Wishing all of you Christmas blessings and an adventurous 2024. 

Dear Ulrich , thank you for an epic journey through Morocco, Mauritania and Senegal. For all the research and planning since 2018. I was very disappointed when the original trip was cancelled because of COVID. For letting me help transforming the RAV into some sort of overland vehicle back then and putting the sparkle into my hubbies eyes when you resurrected the trip earlier this year.  Your choice of the route and camping sites were well thought through. I actually enjoyed the camping, especially as I have not camped in the last 30 years. It was great catching up with an old friend and travelling together. 

Trev thanks for initiating this trip and the kilometres of driving. You have always been an exceptional driver. 

The highlight of the trip for me was definitely the majestic Atlas Mountains. As the armchair overlander I had the privilege to just sit back and enjoy the scenery. I was disappointed that my camera could not capture the depths of the valleys, the steepness of the passes, the mountain tops one following the other until they disappear in the distance; the crinkling of the road, steadily climbing, following the contour of the mountain, the spectacular rock formations and the narrow gorges.  

In Mauritania the highlight was our stay at Villa Maguella, enjoying the hospitality of Tisch and Victor, especially after a harrowing border crossing or a long day of driving, meeting and sharing tales with fellow travellers. 

The highlight of Senegal was the boat ride on the pristine Saloum delta with jumping fish, birds darting over the water, the call of the Osprey and the magical moments when the birds came roosting in the mangrove. And just in Africa, returning in the moonlight with a flashlight as our guiding light. 

The other highlight was meeting all the people on the trip. Ulrich’s parents, Helga and Jurgen, seeing the work they are doing with the children and meeting some of the young adults who have been under their care. Our traveling companions – Julia with her sense of adventure, Brahim with his quiet soul and Alex with his wit and endless jokes; and fellow travellers swapping stories of our experiences. The most unexpected, the shopkeeper in Essaouira who travelled by motorbike from Morocco to Cape Town. As an armchair overlander I admired the courage of the guys travelling by bicycle, especially the ones going from Europe to South Africa. 

The things I enjoyed the least was the mountains of trash next to the road in Mauritania and Senegal. It was shocking to see the heaps of plastic bottles in Mauritania wherever there were human habitation. My other bugbear had been people not cleaning the ablutions after using it. Everywhere we camped you would find beautifully clean bathrooms with plenty of cleaning material to clean up after you finished. Why would you not leave it in the state you have received it?  At least that did not happen often. 

Another jewel for me on the trip was Legzira beach, nestled in an alcove with a stretch of sandy beach, with the arch at the end. I could have spent a few days sitting on the beach listening to the sea.  I also enjoyed Moroccan tagine and the fresh seafood along the coast all the way down to Senegal. 

This trip has been a wonderful experience, exploring countries I have not been to and doing off-roading in the mountains and the desert. I will forever be grateful to you, Ulrich, for making this possible