2muppets.com

Updates En-route: 20th March 2008

Posted on March 20th, 2008 by 2muppets.
Categories: 12. Gabon, 11. Cameroon
Post Location: GPS Map

Location: Libreville, Gabon

Muppets Say: Into a new country and we are loving Gabon, beautiful roads, extremely friendly people, and petrol stations that sell beer! Spent the first night in the country camping next to a cell phone tower in the jungle! Are now in the capital back on the visa trail and servicing our bikes - a huge thanks to Carey for visiting us and dropping off our lovely new tyres

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Updates En-route: 17th March 2008

Posted on March 17th, 2008 by 2muppets.
Categories: 11. Cameroon
Post Location: GPS Map

Location: Exit of Parc National De Campo

Muppets Say: According to the park director we are officially the first tourists to ever ride their own bikes across the park! It was 120km across with 60km being overgrown muddy single track that required clearing with machete by  our guides every 5km or so. Extrememy challenging riding but stunning scenery and a great accomplishment. Camping in front of the reserves office tonight and being treated to locally cooked deer with rice, and apparantly some dancing festivities fuelled by the local cane drink! 

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Updates En-route: 16th March 2008

Posted on March 16th, 2008 by 2muppets.
Categories: 11. Cameroon
Post Location: GPS Map

Location: Campo, Cameroon

Muppets Say:  After spending a relaxing few days in Kribi we (have teamed up with the english bikers Ed and Josh for the route south to Angola) have riden 75km south along the coast with the aim of riding through the national park in Campo to rejoin the main road down to Gabon.

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Updates En-route: 14th March 2008

Posted on March 14th, 2008 by 2muppets.
Categories: 11. Cameroon
Post Location: GPS Map

Date: 14th March 2008

Location: Kribi – Cameroon.

Distance travelled since last update:300 kms.

Muppets say: Relaxing at the beach for a while before we go through the National Park on route to Gabon.

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Nigeria: “You are welcome !!“

Posted on March 11th, 2008 by 2muppets.
Categories: 11. Cameroon
Post Location:

Dan has a standing joke with me about my ‘carrots’ – the little incentives I keep putting ahead of myself in order to keep pushing forward, I guess it’s a classic long distance runners affliction. Nigeria was one of these carrots for me, mainly due to its geographic location on our route, it marks the corner of our push east, the start of the route south to cooler climates and roughly the half way mark of our trip. Besides these incentives, I have to be honest I, was not overly excited about crossing through Nigeria and of course had heard the usual horror stories of poor roads, hostile people and over the top police presence.

So it was with some trepidation that we made our journey from Maradi in Niger to the border post at Katsina, not helped by the fact that I had picked up a pretty nasty stomach bug. After getting the Niger formalities over we proceeded across ‘no mans land’ to the Nigerian immigration office. One of our concerns was that we were only issued a transit visa at the consulate in Dakar, so were fully expecting some push back on our intended 5-10 day stay in the country. Our preconceptions of the Nigerian people immediately began to dissipate when we were greeted with huge smiles and handshakes by the 2 officers who were completely enthralled by our trip and the bikes, they very happily explained that we had 5 days on our transit visa but this could be extended and explained how – they went to great lengths welcoming us to their country and we shared a very entertaining joke that the larger (120kg odd) official should take up rugby and that he would definitely score a try if he ran at both Dan and I! We were pointed across the road to the customs office – getting the carnet stamped proved to be a tiresome exercise as the RAC do not specifically state each African country the carnet is valid for on the back (the SA AA do), so after some lengthy good cop bad cop charade by Dan and I the officer (who actions can only be a result of an overbearing wife or possessing miniscule appendages) stamped both docs and passed us on to customs police. They, for the first time on the trip, searched our bags I think mostly to satisfy their own curiosity. After the search we were invited up to an office to answer some ‘questions’, this turned out to be more of a dinner conversation than a border checkpoint. We discussed South Africa’s history and the shift in power of the ANC, we discussed the current American election and who they thought was the best US president (Bush Jnr clearly not high on the charts), we discussed the impact of an early abrupt colonial withdrawal from Nigeria and how it continues to effect modern day Nigeria, and finally they took great humour in telling us that we looked nothing like our nationalities should do: I being distinctly Libyan, and Dan looking like a proper German…..very very entertaining!!

