from Paris to Bamako with a 1200GS

28 octobre, 2009

All tracks, waypoints, gas stations, hotels on : GOOGLE EARTH   ou GARMIN

Par fabetamauryenafrique le 28 octobre, 2009 dans voyages, aventure, moto, trek
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17 août, 2009

From 09/26/09 to 10/26/09

Presentation

Fabienne (pillion)
34
Business Manager at TYCO Electronics

Amaury
36
Store manager Espace moto Saint-Ouen-l’Aumone (95)
We are married with 2 kids (5 and10)

I am also a pilot in Road racing and Endurance

We discovered Africa while on a trip to Senegal 4 years ago.
We fell in love immediately and it’s a regular destination since.
Being members of an association, >ASTOU< , we are sponsoring kids in Mali and Senegal.

We felt like going back by bike for discovery of Senegal deep inside and the land of our godchild nearby Bamako.

Par fabetamauryenafrique le 17 août, 2009 dans voyages, aventure, moto, trek
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4 août, 2009

Preparations

 Preparations

The trip is supposed to take a month, but preparing took us 10 months.
First, the bike, a 1200 BMW GS Adventure, fully equipped.

First mod was to upgrade the OEM rear shock with Ohlins, better quality and adjustable. Then fitting of Zega luggage from Touratech, sturdy and practical. Then a good quality
GPS, waterproof and practical, a Garmin 276 C where I could upload maps of Europe and Africa along with all needed waypoint and tracks. Against drops, the GS Adventure is outfitted with cylinder guards.I added the carbon protections on the cylinder heads.

List of modifications to the bike:

- Ohlins rear shock
- Zega luggage + rack,
- Topcase Givi 36 L
- Touratech tank panniers
- Low pilot Touratech saddle
- Decatted Leovince exhaust manifold
- MIVV exhaust
- Front arm (telelever) protection
- Cylinder head carbon fiber protection
- Radiator guard
- Headlight protection
- Sidestand extension
- Tank bag and card holder
- Touratech foam airfilter
- Iridium spark plugs

Preparation of trip and bike wouldn’t have been possible without the support of the following sites and blogs:

barbouze photos

www.gsfr.info

papy et mamy en afrique

forum pasdegaspillagedevirage.com

July 22 2009
Tests in Vercors Verdon Gorges and Mount Ventoux

To test pilot and pillion we took a 3 days trip to Vercors, the Verdon gorges and mount Ventoux. Results, pilot saddle too hard, garments too warm and Zega luggage not that sturdy. I destroyed on on a very simple laydown at 20kmh. Anyway, Fabienne, not used to bike trips enjoyed it enormously.

La bataille pass

Par fabetamauryenafrique le 4 août, 2009 dans voyages, aventure, moto, trek
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test in Corsica

08/10/09

Departing for Corsica for our second test
Mountains roads are narrow and sometimes on hillsides, like around Corte.

 Or even here between Corte and Ghisonaccia in the Sorba pass.

Or even here between Corte and Ghisonaccia in the Sorba pass.

Corsican road ghisoni ghisonaccia

Result, summer jacket would be more suitable, as well as light gloves. However the thicker OEM saddle thicker is as butt-numbing as the Touratech.

Par fabetamauryenafrique le 4 août, 2009 dans voyages, aventure, moto, trek
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The Luggage

 08/21/09

Dilemma is to carry the least while having the most possible!

All in all I have:
- a left pannier 35 liters (10 kgs max)
- a left pannier 41 liters (12 kgs max)
- a top case 36 liters (8 kgs max)
- 2 smaller tank panniers

Their content:

- toolkit
- spare parts
- clothing
- sleeping bags
- first aid and toilet bag
- miscellaneous (phone, cameras, laptop, GPS, chargers, …)

I shouldn’t have volume issues, but I would like to keep the overall weight around 40 kgs.

Not warranted!!!

 

Missing here are clothing, first aid and toilet bag!

Here is the detail:

- 1. toolkit (9kgs)

Just copied on Barbouze , give or take.

- 2. Spare parts and fluids (4 kgs)

-3. clothing (4 kgs)

     2 pants, 3 changes, 1 sweater each

-4- Sleeping bags (6 kgs)

   2 downs, 2 mattresses, 2 mini pillows and a tent.

    Visible on the picture 2 Camelbacks and 2 compact towels.

-5. First aid and toilet bag (1.5 kg)

-6. Miscellaneous
I have weighted yet but it should be around 5 kgs.
It sums up to 32 kgs, not including hard luggage (2 panniers and 1 top case, 15 kgs.)

It’s too much indeed, but the 48 kgs of the passenger (on a weight gain diet) balance it.

Par fabetamauryenafrique le 4 août, 2009 dans voyages, aventure, moto, trek
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The trip

 Departure planned for September 26 2009, from Paris

The first 1200 kms would be at night, but not by motorcycle!!!
The GSA will loaded on my pickup that I will leave at a firned’s residence in Barcelona.
(Not willing to inflict myself 1200 kms of nighttime ride on Karoo.
The boat leaves Barcelona Sunday September 27 for Tangiers (Morocco), ETA September 28 at 15h00.
Trip back home will take place end of October via Algeciras (Moroccan side of Gibraltar Straits), right up towards Barcelona whre pickup is waiting.

