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Motorcycling around North Africa
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A motorcycle trip from Gambia to the UK, crossing Mauritania, Morocco, Spain, and France.
- 2007-12-28 - Arrival in Gambia (1 photo)
- 2008-01-05 - St Louis, Senegal (24 photos)
- 2008-01-06 - Mauritania & the Sahara (16 photos)
- 2008-01-11 - Back from the desert (27 photos)
- 2008-01-14 - Into the Atlas (15 photos)
- 2008-01-16 - Out of the Atlas, into the market (14 photos)
- 2008-01-17 - Europe & the end of the trip (4 photos)
Arrival in Gambia (1 photo)
Off-Road Motorcycling
I've made it to western Africa. I was a bit panicked that my bag didn't make it with me though. Everyone here would have bet good money that my bag was lost forever. Without the contents of that bag, I was doomed to ride shotgun in the Landcruiser the whole way to Spain as there are no stores that sell motorcycle gear between here and there. That would have been a bit of a disaster being that the goal is to ride across the Sahara.
Anyway, the US$ being so low is hurting even here in one of the poorest countries on the planet. Their currency is pegged to the Euro which I can only change at .61 to the US$.
I love all the colors on the clothing around here. The men in Gambia really just wear the same thing you'd see anywhere, tshirts and jeans. In Senegal (my stopover in Daakar) I saw many women in traditional full robe garment you see in many Muslim cultures. The women though wear super color wraps and blouses. Its pretty striking. Most are all quite lean and a handsome people too.
The towns are like Mexico on steroids. Similar dusty streets (most are all dirt) with hard to identify shops along the sides. The difference being that these people can mostly not afford cars, so everyone walks. The neighboring village is basically a strip with a road about 50' wide and the pedestrians really only make space for the vehicles right as they drive thru the crowds... on what is supposed to be the main road.
I have been mostly stationary for a couple days though as my lower-back went out just reaching down to pick up some water. Fortunately with my baggage here now, I have the Ibuprofen and muscle relaxants and have been slowly healing.
We leave The Gambia for Senegal on Monday morning. There are only 2 other motorcyclists on our trip, one is a woman. Originally there was supposed to be 16, but one by one they have dropped out. Only 3 of us remain. Will be interesting with such a small group. We do have 5 riders in all though with the guides and a 6th driving the Landcruiser support vehicle. The bikes were all new when they left London a month ago for the ride down here. They look like they've seen a fair amount of droppage though. Quite dinged up. One rider on the last trip actually went into a pothole on the road that swallowed the bike. He went flying quite aways and suffered a concussion. He just wasn't watching as well as he should have. Won't happen to me though... 'safety first' is my middle name :^)
We are staying at a campground now. One of only two in the whole country. It's a pretty eclectic mix of hardy people who are traveling thru Africa in 4x4s or motorcycles. A great bunch of people with lots of interesting stories.
Internet access is likely going to be more sparse than I originally thought, so I may be several days in between checking in. Just wanted to let everyone know I'm OK, the bag did finally arrive, we ride out on Monday where we cross the river Gambia on a ferry and on into Senegal.
I'm enjoying myself immensely even with my back in bad shape. Send good vibes so I can get on the bike Monday.
St Louis, Senegal (24 photos)
Off-Road Motorcycling
We have made it out of Gambia and to north Senegal now.
First off, phone and internet are not as available as I had hoped in Africa. So I cannot write or phone home as often as I would like. It may even be a week or more until we get into a city large enough.
Right now I am in St Louis, Senegal. Rode thru Dakar two days ago; what a dump. Its a city with millions, and most of them do not have anything we would consider a home. If you ever thought Mexican traffic was hectic, it is nothing compared to what you see in urban Africa. Here they also have BUSH taxis. These are bus-like vehicles that cram in as many people, animals, and junk as possible. They drive between the larger towns and people just flag them down. It is not uncommon to see one stuffed with people inside, people on the roof, and another half dozen standing on the rear bumper holding the roof rack to stay on. Not sure how they do not get a bad pump in their arms. The consequences would be bad to fall off doing 50 mph for sure.