We pushed on to Kano where we were due to celebrate Dan’s birthday with all guns blazing, as it turns out we were both rather knackered after another long extremely hot day, I still had dodgy guts, and northern Nigerian is predominantly Muslim so there is not a bar culture. In the end we settled for some Chinese and a few Star beers, followed by a moto taxi back to the church hostel. In Kano we got to experience Nigerian driving mentality full on – I have never seen such blind faith in all my life – its like India or Sri Lanka but everything happens at pace! Fortunately our new strategy of waking up at 5:30am and on the road by 6:30am to avoid the heat also meant that we could escape before the traffic was too chaotic. From Kano we pushed south east on to Bauchi, taking regular breaks to escape the searing heat, at each one of these breaks we were met with massive smiles and an exaggerated “You are welcome“, Nigeria being English speaking meant that we could take advantage of this hospitality and have great conversations about the trip, our route, and equipment. Our final stop in Nigeria was the town of Yola on the eastern border with Cameroon. Up until Yola we had had no hassles from the police whatsoever, usually getting the standard “You are welcome“, as they wished us a safe journey, however whilst filling up Dan was accosted by a local in civvies claiming to be the police and that he wanted to see Dan’s ‘particulars’ – we had heard stories of this ruse before so Dan, not believing him, joked that he hardly knew him and wasn’t that a bit forward! We both cracked up but the ‘cop’ was non too chuffed. We paid the attendant and sped off in the direction of a hotel with this ‘cop’ tailing Dan shouting for him to pull over, eventually the guy runs a light in front of us and blocks traffic claiming he is Nigeria’s equivalent of the US CIA, we still don’t believe him or the ID card he has now produced and are getting rather pissed off by this whole delay so I hand him a Fiche (photo copied doc detailing your passport details etc) and signal to Dan that we can bugger off. Upon reaching the hotel we are told that that was indeed the local Nigerian secret service and they are to be respected….clearly not by the Muppets!

We opted to take a remote border crossing into Cameroon, mainly to cut out a huge loop around to the north of Cameroon if following the national roads. The crossing at Belel was relatively uneventful bar the continued heat and some pretty terrible dirt roads. Upon reaching the main national road in Cameroon in the town of Garoua we were relieved to find ATM’s that accepted international cards and the French influence of lovely patisseries prevalent once again. Our plan of staying at an elephant camp alongside a lake was scuppered when we were informed that it was closed on account of the owner having ‘problems’ with the government! We pushed further south to the Parc National De Bénoué and enjoyed a rest day pottering with the bikes, swimming in the river, and enjoying the company of some biologists and aid volunteers from Holland and France.

From the Park to here in Yaoundé its taken us 3 days, but these 3 days to me optimize the adventure that we have undertaken, and how we have grown to roll with the good and the bad that adventure motorcycling can throw at you. Below is a brief journal of the 3 days events:

• Leaving the national Parc we hit fantastic tarmac windy hills as the vegetation gets greener spotting baboons and turquoise rollers en route.
• We opt to take the westerly more direct offroad route to Yaoundé, its 765kms of dirt!
• The first 280km of dirt is appalling, corrigations and massive pot holes end up cracking Dan’s pannier rack and stripping a mount bolt. I nearly crash as I run over a village dog that darts under my bike.
• We get to Tibati expecting a town, it’s a shit hole but fortunately find a clean auberge and the manager sorts us out with a moto taxi to a local eating spot, we eat yam and meat of some unknown origin. In the morning we do some preventative maintenance on the bikes, get some welding done by a local bush mechanic and buy fuel in dodgy oil canisters.
• We set off after lunch with some apprehension for the 484km that lie ahead. The gravel is in fantastic shape and the vegetation turns to lush forest, MP3 players blaring we are having fun on the road again – it feels like months since we last felt like this!
• Around 4pm and 165km in the heavens darken and we are forced to set up camp – the vegetation alongside the road is dense and filled with termite mounds, so we set up the tents on the road verge. We make up a fire and cook some spaghetti with canned veg, tomato puree, and sardines – delicious!
• Dan’s tent is closest to the road and is awoken at 10pm by a truck blazing past – very amusing. 2am the heavens open, its buckets down with rain…..the sound on our tents is music to our ears!
• We are up bright and early enjoying the smell of rain soaked earth, pack up whilst being attacked by bee’s and marvel at the no longer dusty road.
• The road is now treacherous, clay sections are extremely slippery and pot holes are filled with water obscuring their depth. Dan meets a huge lorry head on coming round a blind corner, both drivers put there vehicles in the ditch executing some nifty avoidance work – bike is ok but Dan’s back is tweaked.
• We finally reach the end of the dirt section, fill up with fuel and head to a ferry crossing marked on the map. The ferry is out of order but enterprising locals are operating a dug out canoe service. We haggle over price, agree, then manhandle each bike into a canoe. Mine creakes badly under the weight and as Dan’s is pushed out it lists badly and almost capsizes into the river. We kak ourselves and swiftly instruct that we go back to the bank and offload the bikes.
• Some locals on motorbikes who are chaperoning some French aid workers and witnessed the canoe incident offer to guide us up river to a bridge crossing, but not before stopping at a bar to buy us some beers and sweet dough breads!
• We cross the bridge and do some roadside adjustment and lubrication of our chains, this draws the attention of some local bikers who we then race dangerously across potholed roads for the next 10km!
• By this stage we have done over 300km of dirt road in a day and have our customary arrival in a bustling capital city at night fall to look forward too. We eventually find the church hostel in Youandé only to find there are 2 other English bikers staying there and the war stories begin…..