First stage is Marakech, taking residence at friends.

Then I planned the following stages,
in white going South
in blue the trip back North -Marrakech         to  TanTan
-TanTan               to  Dakhla
-Dakhla                to  Nouakchott
-Nouakchott       to  St Louis
-St louis                to Saly
-Saly                     to  Tambacounda
-Tambacounda   to  Dindefélou
-Dindéfélou        to  Kayes
-Kayes                  to Bamako 

 Some stages will certainly take too long, but we won’t turn down any supplementary ones.

We intend to spend a minimum time between Paris and Saint-Louis, Senegal, so we’ll have plenty of time to spend in Senegal and Mali.

THREE INEVITABLE STAGES

MEDINA GOUNAS - THIES – KOUROUBA

The road might seem lengthy, but we needed to pay a visit to our 3 godchildren.

Gora is a 12 years old boy, he lives in Medina-Gounass, a Dakar suburb.

He lives in a slum, we might hustle to find him back there, an ounce of patience and a pound of luck. We are supporting him through the Association ASTOU www.astou.org. The human size of this association greatly eases the contact and we’ll enjoy meeting him again.

Seynabou is a 12 years old young girl, she lives in Thies 80 kms East of Dakar (The one on the left for simplicity sake).

On our last visit her family offered us lodging with our kids. It will be easy to find our way there. We support her too, through ASTOU.

Moussa is a 13 years old boy, he lives in Kourouba 80 kms South of Bamako (Mali).

We support him through the Association PLAN
The sheer international scope of this NGO is such as it’s very difficult to get in touch with the local staff.

So the getting together with Moussa should be set up from the top dwon, through a special French service through PLAN France.
It’s as complicated as trying to get a Cuban visa (for Americans)
.
I was however able to get the address and phone number of a local PLAN staffer in Bamako. We’ll see…

Par fabetamauryenafrique le 4 août, 2009 dans voyages, aventure, moto, trek
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On the road

September 27 2009
We left Paris at 20h00, after much rain and fogwe were 200 kms from Barcelona at 6hr00 AM. Amaury was driving (just a one hr rest).

We’ll have some rest in the 25 hrs it takes the boat to reach Tangiers.
Thank you for your support (SMS and emails), we appreciated it very much.
It was difficult for me to leave the kids amd my parents, but I know they’are in good hands. See you.
Fab.

Time is up, we are on our way to Barcelona. Tahnk Cecile for your awesome welcome and your time.

We made it to the boat.

Since luck is in ample supply we even got a room with hot water. That’s luxury. Onboard, we were joined by Noelle, Fritz and Jacky (2 French and 1 German we met over the Internet before we departed), they are doing the same trip but with more time. 

After this day off, we’ll set foot on African soil in Tangiers, and then take off towards Marakech.

Par fabetamauryenafrique le 4 août, 2009 dans voyages, aventure, moto, trek
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MOROCCO

September 28 2009
We beheld the famous Gibraltar Straits

It comes at a surprise to find the two continents so close.

We set foot on African soil. Unfortunately we lost a lot a time in customs procedures, so we couldn’t start on our first satge (Marakech) as planned.

We found a very cool hostel

We had our first “tajine” in a local inn.

Tomorrow stage wil be very long and tough, we are already 250 kms behind schedule.

Tuesday September 29 2009
Yes, we Tan

We were able to make up our delay through getting to Tan Tan via Marrakech and Agadir.
We were on the bike for 10hr30 with just a 30 mins pause, guess what, we had another great “tajine” for lunch.

We had a speedy wake-up, Amaury forgot to set up the timezone on his phone, he though it was 08h00 while in fact it was just 06h00.
So at 7h00 we were already ready to take off, but we stayed in till 08h00 at the inn.
We had hard time getting out off Casablanca because of horrible gridlocks downtown and some hectic driver behavior.

We beheld splendid vistas, all different.

 

So far, we found Morocco to be very beautiful and we are amazed by the cleanliness around in this country.

We had our first two police roadblocks entering Tan Tan. They briefly verified our passports and let us go.
We arrived at an inn listed in the “Guide du Routard” (Michelin Guide sort of) at 19h30.
No power, no hot water nor Internet, but we had a broken window right by the local Mosque.

Our dinner tonight, Fish tajine + fruit tajine….
Tomorrow we depart for Dakhla 800 kms away, a tough day ahead indeed.
A great thanks to those who are caring for our kids, without them we wouldn’t be living this adventure.
Hug them on our behalf, we miss them so much.

Wednesday September 30 2009

Tan Tan – Dakhla – The Sahara
800kms through Western Sahara, magical.

We quietly took off around 9h00 after a good night.
Tan tan is really the last real city of Morocco.
From now on it’s just the desert, with evry now and then a city sprouted off the desert as by a magic wand, just like Las Vegas.
 

Very soon after departure we see the first sand dunes.

 

Very often the road snakes by the seaside, sometimes barely skimming the cliff.

We stopped to take a pic of the “Devil’s Hole”, and while I wa taking the photo, my helmet fell from the bike and stopped rolling 50 cms from the hole!
It got a large scratch, but it could have been worse.

The road is smooth, but beware of what crosses it!

