The Journey Begins!

Fri 10th Feb 20:10
Hello from bordeaux! After two hours sleep, we drove for 16 hrs through the very dull toll roads of france. Just about to have a beer and some food. Corkey is running well. We had no heat on the drivers side all the way and it was so cold. Maff finally fixed this with one hr left to drive. It's toasty now.

Driving with the cheese rollers. Heading off to spain tomorrow. We're so tired. Beer and bed. Bye.

Sun 12th Feb 09:41
Greetings from valdepenas. We didn't stop just for the name. We're half way between madrid and cordoba. After 11 hrs of driving we are now having a drink and some food. Driving through the pyrenees was very picturesque although this european leg is quite tortuous. Should get to gibraltar tomorrow. See ya.

Mon 13th Feb 12:57
Well, we made it to gibraltar. We've met with all the other teams and are setting off tomorrow morning for the crossing to tangier. Then we drive a short way to our first stop. A good seven hour drive today with no troubles. We've had enough of european driving. Will report in tomorrow when we're sorted. Bye.

We arrived in Casablanca around the tea time rush hour and found a very strange leafy oasis style campsite in the middle of the urban concrete jungle.

We're hanging with another three teams, (Bad Boys, The desert Hoppers and Banger to Banjul) two of which had to get visas for Mauritania before we go there at the end of the week.

Set up the tent for the first time and got our heads down after a bit of tea. The tent is brilliant, thank you very much again to Mark and Sylvie from West Runton camping shop.

Tuesday 14th Feb 15:24
Still in Casablanca, waiting for the others to get visas, so we're having a well earned rest and a bit of a repairs day for some. Had to fix Corkey's brake lights, but it was only a quick 'un and soon remedied.

Another night under the canvas in the leafy oasis and on to Marrakesh in the morning.

Happy valentines day to our girls. We love you and miss you loads...

Wed 15th Feb
After a rather scary ride on the road to marakech we arrived at our campsite. Mainly used for rv's, the ground was stony and hard. Generally smelt of human waste. Nice. Went into the main square for the night. Loads of people, loud drums, dancers, hawkers, very colourful and great smells. We tried the mint tea. Very sweet. Clive tried the sheeps head. His updates are much better than ours. www.bangertobanjul.net.

Thurs 16th
Drove on towards agadir after a really cold night in the tent. Went through the mountains which was amazing. It took us about three hours to reach the snow tipped peak. Very scary leading the group down through cloud around winding road with sheer drop to the side. It's weird to be 6000 ft up in snow and cloud to turn the corner and find a goat herder standing there with just a jumper on, asking for cigarettes. Drove through more treacherous moroccan roads. Arrived late in tiznit so got a cheap hotel for everyone. Resting here the night and then onto Layounne to d warmth.

Car going well. Cracked screen today but small. Take care, we are. Bye.

Fri 17th Feb 22:47
Hello. Not much to report for today. We got up and left tiznit and drove for a good seven or eight hours. We met up with a few more teams along the way including the cheese rollers who we travelled through europe with. Stopped along the skeleton coast line to see the beached ships. Cracking sight.

We're getting into desert land now and there is a fair bit of sand about. Stopped just south of Layounne in cheap hotel and ready for the off to Dakhla in the morning. Our signal will probably run out for five days after that so we'll check in again tomorrow. Goodnight.

Sun 19th Feb 20:08
Hello just a quick one. We're in Dakhla doing well. Off to Maurtiania in the morning. No signal for five days. Will catch up in Senegal. Bye.

Feb 20th: Nouhadibou.
We pulled into Nouhadibou in daylight for a change which was a welcome relief as we actually got to see where we were going and the suburbs of the city. The outskirts were made up of the usual concrete huts and dust tracks with open drains, fleeting rubbish, beaten donkeys and clapped out cars. Not bad really until we see a young girl going about her toilet duties in the gutter. We headed on, hot, into the city where our car is a real head turner, and enter what is supposed to be our campsite for the night. In reality, it is a 20x40ft back yard of a shop. With a huge tent at one end, this is clearly not going to be big enough for 10 cars and 11 more tents. The ground is rock hard, we’re boiling hot and we have a small crowd staring at us from within the big tent. Suddenly, Major “Tappers” (the mentor) comes over the radio.

