Departure date is fast approaching. It feels somewhat surreal to actually be starting a substantially revised journey following the original 2020 plan that had to be aborted due to COVID. The vehicle is different, a 2021 Ford Ranger Wildtrak versus a 2004 RAV4, occupants (Trevor & Charlotte) now retired and living an active life in the Lagos, Algarve, Portugal. Yes, you read correctly, Lagos in Europe, that remains somewhat of an African connection. We will be travelling from our home in Lagos, Portugal to Algeciras, Spain where we take the ferry to Tangier Med, Morocco and drive to Marrakech where we meet Ulrich who is rapidly making his way from Abidjan after departing about 10 days ago.

The past few months have been hectic: Obtaining visas for Canada to visit the children in Aug and Sept, followed by a week visit from Trevor’s sister, husband and two friends, then a few days to catch our breath, then a week long trip to Abidjan for Trevor the first week of October ! And we still needed to get a visa for Senegal. This past Monday we applied for the Senegal visa at the embassy in Lisbon. After looking at the documents and asking a few questions for clarification, the officer asked if we would be staying in Lisbon while the visa was being processed, which could take a day or two. We told him that it was cheaper to go back home by bus and return when they were ready, rather than stay in Lisbon which is quite pricey at this time of the year. He promised to do all he could to expedite the visa and said we should call back at 15.00 but could not guarantee that they would be ready. We booked our bus journey for 18.15 to give adequate time to pass by the embassy, pick up our baggage that was left at the hotel, and get to the bus station in time. At 15.00 we called the embassy but the officer was away for a few minutes. 5 minutes later he called and said we could pass by the embassy to collect the passports. Amazing service and a free visa, thank you Mr. Saware for saving us a return journey to Lisbon. He also said we should visit his home region, the Casamance. He said it was safe to travel there. We will see closer to the time if this is doable.

Now, we need to pack the vehicle (space is less of a constraint than with the previous RAV4) and make sure we have everything that we need.