We might have been going 150 kmh (90 mph) all the way, past Tan Tan police is found only at the numerous checkpoints where one must systematically submit passport and information File, already prepared.
We arrived in Dakhla for the first time at 17h00 and we stopped at a campground for kitesurfers.

When we arrived, there was over 100 kitesurfers in action, but not a single BMW.

After a super dinner, we went to bed early to get up at 07h30 so as to reach the mauritanianian frontier and pass the famous no-man’s land and maybe make it to Nouakchott.

Par fabetamauryenafrique le 4 août, 2009 dans voyages, aventure, moto, trek
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Mauretania

Thursday October 01 2009

Dakhla - Nouakchott 750 KM

After a quick breakfast (1 apple and 2 madeleines each), we left the campsite.
We were done crossing the Sahara.

We crossed the 2 fromtiers (Morocco and Mauretania) in the record time of 3 hrs.

The famous no man’s land so feared was after all not that much of a deal. There is no outlaws lurking behind the dunes and we didn’t blow up on a mine even though we took the wrong trail.

That no-man’s land is a 3 km strip that belongs neither to Morocco nor to Mauretania (a DMZ so to speak).

These 3 kms were very tough on the bike, we got stuck on the sand many times and we had a little spill.
We also had to push the bike by 112 º F. (40 º C.).

Past the frontier we made it through 450 kms of total desert, absolutely nothing, save for the heat.

Since the frontier crossings prevented us from having lunch, we indulged into a 4 0’clock snack with 1 Coke and 4 crackers each.

We also had a mini sandstorm, not very cool though.

Today we suffered a lot from the heat and our water reach close to boiling point.
We’ll spend the night at the Menata Inn in Nouakchott. This is the type of livestock we find alongside the road in the capital.

Tomorrow, we should normally cross into Senegal
Up to this day we have been able to eat and take a bath daily. Our bowels are no worry.
Thanks to the gel saddle, our butts are OK.

Par fabetamauryenafrique le 4 août, 2009 dans voyages, aventure, moto, trek
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SENEGAL

Thursday October 02 2009

Hard day

After a terrible night in Mauritania thanks to the heat and mosquitoes, we left this morning under a scorching sun.Temperature was 108 º F. (38 º C.). It’s a real pain as we cannot take off our equipment, gloves and kackets… We would pay it dearly should we spill.It was a real headache to get out of Nouakchott due to sandy thoroughfares and heavy traffic.

Once out of town the road was OK, but beware of the manyt animals (donkeys, goats, cows) wandering on the road.

Down here pickups are not just for bike hauling!

Finally we reached Rosso, frontier between Mauretania and Senegal, the Senegal river is the frontier.
Rosso’s bad name is well deserved (for those not in the know, it’s the most corrup frontier in West Africa).
It’s was horrible!
As for our good habit, we arrived right on time for lunch, we indulged in cakes and sodas (we were of course dreaming of Moroccan tajines).

And, cherry on the cake, today is Friday and so it’s prayer time till 15hr00.
While waiting for the prayer to pass, Fabienne tried a nap without success and then palyed with some donkeys.

 

We had to bribe a cop we met an hour ahead of the checkpoint and he “took care” of us from Rosso Mauretania to Rosso Senegal.
It cost us 40 Euros to leave Mauretania and 30 Euros to enter Senegal.
Totally unjustified amounts save for the 15 Euros for the ferry.
As of a ferry, to access it you have to wade into water.

We were able to leave the Senegalese frontier at dusk, after a 6 hours wait time.

The roads are potholed and very hazardous, particularly at night!
We found an Inn on the island of Saint-Louis and we had a great “tieboudien” (rice with fish) for dinner.

It was a grueling day, both physically and mentally, but the positive side is we finally reached SENEGALLLLLLLL
We are very happy to have made it after more than 3000 kms.

There is a slight leak on the final drive (reward of 1500kms at 150km/h).
Amaury had foreseen this well-known BMW issue and he’ll repair it tomorrow when we reach Saly.
Tomorrow we’ll pay a visit to Djeynaba in Thies and then we’ll get to Saly where we’ll have our first rest day.

Saturday October 03 2009

PARIS – DAKAR: 7 days, we made it!

This morning we left Saint-Louis for a small village we visited two years ago with the Brice and Bernoux families.
That time we had a soccer match with the kids over there, it was a pleasure.
To get back there we had to ride on a trail (even though we had road tyres), it was a light rehearsal for what is to come next.
The GPS has scalpel-like precision (Thank you Google Earth).

It was easy to get back to the village in the middle of nowhere, we even remembered some young faces. That was cool.

With the heavy rains of this year monsoon, many places are still flooded even though the season is over and the foliage is mind-numbing.

We hope we won’t have to ride upon too many trails as soggy as these.
The baobabs at last. What a joy to come back to these trees, We love them.

We made it to Thies to pay a visit to the BA family.
For Oumar, Tessa, Katy and Fatou everybody is OK , hugs and kisses. Aminata is always asking for Oumar.

Seynabou is getting more attractive by the day.

We had very good time with them. What a joy to see them again.
Katy, your Mom prepared a “Mafe”, it was as good as yours, wit was delicious.

