28 December 2011 – 1 January 2012
6 whole days of driving. That’s all this trip could have
taken. But, a month later. It’s really time to go home. So, here’s the basic
run down on the drive back.
Woke up on the 28th, load the car and away we
went. Made it to Tamale, Ghana. Thankfully. We were hoping to gain a day by
making this leg of the trip in one day! Pulled up to the Giriba Lodge and
booked the last two rooms. Went to the restaurant at the hotel for dinner. They
were swamped because everyone decided to show up at the same time for dinner.
When this happens in Africa, the staff freak out and quit functioning. It’s
just part of life here. While we were
enjoying our dinner, two French boys (about the age of 8-9) walked up to our
table and snatched the bottle caps off of our beer and coke bottles. WTH??
Seriously. It was so rude. Their parents did nothing. Now, had they asked
politely, we would have given the caps to them. Instead, Liam yelled at them
and then started taunting the kids and hoarding all of the caps so they would
leave our table alone. (I promise – he’s really great with kids…but not rude
French kids).
On the 29th, when we stopped for gas, I happened
to notice that the tire that was canted was almost completely bald and was
bound to pop. We also noticed there was a nail inside the back right tire. We
have two spares and it looks like we are going to use them. Better start
looking for a shop to repair the one with a nail in it. Instead of changing the
bald tire at the gas station, we drove down the road a little closer to the
border and then had the tire changed. Still confused why we didn’t just change
it while we were already at a gas station. But, what do I know. I sat with my
fingers crossed hoping we wouldn’t lose another tire. Things like that happen
in Africa ALL THE TIME!
Our drive on the 29th took us all the way to
Bobo-Dissolou, Burkina Faso. Perfect. We are ahead of schedule and have enough
time to drive back to Banfora in the morning to buy rum and enjoy a delicious
breakfast at the Hotel Sucre de Canne! We were going to stay at a nicer hotel
but they only had one room, so we went back to Villa Rose. Had dinner at St.
Germaine again because it was so good last time!
On the 30th, we drove down to Banfora early. Had
breakfast, tasted some rum, and headed to Bamako, Mali. On the way from Banfora
to Bobo-Dissolou, the tire with the nail in it went flat. Stopped at a
tire-changing hut on the way out of Bobo to have someone change the tire. While
the boys worked on the car, I was reading my book (Africa: Altered States, Ordinary Miracles by Richard Dowden) and
noticed a chicken stuck in a drainage ditch. Therefore, I went on a hunt to
find something to pick up the chicken and put him back on normal ground.
Thankfully, I had some gloves to protect me from funky chicken diseases. Picked
up the chicken on a cardboard box. He was so freaked out that he sat right near
the front tire of the car for a while. Finally, he calmed down enough and
started walking around. Realizing he was free!! I’m sure he will be dinner at
some point in the future, but it made me feel good knowing that he wouldn’t
drown in the drainage ditch. Poor lil’ chicken.
Second tire changed, but not repaired. So, now we have no
spare tires. Seriously, stressing. It’s just not a good idea to have ZERO
spares. Especially since we had already driven the roads and knew they weren’t
great. However, Al did not agree with us and didn’t want to take the
time to stop. Now, I’m really going to stress about making it all the way to
Mauritania. Cause we have no spare and potentially a broken back axle. AWESOME.
Made it to Bamako at dark. Checked into the Badala Hotel and
ate dinner. Liam came upstairs after dinner and informed me that Al said he did
not want to take the time to fix the tire. Seriously. It’s really frustrating.
Liam tried to talk him into getting fixed, but it was becoming a
don’t-bring-it-up-I’m-going-to-do-what-I-want-because-you-are-bossing-me-around
issue. Um. It’s not. It’s a safety issue. Because now, we are traveling through
Africa and seriously compromising our safety.
Oh, and apparently me saying, “I’m not comfortable traveling any further
without a spare” does not matter to him. So, I know where I stand on the totem
pole. I just wonder if he would put his own family in that kind of a position.
(And in hindsight, I’m really pissed at myself for calming Liam down and
convincing him to not make a scene. That was irresponsible of myself. I will
never let it happen again. Safety first. Not feeling the need to live
dangerously).
