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After the Anti-Atlas Mountains, Morocco begins to change. The people become friendlier, blacker and more colourfully dressed. Jalabas start to disappear to be replaced by desert clothes – brighter colours and much more head covering. The landscape changes too. Now it becomes flatter, broken and stony, even desolate in places. Yesterday we covered hours of bare, sandy scrubland with just a thin ribbon of blue, blue sea on our right and the occasional little fishing hut made out of whatever assortment of wood, metal, nets and bags that could be found.
The presence of security forces on the roads is becoming much more obvious. Checkpoints are more frequent and often come in threes – first the police, followed a few kilometres further on by Customs and finally the army. Most stops are blessedly short; a few questions, show the passports and then be waved on. Others are a little more tense and intimidating.
Our first sight of the desert proper was stunning. Nothing (not even Michael Palin) prepares you for the light, the colour, the sheer, crushing space and size of it. Hundreds and hundreds of miles of wind shaped terrain in every direction. And empty. You leave the vehicle and walk for a few yards into the sand and you could be the first person in a thousand years to stand on that spot. This is a harsh, unforgiving landscape that takes no prisoners, and the first sandstorm that we experience confirms all those impressions.At this point I need to add that there are some brave and slightly eccentric people travelling through the Sahara. We first meet Brian a South African cycling on the road after Dakhla, red headed with a mass of blond hair cycling on his own to Cape Town from the UK. We met him continuously from then on at various stops. There was also a man in a go cart called Jose. A convoy of French Medics with some gorgeous biscuits. Also a group of young social workers taking 3 children with special social needs to Burkina Faso.It’s now Friday and we arrive at Dakhla in the early evening. Aubrey goes to sort out visa
s for Mauritania while John, Tom and Kerry start to convert the truck into a campervan, which may be an important issue at the border. Despite the beautiful views and idyllic beach at this site there is a lot of work to be done and the group work late into the night. The following day we continue our journey. By this time, the empty oil tank on the truck has been filled with extra diesel to get us through Mauritania. The extra weight begins to pose a problem and possibly leads to the first blowout of the day on the trailer. By the end of the day there were two others and we finally camped in the desert with the evening meal taken on top of the truck waiting for Tom and Kerry to arrive with the new tyre. The rest of the truck conversion next day takes place in a sandstorm. An exfoliating experience that some people would pay a fortune for. Everything, including KoJo the dog, is covered in a coarse, dusting of sand. Distribution of the weight, the diesel, tyre pressures, and vehicle maintenance become priorities and we carefully continue on through the most amazing rock formations, like sleeping dinosaurs, arriving at the Morocco/Mauritania border by late evening and park up.
Going through the border was an ordeal for all of us and took over six hours of patient queuing, smiling and negotiating. It helps to be efficient and constantly vigilant, quick and polite and, perhaps above all, French speaking. These things may apply in any number of border situations, but add in tension, heat and corruption and things can be a bit difficult. The Law is there, but the situation appears lawless. The Moroccan guards relieve us of a few tennis balls while the Mauritanian security forces help themselves to phones, diesel, money, sunglasses, and the rest. It could be worse, and there is a great feeling of relief as we finally pass through, get moving and get out of there. An unasked for piece of advice from the Moroccan side of the border was to keep driving and stop for nothing when in Mauretania. We take the advice and drive through the night to the wonderful (hot showers!) Auberge Sahara on the outskirts of Nouakchott.
Two weeks ago and in another life we went from e-mail communication to the reality of overland travel. Europe came and went in a blur and it is difficult to remember what exactly happened when, because everyday is a mixture of events and experiences.Highlights, so far, a great group of people to travel with, funny, patient, experts in all sorts of things, inventive and good company. Incredible and imposing landscapes, tagines, kebabs in Marrakesh (Marrakesh by night is a must !), entertaining taxi drivers, the tannery at Fez and the thought of reaching the desert.
Downsides – border guards and border bureaucracy. Self-important men asserting power and wasting time. As I am, at the moment, gazing at the snow on the Atlas Mountains, this pales into insignificance. So far, everything we are carrying is intact and headed in the right direction, including ourselves.