This morning I went jogging from our camp (known as the Zebra Bar). I got some funny looks going through a couple villages. I also had a pack of kids run with me on the way back in. A few hung on for awhile and I gave them handshakes for their effort.
I have really enjoyed the riding and scenery. I love going through the small villages; not so fond of the cities, though. Having white skin makes you a target for hustlers and vendors. Definitely makes for interesting experiences when you get off the bikes and go by foot. In some places the roads are fine. But I have gone by thousands of potholes for sure. One that we rode by actually had a goat in it shading himself from the sun. An unwary rider would completely auger in and get stopped by a hole that size.
Cannot forget to say that the Mullahs are quite annoying. Does not seem to matter where you are or camp, somewhere in earshot is a huge speaker broadcasting the morning prayers...at 5 am.
Have only had one border crossing so far... going into Senegal. What a trip that is. One big reason why it is really good to have a guide along. All the stamping here, pay there, go back and stamp again, mandatory insurance is mind boggling. I cannot really gripe about the Mexican borders again. It would be nothing compared to this Africa border experience.
Tomorrow we cross out of Senegal on our way north to Mauritania. This is supposed to be the worst border crossin on our trip and can take 3-6 hours to get through... and supposedly quite corrupt too. May not be able to check back in until we get to Morocco.
Photo Album for St Louis, Senegal
Mauritania & the Sahara (16 photos)
Off-Road Motorcycling
Route Frequenment ensablee
Direct translation... Route Frequently Sanded.
Which is correct. We have now ridden into the city of Nouakchott. It is a large city on the coast of the Islamic Republic of Mauritania. The temps here are perfect; it is their winter. I cannot imagine the heat in summer.
Getting here we saw our first glimpse of the Sahara desert. By glimpse, I mean about 4 hours of riding through a thin strip of pavement in the middle of sand. It was blowing a bit, too. Easy to see how the sand could be like snow and cover the road completely at times. The sand is a really cool coral and orange color. Quite striking... like the sand you find in Moab, only brighter. Lots of camels on the sides of the roads. At each village, the kids always come running out and wave their hands. I am getting good at riding and waving at the same time.
It is also strange to see everyone all wrapped up in their desert attire. Robes and head all wrapped. A lot of times all you see is the eyes. Its pretty cool, but a little ominous too. We have been programmed to feel this way though, unfortunately with all the media and US government propaganda. So far, all the people have been quite friendly. It's fun to be able to put my French to use from time to time. However, we have found it helpful at some checkpoints to just play dumb, keep speaking English, and they just eventually let you move on. They always want a "cadeau"... which means gift, or money, in French. We will be in trouble if they ever find out how to say "gift" in English.
Finally camped far away enough from anything last night not to have to listen to the 5am Mullahs doing their prayer song. We camped in a "wetlands" where millions of birds come through for migration. Also got to see a warthog first hand...big tusks and all. Monkeys have also been spotted a few times on the sides of the roads.
Tomorrow we ride on the beach for a few hours, which I have really been looking forward to. The map shows a "road" right along the coast, but it is just beach. So the main north-south artery is just a beach you can drive on. How cool is that? Should be fun splashing along the edge of the water on desolate African beaches. From there, we set off into the Sahara for a 3-day desert crossing. We will not be coming across any civilization for those days. Just us, the bikes, and sand dunes. Next check in will be somewhere in Morocco.
Too bad they canceled the Paris-Dakar race. Everyone we have met so far in Mauritania has been friendlier and more open to an outsider than anywhere you would find in the USA.
BTW, the keyboard here is different and has all sorts of Arabic characters in it... just in case you see any typos.
All is well.