Then we went to say Hi at the Albinos Center where we worked in March.
The kitchen garden is flourishing, the slide repair is holding well, but it broke somewhere else.
People were happy to see us again, sams for us.
We left Thies end of afternoon towards Saly. What took us 3 hours in a bush-taxi was covered by the bike in 40 mins.
We met our friends Jules and Moussa at Tessa’s, they welcomed us warmly.
Very good day. We are very happy to be here and tomorrow we’ll enjoy a well deserved rest day.
Not exactly for Amaury, he’ll have to replace the tyres, fix the oil leak and service the bike.

Thank you for your comments, they brought tears to my eyes.
I even forgot my birthday tomorrow.

Amaury jr and Elwan messages were warm to our heart and brought tears to our eyes.
Everybody is asking about them down here, they would like to see them so much.
We love you sweathearts and we are proud of you.
Be good and be good students.

Bulk pics

Fab still in love of animals

Faidherbe bridge in Saint-Louis, steel bridge deck, slightly hot on a bike

the island of Saint-Louis

 
close encounters in the bush 

be on the lookout!

Normandy Square in Thies

Thies roads

Thies roads to saly

A village in the outskirts of Mbour

potholes

Mystery pic?

What is it ?
What is it used for?
We profit by the opportunity to say Hi to Noelle, Fritz and Jacky, our first day ride buddies, who were also on their way to Bamako, but who have had quite a a lengthy har time since their departure.
Their blog:
http://noushafricatour2009.e-monsite.com

Par fabetamauryenafrique le 4 août, 2009 dans voyages, aventure, moto, trek
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I am 34!

Sunday October 04 2009

Today, I turned 34, however I don’t feel older than yesterday. Thank for wishing it to me.Being the great guy he is, my husband not only did it bring me in here for my birthday, but he also offered me a present.I am so sorry, he might have very certainly had hard time finding such a nice gift, a room-saver at that!I already told him that the nicest gift for me was to be here.He however found the perfect gift.

Here it is

Amaury and Moussa went to replace the tyres this morning. It was a DIY, yet they had to pay for it!

Meanwhile I went to the cybercafe to print the pics to give away in a village on our way back, and I’m done with the laundry.

Here is a pic of the gang: Jules, Jules’ girlfriend Oumy, Moussa.

We had a great luch, Jules’ girlfriend prepared it. Rice with meat, eggs, oignon and carrot.
It was delicious.

Then Amaury attacked the mechanics and then a bad surprise, we have a problem with the Ohlins rear shock.
We need to wait until tomorrow to call Ohlins so as to know if it’s OK to keep riding with it or to stop.
If we cannot ride, I have a friend Rachel who flies to Dakar Tuesday, in this case we’ll ask her to bring in a new shock.

Amaury: I don’t think it’s a serious problem, but without the peload adjustment I would have to lighten the bike to the max. So we just keep the strict minimum. I get rid of the fluids, flasks, toolkit, clothes and Fabienne (LOL).
Nothing vital, but we would have to keep the Camera and the laptop.

We spent the late afternoon with Aziz and his brother drinking tea. That was very cool. Aziz says Hi to Greg, Gwen, Brice and Sandy. He asked if Brice was sill as upeat.
We replied yes.

At last, a pic of just the two of us

>Amaury: Fab is pulling the same face as with the cow yesterday.

And some pics of the kids at the store across the street where Amaury and Elwan were always buying Popsicles.

If everything is OK tomorrow we leave for Tambacounda. It’s the hottest city of Senegal.
However, since we are going in the outback, we don’t know how we’ll get Internet connection.
We’ll do our best to supply info.
Otherwise we’’ll wait for Tuesday for the spare shock.

That day rest zapped past way too fast. I didn’t even have time to read.
I am waiting impatiently for tomorrow, so we saddle up for new horizons.

Marie you won (in fact you were the only one to play), it’s the local TP, it’s called satala.
>Amaury: fortunately I thought about TP, satala is the recipe for sticky fingers.

Monday October 05 2009

Saly-Tambacounda 450 kms

Wake up at 9h00 and call to Ohlins. The guy is quite sorry for me, but he confirms there is no problem to keep riding with it. I would just lose in comfort and adjustment possibilities. The shedding of 7 to 8 kgs of luggage will make up for the loss of adjustability.

From now on, the stages will have to be shorter to enjoy the trip even more.
We left Saly quite late at 10h30 after a hot night populated with many mosquitoes.
We donned our sweat-lodge outfits.

My bags, formerly grey and blighty were turned into artwork overnight courtesy of Moussa, an artist which resides at the Saly house.

We crossed Mbour en route to Kaolack, then Tambacounda.

The road condition is quite diverse along that trip, from pristine tarmac, to heavily potholed to plain dirt and everything in between.

pothole

manhole

The worst is the potholed kind which gets to slalom between the big holes, if and when you see them timely.
Over large distances the pavement has all but disappeared replaced by dirt. Riding over that red surface is nerve-wracking because you cannot see the profile of the trail. On the dirt sections, passing the lorries becomes problematic. We have started snacking on dirt.

A bit dirty

A brand new road is under construction, some sections are not open yet to traffic, we inaugurated them, passing through the barrier of rocks.

We were trapped once because the road was a dead-end. So we diverted on small trails through sandy villages and we spilled for the second time.

We reached Kaolack around 12h15 a small town where scooters reign supreme.

