Banjul, The Gambia
We made it! We knew we would! We're now back in the UK (and the US) and the trip seems long, long ago… We're already planning the next one! Anyway, we had a great time and the Golves did very well. As you know, the grey one was sold in Nouakchott and the red one is going to auction very soon (see here for details: http://tinyurl.com/bvgt4 ). We're sad to see it go…
We loved most of the trip, especially the desert sections. However, The Gambia wasn't very nice. In all my travels I've never had so much hassle in one place. “Do you want to sell your mobile” to “give me your shoes” gets asked of you everywhere, from walking the streets in tourist places (fair enough), to the waiter serving your food (bugger off!). That coupled with the night we had in Barra sleeping in the cars waiting for the ferry – “You'll never find a more wretched hive of scum and villainy”, ok that was about Mos Eisley, but works well enough for Barra. One of us ended up punching a bloke, other teams got stuff nicked, I sprinted after a kid trying to steal the Pel cases off the roof and we also got an Ortleib bag slashed (though the tent inside was ok). Hassle, hassle, hassle, that's all we got. We were glad to leave, but we had one more surprise waiting for us. Arriving back at East Midlands airport, the other Ortleib bag came out on the conveyor open. Shit, I packed the Epson P-2000 right in the middle of the sleeping bags as I wanted to it be safe from knocks as it had all our 800 digital photos on it. The only way that it was seen would be via an xray machine. Thieving Bastards.
Suffice to say I don't recommend The Gambia to anyone, go to Senegal the people are much nicer. I'm double annoyed that we got so much hassle and stuff stolen as we were raising money for them! I hate to lump everyone in it together, and we did meet a few nice people, but I would never go back there, nor would I give a penny to help any of them.
Anyway, that won't spoil an otherwise great trip, 4×2 in the Sahara? No problem!
Western Sahara
A nice spot for lunch with dunes, the seaside and shipwrecks.
Daklar, Western Sahara
Be on the lookout for oncoming donkeys!
Daklar, Western Sahara
A great spot for dinner, we recommend the camel.
Rosso, Mauritania
Faz & Toby just love the back seat of the Golf!
St Louis, Senegal
Hello from St Louis! Sorry about the lack of updates over the last few days, we've been out in the desert and we've not had any mobile data connectivity since Layounne in Morocco.
Anyway, the 2 Golfs made it across the Sahara, Toby & myself only getting stuck a couple of times. It's tough adapting from a Land Rover to a Golf! The only mishap was that one of the rear shocks on the red Golf finally gave up, and Toby replaced it in Nouakchott, Mauritania.
We sold the Grey Golf in Nouakchott too, for a good price, so all 4 of us are now in one Golf. Still, only 600 km to go to Banjul!
More later…
Layounne, Western Sahara
We've noticed than all through Morocco that the streets are buzzing and the shops are open well after 10pm.
Layounne, Western Sahara
There's a large UN presence in Layounne due to the situation in the Western Sahara. Basically, Morocco is the de-facto occupying power after Spain left the area and the native Sarahawi people are now in refugee camps in Algeria. Morocco moved tens of thousands of people into the area to influence UN referendums so it can formally take charge of the area. That, coupled with the potential mineral wealth of the area means that Morocco is unlikely to give up its claim. Maybe something like EU membership could influence them…
Western Sahara
Arrived in Layounne, a city in Moroccan-occupied Western Sahara of 200,000 people and a host of UN Land Cruisers. And no pubs… Still, we had a nice drive of about 600km on good roads with little traffic, so we could cruise at 140kph. The cars are running well and getting 700km per tank. Tomorrow we're off to Daklar.
South of Bouzakarne, Morocco
The scenery has now changed from lush greens to almost desert.
Tiznit, Morocco
The result of Tobys inability to avoid the large, red stationary vehicle in front of him. My neck hurts, can we sue? 
Tiznit, Morocco
We met up with some other teams last night and (re)discovered that cheap red wind = bad head…
Marrakech, Morocco
Two years ago I took some photographs of a man working in the medina. He was a good sport, so I had some prints made and I had the best one framed and brought it with us from London. We're currently out here where the tourists don't go trying to track him down…
Marrakech, Morocco
Qessabin Mosque, on the North side of the Djemma el-Fna.
Marrakech, Morocco
Kristy and Faz enjoy Dinner at stall 42 in Djemma el-Fna.
Malaga, Spain
The red Golf is the star of the pair, cruising nicely at 140 kph, probably thanks to less luggage and of course the Mk2 Golf weighs 300kg less than the Mk3 that Faz and Toby are driving. It's obviously been looked after much better, and for a 1991 car I reckon it'll be a breeze getting down to Banjul from here.
We're planning on selling the grey Golf in Nouakchott or Atar in Mauritania a few days before we get to Banjul – it's easier there. That means the four of us will be very cosy in the red Golf, so we decided getting the Peli 1620 cases up on the roof would be A Good Thing. A visit to a Spanish “Homebase/depot” was in order, and much amusement was had trying to order 100×150cm of plywood. In Spanglish. Finding wood glue was more entertaining yet, not helped by us being the very last customers in a huge store and most of the staff at a party for New Year in the cafeteria. Anyway, it was successful, at least, we think so, but we'll find out in a week or so when we hit the rougher roads…
Malaga, Spain
Today was a bit of a rest day but also an opportunity to give the cars the once over and get some “upgrades” installed. As you can see, the ZX Spectrum Sticker and Bull were essential, but we, err, Toby, also fixed the tyre, installed the radio into the red Golf, installed the roof rack (more about that later) and, as he's outside now, may even get the top hose fixed on the red Golf.
Malaga, Spain
Just a normal night out for Toby then.
Malaga, Spain
We've arrived at the Tryp Guadalmar where we're staying for a few days to stock up with some food, as it's cheap here (but we'll buy fresh stuff en-route), and to repack the cars for the more challenging driving we'll have once we get to Morrocco.
Somewhere in Spain
…though he has problems keeping up with Kristy!
Somewhere in Spain
Toby lets Faz drive, and to our surprise he can…
Toledo, Spain
Did we mention that the food is great?
Toledo, Spain
Sunshine, longer days, and a bit warmer. You should go South every Winter.
