Again the muezzins woke me up early in the morning with a real cacophony of prayer calls from all directions and at various times and lengths. Afterwards it was difficult to fall back asleep again. It was so nice and cool this morning. The heat of the previous day had completely vanished and the humidity hadn’t yet taken hold of the day.

As an expedition team, Charlotte, Trevor, Alex and I enjoyed one last breakfast together before we said had to say farewell. This was the inevitable point that had to come at some point. The expedition was going to split. Trevor and Charlotte wanted to to try to get into The Gambia to visit an old colleague as well as spend Trevor’s birthday there, and Alex and I had to finally make our way to the Guinean border to return to our wives in Abidjan.

Hugs and best wishes for the next couple of thousand kilometres were exchanged and we stepped into our vehicles and left camp. The track was a bit more comfortable to drive as the dew and cold of the night had made the sand somewhat firmer. Shortly before we reached the tarred main road, we encountered an old fellow that had came running towards us, gesticulating and shouting something, we didn’t understood. We continued and around the next corner, we saw the reason for his excitement. His cart, full of hay with two oxen in front was in the middle of the track, blocking our way and there was no way around them. Only in Africa. Either we wait for him to come back or quickly find an alternative route. We did last. We turned around on this narrow track bordered with high sandbanks and vegetation. It wasn’t easy, but we managed and took a different turn. Driving only by sense of orientation and position of the sun, we met the main road a bit further down in another small village. No problem at all. It probably had saved us time.

All of a sudden Charlotte and Trevor had disappeared from my rear view mirror, so we called them, as they had already returned their radio to us. A lamp on Trevor’s Ford’s dashboard had gone on and he couldn’t explain it. We turned around and found them by the side of the road. After studying various manuals, physically as well as online, we decided the best thing to try, was to take off the battery for a few minutes again and see if it resets itself. Said and done. The lamp, unfortunately, stayed on when it should have gone out. After a few more minutes of research, Trevor made the wise call to head back to Dakar to the Ford dealer instead to have them investigate and fix it. They are the best to be able to help. No one around the place, where we were could give a definite and reliable answer, as to what was going on and why the engine left the lamp on after the start. Once again we said our goodbyes and moved on.

For a while they stayed behind us until a village where we refuelled and they went on to sort out their Internet issues. We headed further east, further and further away from the coast. We passed many trucks loaded with UN armoured vehicles and material on their way from Mali to Dakar to be shipped. Once we passed through a village where tens of baobab trees were standing between the houses. Like a small baobab forest. Very peculiar.

Alex kept in good contact with them via WhatsApp. Later we learned that they had already arrived at Ford in Dakar and were waiting for them to return from their Friday lunch break.

For us, the air became hotter and hotter. At a certain point our car’s thermometer read 36°C. The landscape changed gradually, from lush mangrove type vegetation to more savannah vegetation. The trees became scarcer and smaller again. One both sides of the road, the high grass had turned deep brown and dried up completely. The sky was deep blue with absolutely no clouds, except for a bit of white smoke at the horizon. We came closer and closer and saw big blooms of white and light grey smoke rising in the distance. It was the time of the year to burn off the old grass to help new one grow and fertilise the land. We approached the fire carefully, as it had created an impenetrable screen of smoke. You cannot see through it, and see what is happening behind it. Visibility is only a few meters at most. Drivers are often surprised and brake hard causing accidents. The car in front of us disappeared in the smoke and we were next. With lowered speed, we entered and for a few seconds it was like being blind, before you exit on the other side. The intense heat of the flames could be felt on the inside of the car. As it is just for a few seconds, it is, therefore, not dangerous. We made it through fine. Other drivers had also reduced their speeds dramatically.

We picked up pace again and eventually came to a gendarme that was watching over an accidence scene, where two trucks have had a head on collision earlier today, probably during the early morning hours, and one truck shot off down the embankment. Both driver cabins were crumbled badly and no longer intact. Unfortunately, you often have to witness such horrible accidents here in Africa, where tired drivers, maybe even under influence of alcohol or even drugs, drive on these overland passages. The roads are just wide enough for two trucks to pass each other but there is no room for error.

Finally, there was word from Trevor, Ford was able to clear the code in the car, the oil was also apparently a bit low, which they topped up. Now they are all good to go and they were heading for St. Louis again.
Eventually, we made it to the outskirts of Tambacounda. Our hotel was found quickly and two rooms were organised. The last proper hotel for the next week before reaching our homes in Abidjan.