Fed up with crackers and coca meals, we stopped 30 kms later in a tiny village.
Upon asking at a corner store where to get a meal, we were led to a local snack coord. (N14 07.807 W15 52.923)

At the menu there was omelette with onions ot omelette without onions, we opted for onions. Along with a Coke (not about to lose that good habit), anyway there was no water.
Cost of the two menus: 1000 CFA or 1.5 Euros ($2.20)
Departure around 13h30 direction Tambacounda where we arrived at 16h30.
The road entering Tamba is pristine, but that doesn’t last.

We were expecting a big city, but in fact it’s very small and not much when it comes to tourist attraction.
Looking for a place to spend the night, we passed by the “Niji Hotel Souo” (coord. N13 45.971 W13 40.184) with AC, swimming pool (in fact more of a sauna) and the whole nine yards.
It’s 24,000 CFA per night (35 Euros or $52), of course we indulged, for a first night with AC!
Our last good night was in Tan Tan (long, long time).

We have been on the road for 9 days only, yet we feel like it’s been a month, with so much going on.
Not considering that we have 20 days left (too coolllllll)

Tomorrow we are going to meet a Senegalese friend in Kedougou and we wwll have to cross the Niokolo Koba National Park, a short stage of 250 kms.

Here are some pics of the towns and villages on the road in a scorching heat.

Mystery pics

What is that?

Par fabetamauryenafrique le 4 août, 2009 dans voyages, aventure, moto, trek
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Kedougou it’s all the way there

Tuesday October 06 2009

Nice day

We left early this morning to enjoy some cooler temps. It was only 27º C. (86 º F.) In the shade when we left. We stopped in a field to see some molehills, that was awesome. 

For those not in the know, here is town hall (palaver hut). It in here that all important decisions about the village are made. 

 

We crossed Niokolo Koba National Park, because of the rainy season we only saw baboons.

   

 

The landscape is awesome, we didn’t know there were “mountains” in Senegal.

   

 

For us it is a totally pleasant change in scenery, we feel like we are in another country.

 

 

We also saw so many cornfields.

  

and a peanut field, we didn’t know it looked like this.

 

 

We arrived in Kedougou where we found our Senegalese friend Eric

 

He found us a great campground (coord. N12 32.771 W12 10.311).

This afternoon, no bike, we went for a walk alongside the river Gambia and
Through the streets of Kedougou.

 

We spent the remainder of the afternoon with our friend’s family. Some pics of the kids we met.

Mystery pics?? 

 

What is that?

This evening: Yassa chicken, simply delicious
Tomorrow we’ll go visit the Dindefelo waterfalls and then we’ll try to get closer as much as possible to the Malian frontier.

Since many of you really liked the frescoes on the bags, here they are in big picture.

 

Wednesday 07 2009

Fantastic encounter

Despite this night violent storm, we decided to go to Dindefelo waterfall (coord. N12 21.884 W12 19.433).
The pavement ended shortly, then was the dirt trail.

We realized quickly that it was definitely not passable.

En route we met three youngsters riding threesome on a 125cc. They too were on their way to the waterfall, so we rode together.

After having spent 2 hrs to cover 35 kms (19 miles), there was a 2 kms walk left.

We made it at last!

 

Here is the famous waterfall (coord. N12 21.8884 W12 19.433).

 

Today at noon we decided to stop eating cake, so we had cheese spread sandwich (“Vache Qui Rit”)

The route back was as tough.
Our young friends ran empty. We had to siphon fuel from the BMW because we had 30 kms (18 miles) left.

Here is the landscape on that trail.

and here is the kind of trail we had to trudge upon.

We had to ride threesome on the GS, half on the way to the waterfall and the whole of the way back, to give a break to their bike which was on its last leg.

Despite that help, their bike broke down. We had to tow them with a strap for the last 20 kms (12 miles).

It was a very fulfilling day. We got back at 18h00, so we couldn’t hit the road as planned.
Tomorrow departure at 7:00 direction Mali where we should cross the frontier around 13h00. We grow on hating these frontier crossings, it already reeks of crackers and Coke lunches.

Par fabetamauryenafrique le 4 août, 2009 dans voyages, aventure, moto, trek
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MALI

Let’s rehearse yesterday, an awesome day for us, to say the least. Amaury had much fun on that flooded trail. Me, far less so. When we had to get through Water crossings Amaury was so happy, unless the engine was totally going submersible, fortunately without any consequence. For me, I fess up I was getting myself pampered. Every time Amaury crossed the bike, he came back and carried me on his back as it was quite deep in some places. The 3 youngsters are students, one of them is pursuing pre-professional sports career in Dakar. We really enjoyed the time spent with them, it seems it was shared since they told us they’ll never forget us. Without them we might have gotten lost in the Kedougou forest, without us, them might still be pushing their bike!

Thursday October 08 2009

This morning we departed at 7h30 so as to be able to cross the frontier and make headways inside Mali.
With our appointment with PLAN 80 kms South of Bamako on Saturday to meet our godson, we have to reach Bamako by Friday evening.
To get to Kidira (frontier town between Senegal and Mali) we had previously planned to ride on trails. However we had to drop because of the very low average speed (18 kmh - 11 mph) achievable.
So we had to cross back through Tambacounda, a good thing because the previous day gave me more than my fill of dirt trails.
On the road we had to stop and siphon some gas to help two youngsters who ran empty.