Photo Album for Mauritania & the Sahara
Back from the desert (27 photos)
Off-Road Motorcycling
Seems like only the "western" folks know about the Dakar rally being canceled due to terrorism threats. It's a shame, as we passed communities and villages over the last week that were setting up all their wares for the traffic and money the event brings. My impression is that it is essential for many of the people in those villages. Bummer. We even took pictures at the finish line of the race that was already being set up. We are generally in some very remote areas where no right minded jihadist would find himself...except now we are back in a populated area, Nouadibhou, Mauritania. We are staying in desert tents, a Toauraq camp just like the locals tonight; will see how that goes. I expect to have sand particles in private places by morning.
We have safely made it pretty much through to the north Mauritanian border. We cross into Morocco tomorrow. We passed a sign today warning of the land mines around the area of the border. Spooky, but our guide knows the safe route so no worries. A French guy was recently blown up though when he decided to deviate from the established route. Must not have seen the signs... which are in French BTW.
I do have to say that the last three days crossing the Sahara ranks as one of the top experiences of my life. I was grinning and whooping it up all three days. Really it was an incredible experience and more fun than I can express. The first of the three days, we spent much of it riding along the beach going north from Nouakchott. Hours and hours of totally deserted, pristine beaches. I spent most of my time swerving in and out of the way of the waves breaking on shore, and carving turns in "untracked" powder.... I mean, sand. Highlights were coming across huge flocks of seagulls on the shoreline every now and then and charging through the middle of them. They would take flight and you would be in the middle of it all. It's kind of like diving into a huge school of bait-fish. You just feel like you are floating along with them. I won't ever forget the feeling. We came across a couple fishing villages and bought fish for the night's dinner. Eventually we headed inland a bit and set up camp for the night.
Second day was all desert. Most fun I have ever had on a motorcycle with the dunes, the flats, the desert, the emptiness of it all. Some stretches, there would be nothing in all directions. Only the GPS to guide the way. You could look around 360 degrees and see nothing but the curve of the earth. Nothing. It's trippy to think about, but nothing on all horizons in all directions. At times we were riding on sand flats... maybe 4-5 inches deep doing 60-70mph. It was a rush. Then you would get into dunes and you could lean the bike and carve turns like skiing powder. It's all just too hard to describe. Awesome.
If you have ever seen the movie Dune, its like that in many areas where there are dunes. I cannot imagine any rain has ever fallen here, but it must. I do also have to admit to chasing a few herds of camels across the dunes too. Couldn't help myself. I never spooked any baby camels though.
Today we spent most of the day in the desert again and then finally had to make our way back to pavement. We had loads of fun on dry lake beds with a couple inches of crust so you could lean the bike way over and kick the rear end out for endless donuts.... Keeping the bikes just above the point where they tip over. You guys who didn't make it... you would have had the time of your lives as well. Its the best motorcycle riding I have ever experienced.
This evening we pulled up to the border of Morocco... which is supposed to take a few hours to cross. Back to the real world I guess now; Oh Boy. We went through that leaving Gambia. Just have to turn up the iPod and let all the hustlers know you cannot hear a thing.
We are a day ahead of schedule and so are planning to do a little exploring in the Atlas mountains. There is supposed to be some spectacular scenery there. To date, I have over 200 pictures. Trying to remember to stop and capture the moments is tough when you are having so much fun.
Sounds like a blizzard at home. We are baking in the sun down here. Perfect temps now. I don't know how people survive here in the summer. I am halfway through the trip now; bummer it is going so fast, but an incredible adventure.
Photo Album for Back from the desert
Into the Atlas (15 photos)
Off-Road Motorcycling
I forgot how much I love Morocco...though it has changed in the 20 years since I have been. It has kind of turned into the Mexico of Europe. We have seen a pretty good number of RVs from Europe on the roads and beaches. Definitely not the remote, exotic experience we have been having further to the south. I would really like to come back here and spend more time on the motorcycle traveling around more.
You still have the old, like really old, like "Jesus old". And you have the modern too. They have really been doing a lot of infrastructure work it seems. A lot of the towns and cities have a nice modern look to them. Funny to see donkeys towing loads and people while being dusted by a brand new Mercedes.