“Do not setup your tents. We’re leaving.”
He and his brother Jim had scouted an alternative site which had ample space, showers, toilets and nice soft sand. We pull in and setup camp and go about sorting out our Mauritanian insurance. Apparently, the insurance depends upon the Kilowatt output of the vehicle. We heard that 4Kw was the cheapest so we tried that. Maff sorted it all out and came back with a small slip of paper which was our ‘insurance’ in case of an accident in the country. Quite how useful it would have been I’m not quite sure.

We cooked up a potato and carrot stew with a soup sachet for flavouring and dipped some local bread in it. Not a bad meal actually. Most of the others went to a Chinese restaurant for a meal and a beer. This restaurant also doubled as a whore house for those so inclined although I’m pretty sure anyone brave enough to use it would return with much more than they entered with.

Feb 21st. Nouhadibou - Sahara
Up early the next morning and the sun is already hot. We line up and hit the road again. The petrol here really stinks – it smells of gas. More offers to buy the car and we set off on the road before turning off in to the desert.  
We pull off the road in our ten car convoy after witnessing one of the longest trains in the world carrying all sorts of goods to the coast. We stop almost instantly to shake off an unwanted guide who has offered to assist us through the desert. He assures us that we will meet our peril without him and that he is visiting some family in the desert so will follow us anyway. He eventually disappears and so it’s down to good old map reading skills, a compass and the ever faithful GPS. Guides were hired by other teams at a rate of 250 Euros for 2 days. They seem to be quite useful and helpful although we had no trouble without one.

Corkey took to the sand like a hot knife in butter. It took us a while to get used to the soft sand, high gears and rocky terrain but once we had resigned ourselves to the fact that we had no other choice, we ploughed on.

The teams we travelled with were fantastic:

The Desert Hoppers
The Bad Boys
Banger to Banjul
The Chariot
The Wizards of Boz
Catering 7
Rebels Without Ability
The Cheese Rollers
Song Jet One

Each time some one ground to a halt there was always a willing set of hands willing to dig and push. This was hot work in the blazing 50°C sun. The technique was learnt quickly – dig out the sand around the wheels, lay down the sand ladders and everyone gets behind for an almighty push. Once the car is going there is a golden rule – DO NOT STOP! (until you reach harder ground). This process was repeated many times over our three days in the desert and I must say what excellent team spirit everyone displayed. Well done folks!
Whilst driving on day one, Maff spotted a dune with a welcoming gradient to drive up. He veered to a sharp left and Corkey began the ascent. As we reached the peak I think we both presumed there would be a similar descending gradient although all of a sudden I couldn’t see anything. I shouted STOP! STOP! STOP! and heavily applied the passenger break. Maff managed to stop with about six inches to spare before an extremely sharp 25ft drop. We got out and stood on top of Corkey to see the view and the other cars. The radio crackled asking whether it was firm enough for them to come up too. I radioed back saying it seemed fine. By this time, Banger to Banjul were on there way up and seemingly unaware of the steep drop. We were both waving our arms and shouting STOP! They also managed to stop just in time. The other eight cars joined us on top for some tom-foolery down the dune on roll mats and the like. When we decided to make a move we discovered a slight problem. The dune had changed shape due to the shifting sand and we were all stuck. We began an hour long mass dig and tow session.
About an hour before sunset the Desert Hoppers broke down and thought they were out of the game. In stepped Steve Jarvis from Banger to Banjul. This man truly was a god send on this rally. He had them going again in no time and we headed on for a while longer. Catering 7 had a cracked fuel tank and so we stopped to fix this and setup camp for the night. We were off the path, in the middle of nowhere, fixing our cars and ready for our first night in the desert. As the sun was going down a local Bedouin man appeared on his camel from out of nowhere. He let Chris (Bad Boys) have a ride on the camel – for free! (no pens required).

We arranged the cars as a windbreak and set up the tents. Trying to make your dinner in the desert without getting sand in it is impossible. The young lads from the Chariot got a fire going which was much appreciated by everyone.

On the way out of our tent I shined the torch on the ground to see where I was going. I saw Maff’s feet stood right next to a fairly large, white, hairy spider. I think I saved his life.
Before we hit the sack, we had a good look at the stars. They are absolutely amazing from this viewpoint. We could see so many stars, a perfect view of the Milky Way and loads of satellites moving around our world. What a sight!