We saw a lot of baboons and we were able to take some close-ups.

Finally we reached the frontier around noon.

We were able to fill the paperwork for Senegal-egress Mali-ingress under one hour and without bribing anybody (save for the visas, 23 Euros/pers or $34/pers and 10 Euros/pers - $15/pers for the permit). These two countries made things very simple.
Cherry on the cake, we were able to have a lunch at Damou’s (3 stars on the Biker’s Guide), rice, veggies and meat. It was delicious.

We reached Kayes, a very big city from where departs two roads towards Bamako. The Northern route, longer distance but all tarmac and the Southern one shorter but more of dirt.

Amaury attempted the trail, but we had to turn back after 30 mins., it was all flooded and impassable.

First impressions: Mali is far drier than Senegal and the dwellings are quite different.

Everybody we come across on foot, bicycle, cart or cart say hi to us.

We stopped en route to buy rice and tea before reaching a small village settled in the middle of a magnificent landscape and we asked for shelter for the night. (coords. (N14 37.042 W10 51.998).

That was very cool. We felt like we were performers of the show “Terra incognita”.
We were introduced to the Mayor, his deputy, the chief, the Imam and the blacksmith.

The building techniques used is impressive with bricks made out of dung and hay.

ven in these remote villages there is an outhouse/shower, where you can put your soap and your towel on dried dung (LOL).

We and the Deputy Mayor were invited for lunch by the Mayor. It was corn couscous
with milk, peanut butter and meat. We ate our fill, moreover we didn’t even fall ill. That was awesome. So much nice encounters.
When it comes to women, I guarantee you that it is far better to be a woman in France than in Mali.
Men are always loafing around and women are their slaves.

For the night Amaury set up the tent and the mini cots, the villagers found that hilarious.

Friday Cotober 09 2009

Bamako here we come!

After a quite noisy night (animals, sick kids crying, …) and a hot one at that (we had to take the fly off the tent) and the company of the f…g mosquitoes, we were awakened by a f…g rooster at 6h45 AM.

We were very happy to be there even tired as we were.
The Mayor, after a very cool breakfast (so tasty doughnuts) with us,, departed for Kayes.

So it was up to his Deputy to lead us for a tour of the village.

According to him, Bamako was 300 kms away and the road was a good one when we asked him. Moreover, past Diema, the climate changes and it’s cooler, very good!
I turn on the GPS (yesterday I didn’t have the map of Mali loaded), according to it, Bamako is 530 kms away!!!
Not a problem since past Diema it will be cooler.We are not out of the woods yet!

Over those 530 kms, we crossed many gorgeous landscapes. We felt like being in a Western road movie. (coords. N14 30.918 W8 31.832)

We stopped for lunch in Didieni (coords. N13 53.066 W8 05.401). This is the proof that Fabienne is not exclusively on a cracker diet!

 Another fuel roadside assistance (3 and counting).

Bamako at last, we quickly came to grip that it had crazy traffic, traffic light are back (last time we saw them was in Morocco).

After more than 5000 kms on African soil, we at last have reached our objective.

We are very happy ot have made it, so much discovery, so much nice encounters.
This is an awesome trip.
We had a rest at Djoliba Inn (coords. N12 36.592 W8 00.564) alongside the river Niger (We found it only thanks to the GPS).

 

Tomorrow rest day and meeting with our godchild.

Par fabetamauryenafrique le 4 août, 2009 dans voyages, aventure, moto, trek
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Meeting with our godchild.

Saturday October 10 2009

First things first, Happy birthday Bombo from Bamako.

This morning the staff of the NGO PLAN came to pick us up to meet our godson Moussa.

Before we went to the market to buy soccer balls, and groceries (100 lbs. Of rice, 50 lbs. of salt, …) as presents to the villagers.

After a one hour trip we reached Tiemokola (coords. N11°57'23″ W08°08'37″), tiny village at the end of the world.

Now, pay attention to the welcome, quite emotional.
There was over a hundred kids waiting for us, and as soon as we got out of the car, they started singing “Joyous welcome” with a backdrop of “djembes” (African drums).

Of course I cried and Amaury was deeply moved.
This was giant, we still were performers of the show “Terra incognita”.
Then they escorted us to the village still singing and dancing.
We saw the “mumbojumbo” (magic man with a full leaves outfit) and they all performed a welcome dance.

We were sat at the honorary guests table.

After we were introduced, thanked and presents exchanged, we danced with them.

Moussa’s family welcomed us with a delicious meal of beans, couscous and corn doughnuts.

The NGO PLAN staffers were very happy that we came, because villagers had ended up disbelieving that there were godfathers in Western countries and thinking that the kids pictures were simply sold for profit.
Our presence as sponsors (the first to come to this village) proved it true.
We also got the proof. Moussa is a living person.

Many of these villagers have never seen a white person.
After visiting schools and installations funded by PLAN, we left. It was a quite difficult goodbye.

This day will live on, etched on our memories.

Par fabetamauryenafrique le 4 août, 2009 dans voyages, aventure, moto, trek
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The way back

Sunday October 11 2009

Today, morning in bed. We quietly departed around 9h30.

Because of monkey butt, Amaury get on to buy a sheepskin for the saddle. We stopped at the market.

