Joliba II glided over with considerable ease.
Boosted by our progress and steady rhythmic paddling, when we heard the distinctive white water ahead and then saw the [...]

Day 11: Feb 16th 2010
Warthogs - Broken boat - Hippo encounter - Bush fire – Bat exodus – Uniformed and uninformed – Poacher or American?
A long, hard morning paddle – at least we were paddling and not pushing or dragging, but the wavelets on the river surface were tiresome. With the ripples lapping at [...]

Day 7: 12th Feb 2010
Ou tu vas comme ca? - Bee island - Frogs and splashes
Nearly a week into the trip, about 100km downstream of Faranah, getting close to the National Park and the number of people we are seeing has diminished – just the occasional onlooker from a riverbank and lone fishing boats. We [...]

Day 4: 9th Feb 2010
Quiet morning – shallow maze - near-disaster - crocodile island
Following a quiet morning on the river where progress was slow but steady, the afternoon brought with it a maze of rocks and shallow waters that slowed progress drastically. We would stop paddling and stand up to get a better view downstream, [...]

Day 1: 6th Feb 2010
Departure – 3 beers – Boh’s helping hand – will we make it to Bamako?
It’s Saturday in Faranah; our boat is built and afloat on the river, our belongings have been wrapped and packaged in plastic bags ready for the trip, we have cycled into town for breakfast and bought [...]

We spent 15 days on the Niger river - that’s 14 nights camping in the ‘wild’. The last night, having arrived in Kouroussa, we were able to check into a hotel!
The photo slideshow includes a photo of every spot we stayed, except one night when I forgot to get my camera out. That night, we [...]