Its days like these that give you the sense of accomplishment and satisfaction that makes all the sacrifice and hard work worthwhile. This is Africa the hard way, this is Africa the real way, this is the adventure I dreamed about !!!

In Yaoundé we are busy stocking up with visa’s and getting some R&R – if you can call being up till 5am getting blattered with fellow bikers rest! Tonight we are off to catch the scousers playing in the champions league at a local bar, tomorrow its collect visas and bike work, then Thur its on the road again to hopefully spend some time chilling at the beach before meeting Carey in Libreville, Gabon on the 19th March.

Thanks again for all the support and guestbook posts, and congrats to all my mates who have had a sudden rush of commitment and gotten engaged: Banch, Cairns and Jeeves I suggest you buy those dirt bikes now before your goose spends it on ornate flowers arrangements for the wedding!

Cheers
Jody

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Into the East…

Posted on March 10th, 2008 by 2muppets.
Categories: 11. Cameroon
Post Location: GPS Map

Before I begin, firstly let me apologise for the time between drinks so to speak… This post was written in Nigeria, but we both got a bit crook, and had no energy to type it up. Also the infrastructure there is very unreliable, so this is really the first opportunity we’ve had. Sorry!

“We’re on our way to Timbuctu ! Can you believe it?!” Jody’s words as we started on the 200km track to Timbuctu.

Timbuctu, or Tombouctou, is the stuff of legend. Children and adults alike learn of Timbuctu being the back of beyond, with a sort of romanticism, an “Arabian Knights” mystique…

As I rode off I thought to myself, actually he’s wrong, we’ve been on our way to Timbuctu since we decided to do this trip some 16 months ago. Timbuctu was always one of our key destinations, the sense of adventure that is conjured was overwhelming, and the allure of the famous name all the motivation required to get us here, despite persistent advice that we received from other overlanders who told us of atrocious roads with a hefty anticlimax the reward!

As it was, we’d really built up in our minds the difficulty of the road. Shaun (who I’d ridden with previously in the UK) had ridden there via a different, direct route in from Mali, and called the roads “the most difficult riding that I’ve done in my life”. The Nick Saunders motorcycle expedition that we’d met on the Western Sahara/Mauritania border told us that 3 of their group had wrecked their BMW 1200GS’s on the same road we were to do, with riders hitting sandtraps while “doing 90 (km/h) to counter the 6 inch deep corrugations”.

After the rigours of the desert riding that we’d done in Morocco, we thought that a cautious approach was called for here, and elected to take the shortest offroad route in, and to do it without panniers, which were left behind at a hotel we’d been camping outside! When the big day arrived we were properly prepared – the bikes were kitted out with brand new tyres, and loaded with essential spares and clothing only. Shit man! We were on our way to Timbuctu!!!

As with so many things that you build up for so long, the day was indeed fairly anticlimactic… Save for some fun power slides that we did in a flat pan, and a very memorable crossing of the Niger, with bikes, in a dugout canoe, the riding was fairly pedestrian, and comfortably achieved at speeds between about 50-80 km/h. and the end result? Well let’s just say that the steak frites lunch was delicious, but package holidays won’t be coming in here any time soon! This is no Malian Riviera! To be honest the relief was palpable, as Timbuctu marked the start of our turn back towards the south, and out of the desert. We’ve been to Timbuctu, and I’m pretty damn proud of that achievement!