He just found a sort of synthetic toupee.
Here is what it looks like, it’s ugly and utterly useless.

Amaury decided hellbent on taking the road everybody advised him against because of the rainy season.

He just didn’t want to take the tarmac back to Kayes.

The first leg was pristine.

We stopped for lunch at the railway station of Toukoto (coords. N13 26.773 W9 52.713). .We were very lucky because at that very moment there was a train entering the station and myriads of women sprouted up with hot meals. A woman loaned us canteen so we could eat. It was fires, tomatoes, cucumber and meat and Malian cantaloupe for dessert. Now that was delicious.

The trail turned up for the worse

We had to cross a railroad bridge (coords. 13°27'5.57″N 9°53'21.70″O) , very dangerous. Should a train happen, we would have to jump.

Then started the nightmare.
First we got mired in the mud.

Everytime we got mired, I have to push in the back while Amaury wrings the throttle. And there I had a mud bath.

 

As you expect, I was elated @#$%^! Cherry on the cake, we are almost out of clothes.
Here is my only blue jean!

After a mini-cleaning, we had a lengthy slide (we never had one before).
This is starting to get at us, drain us physically and morally.
And then the worse, backwater (collected there by heavy rains).
Amaury managed to cross helter-skelter, that was limit, he almost went submersible.

This time however, I was not pampered, I had to cross by myself by foot, without seeing the bottom because the water was so dirty. I had water up to the buttocks.
My only fear was to slip because all our paperwork was with me (visa, passports and passes), moreover the camera and cell phones.
My second pair of pants is a mess, I’ll have to stay soggy and muddy.
We will be lucky if we don’t catch any bug after this unwelcome bath.

Then we took a single track and got lost.

We encountered a Malian with a scooter (our savior) and he led us to a village, Badumbe , (N13 38.446 W10 12.926) where we spent the night (fortunately because it was getting late and dark).

We of course spent all our water and when we ask for bottled water down here, they don’t get it and tell us they have water, in the well!
We don’t have the choice, fortunately I brought in some tablets that you dissolve in water to render it drinkable.
We’ll see how it goes.
We were accommodated by Ousmane and his family.

 

Once again a nice encounter.
People corroborated that the trail was impassable and there was backwater everywhere. Our only solution was to hop on a train tomorrow afternoon and try to load the bike. Otherwise it would be hardship. I thought about summoning a chopper for evacuation, but it’s out of budget.
We were lucky to find a village with a train station.

I don’t need to tell you how mad I am against Mr. Baratin (Amaury).

Amaury> I was indeed forewarned that the trail was hardly passable 250 kms out of 450, but not impossible! This Sunday I was decided to backtrack through the road but at the junction road-trail, I asked a cop and he told what was feasible. The first 160 kms from Kati to Kita were tarmac so no problem. The following 80 kms are graded dirt and that’s cool with easy water crossings.

Exiting Toukoto it was getting harder, we covered 40 kms (24 miles) in 5 hours!
Getting of the bridge, there was just a single track barely discernable. I was following the GPS, using it as a compass. The single track quickly disappeared and we had to cross fields and villages.
The trail was extremely demanding and I already drained myself to reach that tiny village of Badumbe.

Dirt crossing are quite easy to maneuver, but the smooth rocky and soapy ones (this is the villagers Laundromat) were very difficult to ride upon.

There is no pic of the really difficult moments because we were quite busy dealing with it!
When I mud-painted Fabienne, I really thought that we might not make it. It took us an hour, I dismounted the hard bags, then laid the bike on its side.Then I cut branches (go swiss army knife, go!) that I put underneath the rear wheel. Then first gear full throttle, I wouldn’t have liked to be behind the bike.

My wife is AWESOME!

Par fabetamauryenafrique le 4 août, 2009 dans voyages, aventure, moto, trek
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Ongoing hell

Monday October 12 2009

After a so so night (spent exterminating myriads of mosquitoes) under the tent, we went on for laundry at a nearby pond.

Amaury cleaned the bike, me I was doing the laundry. Not much fun to use amuddy pond as your Laundromat.

Out train was scheduled for 16h00, but we were told that this train has no schedule, you see it when you see it!

After an hour the train station manager informs us that the train just left Bamako, so it might arrive around 20h00.

So we spent the afternoon with Ousmane and his family, it was really cool.

They are a very poor family but they welcomed us without hesitation and shared all their meals with us.

That’s the positive side of this “hardship”.

Women down here are incredible, they won’t take a break for a minute, they are so overworked and worn by numerous pregnancies they look prematurely old.

I gave them some perfume samples as present, they were delighted.
They don’t understand the fact that I have only two kids.

After a meal of oily pastas we went back to the train station. The train arrived finally at 23h15, welcome to Africa!
Amaury asked the men of the village for help, because it was necessary to manhandle all the 250 kgs of bike into the freight car.

Once the bike loaded, we found out there was no room in the carriages, so we had to hitch it (the whole trip for Amaury, half of it for me) in the freight train, in good company with sheep, chickens, roosters and all kind of crap!

With this sleepless night we move on straight to the next day, Tuesday October 13 2009.