Leaving Bamako on the 31st, the guys got into a
bit of a yelling contest. Being in the car for 30 days with the same people
brings out all kinds of fun tension. Al and Liam ended up in a screaming match
over lots of little things. Then, we spent the next 12 hours in silence. Except
for when someone asked to pee. Liam and I were stuck in the front seat and back
seat respectively, because Al wanted to drive. Fine. But, for the record, we both offered.
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| Beautiful Baobab in Western Mali. |
The border between Senegal and Mali was a fiasco because the
customs agent in Senegal was being a complete and utter prick. But, he realized
he wasn’t going to get any money out of us and he better let us go. Came upon a
giant animal. At first glance it looked like a West African baby rhino. But,
since they have been extinct since 2006 and I’m not sure they were even in this
area, we decided it was a giant wart hog. Make it to Tambacounda, Senegal. Stay
in the same hotel we did last time. Actually, in the same room. And it was 104.
Not 109. They fixed the toilet! We had to laugh. Spent some time talking Liam
out of flying out of Dakar the next day instead of driving the other embassy
vehicle to Mauritania. He was really pissed and ready to be done with this trip. Went
to dinner and enjoyed a nice quiet meal on New Year’s Eve. After dinner looked
up information and decided we would be able to leave on the 3rd.
Awesome. I don’t really feel like being in West Africa for another 5 days if I
can go ahead and get out of here! Especially with all the extra tension.
Also, spent some time double-checking if the pig was really
a rhino. My brain was literally seeing things. The pig was HUGE. It’s back was
almost to the top of the front of the car. I’m guessing about 3.5 feet tall.
Therefore, I had myself convinced I needed to report a rhino siting to the
World Wildlife Foundation. See. Africa makes you crazy! (Here's a link to a few google images of African Bush pigs: https://www.google.com/search?q=african+bush+pigs&hl=en&client=firefox-a&hs=tFy&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&prmd=imvns&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&sa=X&ei=SL1NT9_CDIjJtge3q_SkCA&ved=0CDQQsAQ&biw=1280&bih=607).
Wake up on New Year’s Day. Try to be polite, but it’s going
to be another long day.
Silence most of the way to Dakar. Made it into Dakar and
arrived at the embassy. Al went to grab the other car from the embassy compound
since Liam didn’t have his id and I had absolutely no idea where it was parked.
While Al was grabbing the car, we pulled all of our stuff out of the car we had
been driving. Al pulls up the car and we tell him to go ahead and start driving
to St. Louis, Senegal since we have to stop by the airport. That way, at least
one of us would get there before dark. Again, more yelling and screaming. Seriously.
This trip needs to end.
Al drives through the embassy gate. Liam runs up to him and
asks him if his phone is working. Of course not. We have had phone issues the
whole trip. We get in the other truck after loading all of our stuff. We drive
over to the Casino market to get some food for the drive since we are both
starving. As we were pulling in to the grocery store, we saw Al pull into the
Radisson Blu next door. So, I guess he isn’t going to St. Louis tonight. I
wonder if he is actually staying there. Hopefully, he will email us later and
clue us in. The grocery store was closed for the holiday, so we headed to the
airport. Changed our Senegal Airline flight from the 8th to the 3rd
and were on our way to St. Louis. We wanted to enjoy a few days doing our own
thing. Especially after how crappy the past few days were.
Bought some more oranges on the road and gobbled them down.
OMG. They are so delicious. I would drive down that crazy road just to buy
them!!!
Make it to Saint Louis right at dark. We begin the hunt for
our hotel. There is a parked car in front of us and Liam puts on his blinker to
go around the car. As he pulls out, BAM!!! A motorbike rams into the car and
bounces off. Crap. We pull forward a little and the crowd starts to form, so we
pull away looking for the police and trying to call our embassy. Well, someone
follows us and stops us at a police blockade and accuses us of fleeing the
scene. Well, we were following embassy policy. That’s what we are told to do.
Remove yourself from the dangerous situation. So, we did.
The policeman tries to get into the car with us and take us
back to the scene of the crime. Well, here’s the problem. This car only has two
seats. So, I pushed him away and closed the door. Probably didn’t help the situation.
The policeman jumps in the car of the people who chased us down since policemen
don’t have cars in Africa. (I mean really, why would a policeman need a car.
Seems silly doesn’t it?) So, back to the scene of the crime we went.