Mali itself was a revelation. Everything there works against the people – scorching hot sun, wind and dust, scarcity of water; and yet the people are amazing. Even with real concerns over famine and drought the Malians we met were never far from a smile, and were the most hospitable people that I’ve ever met when travelling. It’s strange that it’s always where you find the most human need that the people are the most giving.

Something about Mali is just “right”. The mixture of African and Islamic, Toureg and Dogon cultures seems to be well balanced, fostering a harmony between them that I’ve yet to see in any Western country. Also, of all the Muslim countries that we visited, Mali seems to allow the most freedom for women, who are permitted to travel alone, or in female only groups. Compared to the more strict Muslim countries we’ve passed through, it was refreshingly more liberal.

Mali will always be for me the country of the moto! Cheap Chinese bikes have flooded the country, and it seems opened up motorised transport to the millions! This is not a unique phenomenon within Africa, but as far as we’ve been so far seems especially prevalent in Mali. Up to 4 on a bike, men, women and children, scooting about the place on their Super K’s! Total chaos, but entertaining as hell, and boy do they love our big bikes!

We were lucky enough to catch a Dogon festival while in Douentza, from whence we set out for Timbuctu. The Dogon are a fascinating people, who still cling to many of their traditional ways, living in small villages at the bottom of a long escarpment (which I’ve now learnt means cliffs!). We ran out of time to visit the villages themselves, which we’re told are a highlight of the country, but the festival was no small consolation.

Traditional dress, drums, flutes, singing, dancing, and as Jody put it “random firing of blanks from vintage muskets”; all with such positive energy, smiles and kinsmanship, that it was impossible not to get swept along. We were made to feel very welcome by all who were there, and there couldn’t have been more than a dozen white faces amongst the perhaps 2 thousand present. This was no festival for tourists, it was a festival of the people, for the people! Jody commented, “ I get the feeling that the old dudes are really glad we’re here”.

One more highlight in Mali that I want to mention was the visit we made to Djenne to visit the huge mud mosque there. Yeah, we got some cool photos of the mosque, but the best thing about it was the cool people we met there; Pierre the old French explorer and his wife, travelling around Africa in an old leaf sprung Nissan Patrol, and Matjaz and Ana; with Matjaz being a freelance photographer, also travelling Africa in a Nissan Patrol, albeit a much more modern one, and all without any idea how to clean and re-oil his reusable air filter! Check out his website here.

To finish off a little about Niger, which we kind off darted through without really getting a feel for; Niger for us became the tough stretch in the middle of a marathon, where energy and enthusiasm start to wane, and the end goal is still too far off to be much of an incentive itself (of course this was before I read Zen and the art of Motorcycle Maintenance, that has since taught me to remember that being on the trip itself is the goal!).

We bashed out some big distances in Niger, riding in temperatures that must have regularly exceeded 40 degrees Celsius, to cover the country in around 3 days riding. Unremarkable vegetation, fauna and landscape on our route left us with few highlights, save for the continuing good nature of the people we met and passed. This section of the trip has really felt like the business end, and a move down to the tropics is eagerly anticipated. Despite Zen’s insistence on being there being the goal it’s still nice to have a carrot, and Cameroon is our next one!

That’s it for today. Since the above post was written we’ve made it to Cameroon and Jody will hopefully get another post up in the next few days, so you won’t have to wait so long for the next one! Thanks for the birthday messages that I received, and keep the guestbook messages coming! Latest Pics are uploaded into the gallery now!

Cheers,

Dan

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Updates En-route: 8th March 2008

Posted on March 8th, 2008 by 2muppets.
Categories: 11. Cameroon
Post Location: GPS Map

Date: 8th March 2008

Location: Bush camping.  N 5 41.349 E 12 23.632 – Cameroon.

Distance travelled since last update:    kms.

Muppets say: Eased to 30 odd degrees. After a night in the wild west of Timbati we are making slow progress south on corrugated and rutted dirt roads. We are enjoying it more than the bikes  - they both needed some attention from a bush mechanic: 20 min welding for 3 euro!! Now its onto the capital, Yoande, where a full post will be written – we promise!!!

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Updates En-route: 5th March 2008

Posted on March 5th, 2008 by 2muppets.
Categories: 11. Cameroon, 10. Nigeria
Post Location: GPS Map

Date: 5th March 2008

Location: Parc National De Benoue –Cameroon.

Distance travelled since last update: 380kms.

Muppets say: Still hot. Extremely remote border crossing into Cameroon, then onto a  national park to catch our breath, swim in a river, check out a hippo and baboons, and enjoy the company of some lovely French girls on a non-profit game survey.

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