Par fabetamauryenafrique le 4 août, 2009 dans voyages, aventure, moto, trek
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BACK TO SENEGAL

Tuesday October 13 2009

This trip was hellish, the train was swaying a lot and spend the night on top of an onion bag was not at all my idea of coziness. Stench notwithstanding, with all these stinky animals, Burrrk, the more we go , the more I hate them
I was sore everywhere, back, buttocks,…
We were properly exhausted, indeed it’s very cool to spend your night in villages, but it’s not very restful.
At 2h00 A.M. the train stops at Bafoulabe to load some enormous cargo, so I flatly told Amaury no way for me to go back in there!

Don’t let this pic fool you, I smoked no potent weed!
So off we go at 3h00 A.M., I found a standing spot in the carriage. As soon as the train started moving one Transrail agent allowed me to sit, this was indeed the engineer’s spot.
That was cool and I was able to indulge into a 2 hours sleep.

Amaury: The remaining 200 kms would have taken two days, so we made do with the train. The 16h00 train left at 23h15 to arrive at 8h00, 8hours and 45 mins. For 200 kms (121 miles). Once the bike manhandled into the freight car, then it started being hard! The train is more akin to a tank engine (diesel fuel) than to western trains. Fortunately I was with the bike, 30 seconds into the trip the train was pitching so hard that the bike would have crashed. Fortunately I had secured it with two straps, otherwise it would have been holding it over the whole duration of the trip.
The first 2 hrs were kinda relax despite the animals that were pooping and peeing everywhere, I mean it. However, after Bafoulabe it turned into a bedlam! We stopped for 2 hours and they loaded my freight car to the roof. A dozen small motorcycles in a heap, tons and tons of rice, animals, even fish pallets.
The bike ended lodged between the side of wall and the rice bags. There were rice bags up to the saddle and some bicycles were balanced right on my windscreen!
Fabienne found a spot in the overloaded carriage. For me, I stayed in the freight car with the bike.
I was first sitting on the saddle, with a guy on top of the fuel tank and a woman was sleeping over the rice bags her head on the pillion, her nose in my butt. As you figure, it was impossible to stay like that for 6 hours, so I crept in front of the bike where was one of my Zega bags.
Problem is, a sheep was already there, too bad, I packed the poor guy a little bit under the bike.
Once sat on the bags, my back against the rice bags, with bicycles and chicken over my head, I collapsed and fell asleep, my feet on the muffler so as not to crush the sheep.
I was awakened by a moist and warm feeling, the sheep had gone to the bathroom over me!!! From that moment, I used the sheep as my floormat, so that it learns how to go to the bathroom while lying down! I went back to sleep, but it was to be brutally awakened by those roosters over my head, it took them one hour. When we reached Kayes, everybody unloaded but me; they had to unload chickens, roosters, fish pallets and bicycles before I could get out. We reached Kayes at 8h00 A.M. so it took the train 8h45 min to cover 220 kms (133 miles).

After a quick breakfast, we crossed the Mali-Senegal frontier in less than an hour.

o cool.
We rode alongside the frontier for many kms, it was very beautiful and at the same time very arid.
The landscape is still breathtaking.

We are going up North, it is unknown to us. Our goal is to reach Touba, a holy city in Senegal.
After a delicious meal (corn on a cob, orange and cookie Madeleine sort of) we got back on the road.

We rode very cool trails, we lost our tracks a little bit, but we were able to make it to the tarmac.

So tired I was that I fell asleep on the pillion. So we had to stop, too tired, exhausted. It was 16h30.
We stopped to inquire about a campground around there, we were told the closest was 100 kms (66 miles) from Ndioum (coords. 16°30'44.31″N 14°38'49.95″O)
So let’s try, we above all wanted to spend a good night in a bed, not a tent, and a good warm shower. These 100kms were never ending, but at last we made it. Right before dusk we made it to a hostel “Le Jardin du Fouta” (coords. N16 31.122 W14 42.007)

Guess what? We had AC. So cool.

We had broiled lamb with French fries, tomatoes, grated carrots,…
That was awesome.

It took us all in all 30 seconds to fall asleep.

Mystery photo

Wednesday October 14 2009

This morning, we headed for Touba (coords. N14 51.584 W15 52.724), one of Senegal holy cities.
We had to go North because in Senegal there is no transverse roads (from East to West).

We crossed Richard Toll, the city with the most horse carts.

The northern landscape are so beautiful, as usual.

The other side of the coin, no dumpster around here, nor cash for clunkers. Rubish and car wrecks all around.

This afternoon, we had lunch at an Italian restaurant (coords. N15 37.936 W16 14.089)
(our only find) and we found it bizarre to have tableware.
At last, we made it to Touba.

The Great Mosque is gorgeous

Then we took the road to Saly.

where we found Jules, Moussa, and Manon (a voluntary from ASTOU).

Tomorrow morning, Amaury replaces the tires and we’ll hit the road direction Saint-Louis.
Friday morning we’ll try to cross the Senegal-Mauretania border, but without visas (we were told to get one in Bamako or Dakar, but we didn’t want to loose a day), so we might spend some time there (we might make it by just paying a fee).

This is not just your Sunday morning in France (the road bicycles)

By the way, I got a 26000 CFA (EUR. 45 or $67) speeding ticket, of course without radar, without receipt and with an apology please! AT least I didn’t loose any point on my license.

Par fabetamauryenafrique le 4 août, 2009 dans voyages, aventure, moto, trek
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