Southern Morocco was bleak, and flat. We are now getting into the Atlas mountains which is becoming more interesting. We get to Marrakesh tomorrow which is probably the largest city we will have seen since Dakar.
We have been riding along the coastline for a couple days now. Very beautiful. The beaches remind me of Oregon where the sand is flat with a lot of waves rolling in. Difference is that it is nice and warm here. Also lots of cool cliff coastline. The highway reminds me of PCH, only if PCH ran along the desert of Northern Nevada.
We found a great beach the other night to camp at. It was called Porto Rico. Absolutely beautiful, with the best sunset I have seen since Fiji. The ranger of the marine park greeted us warmly. We thought for sure he was going to hit us up for fees or a gift, since this is what every official in Mauritania wanted. But no, he wanted to give us some bread he baked, fresh water. He even came back to our camp with an armload of wood for a campfire. as we were leaving the next morning, he came up and gave us some sharks teeth he had had collected on the beach that morning. My French is starting to come back a bit so I was able to talk with him some. The only one in our group that can chat in French now.
I also ran across a huge flock of flamingos when I was riding along the beach yesterday. A couple hundred of them took flight as I approached. Very cool to see. Like watching a Discovery Earth show first-hand.
Also, we rode by the Canary Islands which is where Jennifer's dad's heritage is. It was hazy though so I did not get photos of the islands. I was told they are very nice though.
The people here have been very friendly so far, just as I remember. Interesting to see the women all covered up in their robes and burkas. Yet we stopped at a pizza place for lunch yesterday and they had Arabic music videos on. I would say the videos are every bit as racy/sexy as what we have on MTV.
Anyway, We keep traveling north and it keeps getting cooler. I finally broke out my heated vest today. Not looking forward to the UK where it has been in the 30s and 40s apparently.
Photo Album for Into the Atlas
Out of the Atlas, into the market (14 photos)
Off-Road Motorcycling
The last couple days of riding have been some of the best paved riding of my life. The Atlas mountains are famous for rugged beauty, but I had no idea. Literally, it is like southern Utah meets the French Alps. Picture red sandstone and dirt with narrow winding roads up and over passes. They are like what we saw when we were chasing the Tour de France. Yes, we did get above snow line; but the weather is awesome and I have the secret weapon... a heated vest and grips.
I probably took a hundred photos over two days of small ancient villages in the gorges, flats, cliffs. Fascinating to see the old with the new right on top of each other. One particular village drew my interest enough to get off the paved road and head onto the dirt track heading up to the village. The 4x4 road turned into a narrow donkey cart path. I was on my own at this point just idling through these narrow passages in the village. People were sticking their heads out of windows and waving. I don't think they see outsiders often. Just like some movie, I came across what I think was a wedding procession. All the men were in white robes. The women in colorful robes. All walking down the street to a tambourine thing. One women had her face completely covered by the burka. They parted so I could pass through the middle of everyone. Of course, I had to do it again on the way back down. It got so narrow I could not turn around in the streets. Finally made it to the middle of town where they have an aqueduct running in the fresh water for the village. I turned around there. It was just very interesting in the deep passages of the town with 90 degree turns and not knowing where I was going or what was around the corner.
Something interesting in the Atlas mountains are the faces. we have gone from black Africa to Arab Africa at this point. Yet the people in the mountains were again their own ethnic group. They looked like they could be from some parts of Afghanistan; somewhat fair skinned with very rosy cheeks and grey eyes. Again, all super friendly. Everyone wants a wave. Some kids run out to the road and if they get there in time for you to ride by, want a moving high-5.
Twisty-turny roads galore. Motorcycle heaven since it was all nice asphalt, one lane wide, and nearly deserted. For sure, two of the best riding days I have ever had.... then to got to Marrakesh. HELLO!!! So much mayhem and confusion, you just had to laugh. You are in the middle of a blizzard of scooters, cars, buses. We all made it through safely and it was an experience I am unlikely to duplicate except perhaps in the crowded cities of India.