The passage through Europe was indeed swift. Within three days we were a stones throw from Africa. Many hours on the motorways and a few in the ‘Aire de Service’ catching our breath! A little excitement on day two just after entering Spain was the blow out of a rear tyre on the truck. We deduced that the extra weight both in the truck and the trailer combined with a slightly under pressure tyre was to blame. The first of what we assume to be, many ‘team building’ exercises got under way as we changed a wheel weighing well over 200kgs on the side of a Spanish Motorway.
The final morning spent on the European mainland consisted of repacking the trailer and back of the truck. The effect of an inappropriately balanced trailer cannot be underestimated! With a large amount of excitement and a splattering of disbelief
we secured a ferry ride to Ceuta, a Spanish enclave on the North African peninsular. It was nearing dark when we arrived and border formalities seemed to be going very smoothly until the ‘Douains’, or Moroccan Customs wanted to inspect the truck. With a raised eye brow he called for his superior who had several questions of our intentions. The long and short of it was that it would be a further three days before we crossed into Morocco.
John joined us in Rabat as another driver and from there we travelled to Meknes, on to Fes, down to Casablanca and on to Essouira. For the first time for days the rain stopped and the journey took on a new dimension. While John and Aubrey went in search of a second oil tank for the next leg of the journey, we were able to spend a few pleasant hours exploring this lovely fishing port , collecting food supplies and enjoying a well-deserved beer on the sea front. Last night we rough camped in the bush on the way to Agadir, cooked a delicious meal, chatted around a campfire and slept under the stars.
This morning we left at first light and headed down the coastal road to Agadir and then to Tiznet through stunning and panoramic landscapes – photographer’s heaven – camels pulling ploughs, goats in trees, small busy villages, empty, endless beaches and blue skies.
Victoria Square, Birmingham rang with the sound of Ghanaian drums on Friday, 17th October as the 2008 School Bus Run got underway through a partnership between the Sabre Trust and Davis Langdon's Birmingham office. The staff at Davis Langdon had elected to use their annual staff day for a good cause: to raise £10,000 to purchase an overland vehicle and then fill it with much needed resources to drive to Ghana
.
Visitors to Victoria Square were also able to enjoy a performance by Ghanaian band One Drum; traditional Ghanaian dancing and hair braiding, whilst later in the day Partners from the firm were confined to the stocks.
Members of staff spent the morning collecting donated items of toys, arts and crafts, books and sports equipment as part of an ‘Apprentice’ style challenge they were set over the last month in which they were asked to source enough items from local businesses, schools, churches and sports clubs to fill the vehicle.
Towards the end of the day all the donated items were packed and loaded into the vehicle which set off on their 6,000 mile journey to Ghana.
“The event was a huge success,” comments Birmingham office Partner Tim Austin. “We had a great turnout, with people enjoying the various activities and helping us in our goal to send these much needed resources to Africa.”
After the Anti-Atlas Mountains, Morocco begins to change. The people become friendlier, blacker and more colourfully dressed. Jalabas start to disappear to be replaced by desert clothes – brighter colours and much more head covering. The landscape changes too. Now it becomes flatter, broken and stony, even desolate in places. Yesterday we covered hours of bare, sandy scrubland with just a thin ribbon of blue, blue sea on our right and the occasional little fishing hut made out of whatever assortment of wood, metal, nets and bags that could be found.
s for Mauritania while John, Tom and Kerry start to convert the truck into a campervan, which may be an important issue at the border. Despite the beautiful views and idyllic beach at this site there is a lot of work to be done and the group work late into the night. The following day we continue our journey. By this time, the empty oil tank on the truck has been filled with extra diesel to get us through Mauritania. The extra weight begins to pose a problem and possibly leads to the first blowout of the day on the trailer. By the end of the day there were two others and we finally camped in the desert with the evening meal taken on top of the truck waiting for Tom and Kerry to arrive with the new tyre. The rest of the truck conversion next day takes place in a sandstorm. An exfoliating experience that some people would pay a fortune for. Everything, including KoJo the dog, is covered in a coarse, dusting of sand. Distribution of the weight, the diesel, tyre pressures, and vehicle maintenance become priorities and we carefully continue on through the most amazing rock formations, like sleeping dinosaurs, arriving at the Morocco/Mauritania border by late evening and park up.
