shoe string

this was my trip, i,ve been thinking about this for years. and now the chance has come, made redundent, pay the house off, and few bob for me, first things first,need some mates on board to keep cost down,thats easy, only got one, and he's been in a sulk, because i never ask him on my last trip,down to west africa in 2002( that was before the tar was put down in mauri ! ,through the desert with no clutch,thats another story) anyway he jumped at the chance,then my  then son in law joined, only later to back out,but only after buying  a 25 year old shogon with a dodgy second gear. anyway for £500 ,i don't expect perfection!, anyway a new timing belt , and beefed up suspention,the back and roof loaded to distruction, mid december ,and down to plymouth for the ferry to santander( best part of trip).next day ,bad head ,1300 set off across spain, mostly motorway,we had agreed before hand to drive in short (two hour) bits,but some how the mates bit was in day light, and i got night bit, which he slept through.(not a happy camper) arrive algaceres around 0430 (1100km one shot) got ticket ,and in line for first ferry to ceuta just after 0500,so far so good, the old bus is doing ok,as long as you don't want 2nd gear to often. CEUTA, through  red tape quite smartly  and on the road to marrakesh. (i do have times and distances for most of the trip ,so as not to bore ,i'll keep it short ) once out of the hills, from ceuta to tangers and on to motorway make good time until we miss the turning for marrakesh ,( if you know this road,you will wonder how? )  anyway plan B ,el jadida never been there , inland from there to marrakesh ,sounds good to me . just another day with out sleep. get to el jadida after dark .througth town ,and thougth town again ,bigger than you think this place ,and at last on to marrakesh road ,pull in to fill up.  right off again,or maybe not , bugger it won't start ,batterys flat ?, get a push start and look at it in marrakesh. off we go for a few hundred yards and the lights slowly die a death, push on , lights who needs em ,after near disaster with cyclist and unlit donkeys we turn back to garage .ok is there a machanic around (bear in mind this is all done in north of england french,which involve shouting alot  )after half an hour ,a old chap arrives on a push bike ,another round of loud english,but with hand signals as well. waggles battery leads shake his head ,back on the bike and of in to the night . by now a small crowd had gathered, plus a 18 wheel tipper,which we where told to tail gate back to town .if you have never driven flat out without ligths behind an 18 wheel truck on the back roads of morocco,don't , its the best laxative know to man . anyway he takes us to a auto elec, they pull out the altanator (i have spare ) put the other one in and take us to a camp site,this is in the middle of the night by the way ,the regulator  had gone and blown all the dash light ,so no warning light or any dash lights for rest of trip! as it was, the replacement alto had a short as well so have to disconnect battery every night,  get to marrakesh and have a rest for 2 days ,and get alto rewound,set off on long drag down to mauritainian boarder spend christmas day at campsite 30 km before layounne, camel steaks very nice, then on to dakla junction and camp for night , down to boarder day after ,not to bad on moroccan side,but the  same old same old across no mans land, anyway get sorted buy insurance and away to nouadhibou for the night . the plan had been to follow the new tar to where the piste turns inland where the long train goes to atar,+/_ 500km off road ,then head south about the same again through tadjikja and join the tar again at kiffa or ayoun el atrous . But secretly i 'm not too confident with the motor by this stage ,as well as no dash lights and a short on the alto,the oil pressures gone, 1,000 km off road does not appeal to me.!!! play it by ear ,set off from nouadhibou follow tar for 30/40km .there the railway ,and there it goes turning east,the boy is on map and gps but say nothing . i just keep driving and keep quiet,about 80km down the road the doubts start.he thinks we miss the piste.ok stop look at map o god its miles back not going back now ,waste of feul ,nearly in nouakchott now may as well go on ,and take the tar inland to nema,result,he's not happy ,he came on this trip to do the off road,it's a bit strained now . anyway there's plenty of bush to come which i can't  skip round,so push on to nouakchott ,change some money(don't want £s)  and find a hotel with beer , push inland to mema on the tar (stony silence) this is a long drag till the tar ends ,take a detour off road ,to look for a type  of nile croc that was stranded here  after the last wet era, must be about forty km ,had to dig out and use sand ladders a few times going out ,had 4 or 5 go'es to get over one dune ,the old 2.5 shogons not got much puff ,but she keeps going. saw 2 croc'sin water ,on way back old girl boiled every 10 min, have lots of water so should be ok .camp out in bush on way nema,lost a piece of bumper and fog light somewhere! alter plan again at nema, was going to go east across desert to timbukto,but instead will go south and enter mali at nara, thats about 150km offroad,then join the tar some where near sokolo and down to segou onto san  ,then do djenne on to mopti ,rest then the dogon country,which is intresting,after alot of bush bashing and wild camp we are back on the tar at Douentza ,stay here for the night, then hit the piste for the niger and timbukto,   ok,hundred and twenty odd km of dirt, stones,and sand, then the ferry over the niger to timbukto job done! apart from getting back that is, where about 45km in to it, then KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK, now what, stop crawl under ,exhaust! lash it to one side with good old coat hanger,off we go, KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK. shit, under again.  here it is ,my new shocks have just peeled a piece of the chassis off ,so it hits the stop every time, a lump of wood ,wire tiewraps, and we are on the road back to douentza,find a blacksmith to weld the shock hanger back to chassis. wants £40, mate agree's i kick off  and get it £14. everybodys pissed off again.(things have not been good for days,the smallest thing gets blown out hand) right, do we pack up and go for gambia or try the piste again,we'll see tomorrow. back on the piste again out where a friend is friend(jim reeves) this piste to the niger ferry is bitch, the weld still good so on we go,thought about this for years and here it is the niger ,one of the great rivers of the world, were on the ferry and the sun is going down, and i've got shot to prove it. timbukto at last, its dark found a place to stay ,little ramshackle bar with the arabic station on tv, get 2 beers and sit down out of way, getting some black looks from the other people,mate nods toward the tv,there's saddam hussain getting executed,drink up, time for bed.have a look round timbukto today,don't seem to be any hard feelings about saddam.do all the touristy thing,but mate is in a hurry to get on the road,id like to hang around for a day or two.but thing are strained to much as it is,so we hit the road.back over the niger on to piste to douentza with out any misshaps.then on the tar to bamako,some wild camps in between.two days in bamako was good. then down to senagal and cross at kadira ,some how managed to back in to a lamp post at custom house, the strip fell out . and i flattened the bumper,but no one was to bothered. it's one of the better crossing here, very laid back. then on down to villengara, the camp here is like a private french hunting lodge. snotty buggers,not the staff the geasts. had lots of cold beer and a good sleep.now in to gambia at bassa santa su.had to wait for head man to turn up to give us the third degree.now on to georgetown cross the river to look for mungo park coloum,and stay at jangjang bird park.back over river today, got in to big row with a policeman about passports, threatened to lock me up,but partner smothed things over with a small gift/fine.last leg now to the coast. the south bank road is a nightmare,just before soma, BANG,now what,christ were going down the road like a crab,and the handbreak solid to the floor. the leaf spring hanger had ripped out of the chassis on one side,and axle has gone back.crab on in to soma, find a blacksmith .got it up on blocks and a great big bar to lever the thing back in to shape,and weld,these lads will tackle anything.job done, back on road,with more care.and that as they say is that.get to coast .mate flys home and all i have to do is get rid of the old bus and the gear,sold the gear here and there. and a friend?. went away with the motor and came back with a £1,000

THE END 

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