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On the evening of Sunday 26th January my best mate, Mark, drove me from London to the port of Felixstowe, where I was scheduled to begin my 9 month Trans Africa expedition! I entered the P&O Passenger Terminal and eagerly scanned the terminal for a likely looking crowd, sure enough there was a small group with backpacks and sun hats! Our boat was due to set sail for Zeebrugge, Belgium at 11.00pm, so I spent some time getting to know the group. It felt strange to think I would be traveling with this group for 20 weeks overland from England to Kenya! We boarded the ship and after a brief chat everyone decided to bed down. I soon realized the tone of the trip when I discovered that our 'cabin' was actually the floor of the lounge!
1992 Diary - Africa (Part 1)
Gjcmcclurg2005-12-23 14:19:09
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at its best! The ancient souks and the Djemaa El Fina square were intense and exhausting, so Paula and I decided to spend the day at the world famous Mamounia Hotel. The hotel is regarded as one of the best in the world and certainly the finest in North Africa. Winston Churchill apparently spent months in this opulent hotel. Paula and I passed a long, peaceful afternoon around the pool enjoying a sumptuous seafood buffet. The refinement of the Mamounia seemed a universe away from the truck and crew.
Next we had a very scenic drive over the High Atlas mountains down to the spectacular Todra Gorge. On the journey we passed several picturesque oasis towns built from mud bricks - one such town was Tinerhir. At Todra we camped at the base of the gorge which was about 80m wide and a good 300m high. Paula and I did a demanding 30km day trek up the gorge to the small village of Tamtatouchte. At the village we were invited to drink tea with a friendly local family. On the trek we passed herds of donkeys and camels.
On 22nd February, my birthday, we crossed the border into Algeria and camped on the outskirts of Taghit, an oasis town. The oasis blesses Taghit with green fields and palm trees, but behind the town rise huge 150m high sand dunes which form the edge of the Grand Erg Occidental. The endless, shifting sands of the sand sea were how we all had imagined the Sahara! From Taghit we spent several days driving south through thousands of kilometers of desert to In Salah and onto Tamanrasset.
Tamanrasset, at a latitude of 22 degrees, is in the extreme south of Algeria in the foothills of the majestic Hoggar Mountains. The well known desert community is frequented by the noble Tuareg nomads. We were now deep in the heart of the Sahara dessert. From Tamanrasset we hired Toyota Land Cruisers for a tour of the Hoggar Mountains National Park. The tour was spectacular and we spent the night in the secluded mountain
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See photographs from:
Togo Gallery
,
Morocco Gallery
,
Mali Gallery
,
Ghana Gallery
,
Burkina Faso Gallery
,
Benin Gallery
,
Algeria Gallery
Michal, 2006-05-09 12:35:21