Welcome to Dave Need and Phil Gendall's blog. This is a record of our 2008/9 journey from Cornwall to Timbuktu in a 15 year-old totally unmodified Pugeot 205, as part of the Plymouth-Timbuktu Challenge (http://www.plymouth-banjul.co.uk/). Phil is a director at Gendall Design (www.gendall.co.uk), and Dave is a carpenter and boat builder. We left on boxing day 2008 from Portsmouth - and traveled to Marrakesh for New Year's Eve - then on down through Western Sahara and Mauritania, turning left somewhere and on to Mali.... and thence to Timbuktu. If you want to get the best from this blog now it's finished, go to the end and work forwards. If you want to know more about the challenge or just to get in touch email me on phil.gendall@btinternet.com Phil x
|
The best things happen when the cars break down. These kids are playing with a toy push-along car made from old camping gas cylinders and welding rods. The little one in the stripey top is 3 years old - there are 24 kids in the village... then my French ran out. They smiled a lot but stopped when the camera came out.
|
This whole district is for car bits and pieces. Every second car on the road is an old Merc, and every third is a Toyota landcruiser... general beast of choice for commerce and the military. |
Comments [0]
They said we'd all get stuck and they were right. Many many times. Luckily Ieuan is a rugby prop. Handy in a crisis, those Welsh. |
Comments [0]
| Friday 9th. We waited til the tide was far enough out and then off... two car casualties now in Nuakachott... but hopefullly we will be on the road again in the morning heading for Bamako. |
Comments [0]
| Just a few pictures to give you a flavour. All the cars got stuck - a lot. Two days of magical driving. |
Comments [0]
| No ATMs here, but a cool campsite - people turn up with services... pictures are: our black market money changers - we had a great exchange rate on Stirling but the chap on the left got suspicuious that his offer was so popular and made a phone call... he then revised downwards sharply. The lady is the car insurance sales-girl. And last but not not least... Ieuan, at last... for the missis. |
Comments [1]
| Up early again on the 6th, and a four hour drive playing eye-spy ... something beginning with S. Then the border. Two hours of waiting in the midday sun for hand-written paperwork, then off through a mile of off-road no-mans-land... and into Maurtitania. The final picture here is the vehicle registration office... we managed it without paying bribes and even acquired one pen! |
Comments [0]
| Monday 5th. Rest day in Dakhla, washing clothes, shaving, filling all the spare fuel tanks (at about 40p a litre), buying loads of water. We have hired our guide for the off-road section in Mauritania... and will be off early tomorrow for the border. Might have difficulty blogging for a few days - but loved ones will, hopefully, get texts. |
Comments [0]
| Ant and Nicky say hi to Nicky and David, anyone who knows them down the Chain, and Laity Boy. We thought we recognised the Landrover from round Flamouth. They are on their way to 'Zim' via the Congo, amongst other troubled countries. They seem remarkably relaxed about it. |
Comments [0]
Comments [0]