So today we had a day off to shop and walk around at the world famous Marrakesh markets. This is an outdoor, narrow-winding, alleyway, bazaar on steroids. The cool thing is that you feel completely comfortable. The Moroccans are a great deal more polite then what you would find with this type of market anywhere else in the world. I really enjoyed the experience and bought some cool stuff. I am having to borrow 20 cents to be at the internet cafe right now. I spent all the Moroccan cash I had.
Also, the French president and the king of Morocco are supposed to be in town today which has made it interesting. Just a really great international flavor from here at one of the worlds most famous markets.
Tomorrow we ride north toward Tangier and then onto the ferry to Spain. I am actually quite bummed the trip is winding down and we are heading back to the West now.
Whoops, the Mullah just started his evening prayers right outside our building. One of the largest mosques in the world is across the street from me right now.... and they have THE sound system to boot.
This has really been the trip of a lifetime and I am sure I haven't conveyed a fraction of the experience.
Photo Album for Out of the Atlas, into the market
Europe & the end of the trip (4 photos)
Off-Road Motorcycling
Have been putting in some long days since Marrakesh. Feels like the trip is over now... only I have to ride 3 more days; tomorrow we reach France, Paris the day after, and the UK on the last day. Oh well.
I found out the thing in Mauritania was a bit more involved than we heard initially. A French family was killed and then the gunmen went on to attack an air base and killed some military police. I saw a list of suspects at one of the checkpoints. All the names were Arabic (of course), but they were all from outside Mauritania. A couple were from the UK, one was from the US. Anyway, a couple days after we crossed the border, they closed the borders. Would have sucked to be stuck there, but we made it and had a great time there.
I would say the off road parts in Mauritania and the paved roads in Morocco were the highlights of the trip. I'm sure my pictures won't convey the coolness of it all. We really did have a blast coming through the Atlas Mountains though. I'd like to go back there one day.
Tonight is our last night camping, which will be nice. It has been fun, but it will be nice to sleep in a bed in a room. I have only had one night of that since I got here, basically. We go north to a place called Route 66 tomorrow. Then, Paris the next day. Then, finish up in England after that. I will have 2 days to kill in England. Not sure if I will spend one in London or not. Might just want to sit on a bed in a hotel room and chill out with a couple movies. Seems like being stationary for a full day would hit the spot right now.
I had a great time in Marrakesh and bought some souvenirs. I picked up a bongo drum as a souvenir in Senegal. They actually play them there. A couple nights camping we could hear drums coming from somewhere. I also picked up a snake charmers flute in Marrakesh. Its what the guys use to make the Cobras dance just like in the movies.
There´s always a ton of stuff I think about writing while I am riding. Then I get somewhere and can´t remember it all. Had to play mechanic one day. The guy who is our mechanic/guide had gone ahead to take care of insurance in Morocco. We filled up with gas and the Toyota bonked. It looked to me like it was smoking too much and sure enough... the gas station guy had put diesel into the gas truck. Fortunately, I happen to know that Toyotas have a drain plug in the fuel tank so I was able to drain it and then we used gas from the cans to get it going. Ended up smelling like diesel for a couple days.
Also, I forgot to mention that the metal in the necklace for my dog tag was giving my neck a rash. I would wear it for a couple days, then let the rash go down, then put it back on. I solved the problem in Morocco by picking up a cool leather band which is now my necklace. Haven´t had any problems since. I did want to keep wearing it as much as possible.
Sucks getting clobbered by the exchange rate. I paid a toll today that was over 17 Euros.... which comes to about $24. And that was just for one toll! Paid a total of about 30 Euros on toll roads today. I think today was the worst of it though. The UK is supposed to be super expensive too. I may just camp by the airport and eat bread : )
Photo Album for Europe & the end of the trip
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