Africa

Finally I have reached Africa!

Meet Nala, our 17.5 ton home for the next 10 months shared amongst 23 other like minded travellers, Ishi our tour leader and Steve our driver. I almost didn't get the opportunity to meet her when I slept in and missed my train to Luton airport but the Gods were smiling on me and allowed me to make it in time. At Luton I was able to meet for the first time those that I will be spending every minute of every day with and luckily they seem to be a good bunch. We are also a special bunch in a way as we have heard that all other companies have cancelled their tours down West Africa this year due to lack of numbers so we are the only truck doing it.

 

Nala at a lunch stop

 

Meeting the group at the airport

 

 

Our flight from Luton took us to Gibraltar where we got to spend a couple of days looking around and making last minute preparations for our time in Africa. Stocked up and eager to go we caught the ferry across the Straight of Gibraltar and landed in Ceuta, a Spanish territory on the tip of Africa and from there we drove across the border into Morocco, our first African nation of about 29. The minute we crossed the border Africa sprung to life right in front of our eyes. Hundreds of people attempting to cross the border, taxis everywhere, horns honking, rubbish strewn across the hill and the hustle and bustle of the morning market. Of course our inconspicuous yellow truck drove through without anyone noticing at all and our warnings of taking photos at borders was followed to the letter.

The Rock of Gibraltar

First sighting of Africa

 

Our first stop in Morocco was Chefchaouen where we camped at the top of the hill overlooking the town. Here I was lucky enough to get some Wi-Fi to discover that my 2nd passport that had been sent to Australia to apply for my Ghana visa was in the hands of the Australian embassy in London as it had been sent to the wrong address. Luckily for me the honest English citizen was kind enough to forward it on to the embassy where they have now posted it to my tours HQ and we are arranging for me to pick it up somewhere in Senegal further down the road. Chefchaouen was also the scene of our first (but definitely not last) truck party which now seems to be on a day on/day off system ever since then. A large proportion of our supplies was drunk that night and we are now realising how difficult it is to replace in a Muslim country.

The streets of Chefchaouen

Chefchaouen

 

From Chefchaouen we hit Fez where we got 3 nights to explore the cultural capital of Morocco. Here we were able to check out the Kings Palace, a Jewish cemetery, a pottery factory, the tannery, a rug store, a fabric store and time to explore the medina (market). After Fez our fun week in Rabat has begun. Rabat being the capital is the one stop shop for embassies so first thing Monday morning we found ourselves outside the Mauritanian embassy eager to start the process. The traffic on the way however was suspiciously quiet and much to our disappointment we discovered that it was a public holiday in Morocco and everything was closed. Tuesday we started the process again and it has been 4 days of driving between embassies negotiating with officials how and when we can get our visas as quickly as possible. The end is in light however as we now hold our Mauritanian and Guinea visas and are parked outside the Ivory Coast embassy getting fingerprint scans which are taking about 30 minutes each. In retaliation we are all stealing their Wi-Fi from outside. We should have our passports back Friday afternoon or Saturday morning so we are lucky compared to last years Trans Africa which took 8 days.

Jewish cemetery in Fez

Fez

Pottery Factory

Volubilis Roman ruins

 

 

more...

Ireland & Wales

Taking it easy

This has probably been the quietest, most easy going fortnight since I left home. From Edinburgh I caught a bus to Stranraer where I caught the ferry across to Belfast. Another 10 hour day but the 2 hour trip on the ferry broke it up and it was excellent, similar to the English Channel ferries, large and well equipped with a beautiful coast line to keep me occupied. I was not aware but you can actually see Ireland from Scotland and vice versa. Belfast was a cool city in both senses of the word. My first day here I actually spent out of town the whole day, doing a day trip up to the Giants Causeway.

Giants Causeway

It is said to be the remains of a causeway that was created by the giant Finn McCool linking Ireland to Scotland. He did this to challenge a giant over there to a fight but when he got there the other giant, Benandonner was twice his size so Finn slinked back to Ireland. Benandonner however soon learnt of this and crossed the causeway in search of Finn. Luckily Finns wife came up with the idea to dress him as a baby and put him in a large cot. When Benandonner arrives he finds this massive baby and concludes that the father must be a giant amongst giants so he runs back to Scotland, ripping up the causeway as he goes. Similar basalt columns on the Scottish side at Fingal's Cave prove this story. There is a boring explanation that involves volcanoes and something something but I know which explanation I believe.

The trip to the causeway also took us all through the countryside, checking out castles and the oldest distillery in the world, Bushmills, first licensed in 1608 by King James I.

Carrickfergus Castle

Coastline along the 9 Glens of Antrim

Carrick-A-Rede Ropebridge

Dunluce Castle

I was also able to check out the Titanic museum in Belfast which was well worth the money too and is one of the best museums I've been in. It not only talks about the Titanic but the whole history of Belfast and how it came into being as a shipbuilding city. There is now a district called the Titanic Quarter in Belfast and the company that built it, Harland & Wolff are still in operation today although they have diversified their portfolio and now primarily deal with offshore wind power and renewable energy.  They do still have a complete dry-dock operational and ready to go so if anyone is interested in building an ocean liner I highly recommend them.

Next Stop was Dublin where you never have to walk more than 50 metres to find a pub. I found myself on a walking tour in the morning and got forced into doing a pub crawl that evening which was great fun. No pictures from that night however and if there was they would be severely out of focus.

View from O'Connell Bridge

I think you can sum up the Irish people with a story I was told on the main river crossing in the middle of town, O'Connell Bridge. Just before the year 2000 the government put up a clock on the bridge to count down to the big night. The party came and went and not long after the clock was dismantled and replaced with a commemorative plaque to Father Pat Noise. It took a few years and a keen journalist to realise that there was no record of his death in 1919, in fact there was no record of Father Noise at all. A practical joke by 2 brothers the plaque still remains there after a vote by the council to keep it in place. Don't let the truth get in the way of a good story remains their national slogan.


From Dublin I fly back to London for a night before meeting up with 2 friends from home, Jo & Brett. We set of the next night on a road trip to Wales with Nicole and Laura, 2 of Jo's friends in our hire car. Arriving at 11:30pm and not being able to get in touch with the owner of the house we had rented for the weekend was a funny start to a great weekend. We eventually got in and the house was a mansion, I had a bedroom to myself and a comfy bed so I was happy as Larry. We stayed in a region near Swansea in the country near The Mumbles and it was very quaint. Lunch on the waterfront, a walk along the cliff face in what turned out to be 90 mph winds was great fun and we spent half the time just trying to stand up and getting covered with ocean spray.

The Mumbles Lighthouse

Three Cliffs Bay

Jo, Nicole & Laura



Worms head, an island in the shape of a sleeping dragon.

In the evening we celebrated in true English fashion an early Guy Fawkes day with some fireworks purchased from the local supermarket. The locals were quite amused at our excitement in discovering that they were legal here. Luckily the wind died down by the evening and the risk of setting fire to our neighbours rooves had dropped to 30%.

After a lovely 4 nights staying at Jo & Brett's apartment in London I found myself in West London enjoying the privacy of a single room for a few nights before the guts of my trip begins. On Sunday I fly to Africa, the whole reason for this trip and I cannot wait. Couple of minor hiccups with one of my passports still not coming back from a visa application and I'm pretty sure I set the record for the most toilet visits in 1 day with a bug I've got but nothing is going to stop me getting there. This is where the adventure begins.


more...