Feb 22nd: Sahara
Back on the track the next morning and after about an hour we come across the Bedouin tribe encampment. We park up just past them and take some photos of the cars with the camp behind. The Bedouin come out to greet us and are very welcoming and friendly. We give them some gifts and head on our way.
Much more of the same today although we are trying to find the piste which runs through the desert. It seems strange but there is actually a well worn road through the desert – there are even markers with distances on. We get a bit lost and stuck a few times and by sundown we see a sign in the distance and decide to camp for the night. To our right, about 100 yards, is the sea – a very welcome sight. Myself and Steve (Bad Boys) take Corkey to investigate the sign which turns out to say National Park. On the way back we hear a pack of dogs howling so we get a move on to the car. We then get stuck in the soft sand. As I’m radioing for assistance I see the glowing eyes catch in the torch light.

“Please hurry. There appears to be a pack of dogs not far from us.”

Help came quickly and we made it back to camp without getting eaten. We could still see the eyes close to camp and so out came the uber-torch. This huge beam of light managed to capture just exactly what Steve and I had run like girls from. I can only describe them as a slightly bigger Chihuahua. Anyway, big enough for me to sleep in the car for the first time. We had a cracking dinner of Smash and tinned spaghetti and cous cous and settled in for a kip in Corkey. The stars were out in force as we fell asleep.

Feb 23rd: Sahara
Up at 6am today for an early start. We leave about 9am after very kindly clearing the beach of all its crap into ten bin bags. We drove on for a while until we saw a settlement. The Bad Boys badly needed some welding done so we head towards it to seek assistance. This place turned out to be the National Park Rangers office and even though we’d cleaned their beach they charged us to travel through the desert – plus there was no welding to be had either. We paid up, gained direction for the track and left in the dust. After much mucking about we finally find the track and are heading in the right direction for the road. About lunch time, we had just pushed the rebels out of the sand and pulled up at a marked crossroads. The other five cars had gone on ahead. Corkey set off to follow their tracks and after a good 4Km we found them. This happened again later although this time we weren’t following their tracks. After a good 5Km of tough going we found the road. TARMAC! But there were no other cars there. After about 30mins, The Chariot came into view, telling us that we’d gone the wrong way and to come back. Clearly not the wrong way as we were sitting on the tarmac. We reluctantly went back which was fine apart from the fact that when we eventually hit the road as a group six hours later, we were 50 yards down the road from where we were before. Such is life. We had to miss out on the beach drive due to time, car and tiredness issues which was a real shame but we really did have a cracking time in the desert. We drove on to Nouakchott and arrived at the Auberge Sahara about 11pm ready for a beer, a shower and a sleep – in that order.

Feb 25th: Nouakchott   
After a day of rest and repairs we head off on the road to cross the Senegal border. As we hit the outskirts of Rosso we see the road for Diama, our intended crossing point. The ‘road’ is actually just a dirt track, just visible between two buildings and looks more like an alleyway. This place is a dump and crowds start to gather. Rebels Without Ability decide that this is a good point for a break down. To our left is an elderly woman going about her toilet duties on the rough ground. The Rebels get going and we head off on about 80Km of really rough track. The heat is really getting to us now and the dust is getting everywhere.

Eventually we get stopped about 1Km from the border and have to produce a few packs of cigarettes and pens, show our Yellow Fever certificates and 5 Euros per car. We turn up at the border at 4pm and begin to haggle our way through. After three or four hours, packs of cigarettes, t-shirts and 90 Euros per car we are let through to Senegal. As our cars were over five years old, we had to have an official escort to see us out of the country. We give him two days off and head off to a campsite near St Louis called Zebrabar, where big cold beers were waiting.

Feb 27th: Touba Kouta
Our escort picks us up at Zebrabar and takes us as far as Touba Kouta after driving pretty much the breadth of Senegal. We stop here for two more days and prepare for our last day on the road.

Mar 1st: Into The Gambia
Leaving Senegal, going in to The Gambia was relatively painless. Through the Jail to get our stamps and then on to the Barra ferry. I can honestly say that this was the most intense day of the journey. We were hassled as soon as we arrived by hawkers, beggars, salesmen, fruit sellers, kids, drug dealers, money changers and some ‘officials’. These guys had Plymouth To Banjul T-shirts on and were supposedly sent to Barra to help us. After more cigarettes, hi-vis jackets and pens we were meant to be on the very next ferry. This didn’t happen but six hours later we managed to squeeze on to one of the most packed ferries I have ever had the pleasure of. There were Ox standing on Corkey’s engine it was so busy. Over the river we could see Banjul and 40 mins later we arrived. Twenty minutes further down the road we arrived at the Safari Gardens Hotel where all the other teams had their cars parked. It was an amazing feeling and we were both so excited as we shared a triumphant beer with everyone.

Thanks for following us along the way!