25th June. Zebrabar, Senegal

17^th June. Tambacounda, Senegal.

N13 46'23.9” W013 40'52.6”

The Michelin map of North & West Africa has a list of 73 places with Max & Min temps throughout the year. They spread over a vast area. Kayes, a city in S/W Mali has the hottest temps of them all. In May the average is 46c, drops to 43c in June. Six of the months the temps are over 40 and the coldest month has a average temp of 66.We were to go to Kayes but this new route took us some 200kms south. But the temperature would have been similar. It was always our intention to stay in rooms with A/C if it became unbearable, the only trouble was, on this new road, no hotels or auberges have been built yet. We ended up, in a quarry not far from the Senegalese border. The 12v fan helped a bit but it was still almost unbearable. A breeze is often present during the day but that always seem to drop on dusk. Tonight we are in a room with a vintage 80s a/c rattling away, bliss. The land is drying out. At times the only greenery are the trees scattered over the landscape. It is the wet season but as of yet little rain has fallen.

No food served on the premises but the restaurant was a short distance down the road. We sat at an outside table, lattice work shielded us from the street. Before long we had 20 or so urchins on the other side of the lattice, hands poking through, their begging tins seemingly empty. Hard to eat chicken & chips in such circumstances, we had to move.

Today we had a good example of how the language barrier can cause misunderstandings. The road from the border passed through the middle of the biggest national park in the country. We had seen the odd monkey but coming onto a bridge just before the park HQ the waterhole below us had sitatunga antelope, baboons, warthogs, monkeys and a couple of African fish eagles. I had to stop and take some photos, there were no other traffic. On leaving the bridge a guard pulled us up. Trying to get the gist of what he was saying we thought, because we had stopped on the bridge, he was wanting us to pay the park fee. If we had've just driven through we wouldn't have had to but because we stopped, it was using the park. We complained strongly insinuating all he wanted to do was get money off us. This upset him, they are having a blitz on corruption here in Senegal, he profusely insisted that that wasn't the case. Then through his little English and my few words of French we realized that all the problem was I shouldn't have stopped on the bridge, I should have parked where we were standing, and walk back. We were all apologies, gave him a couple of lollies, hand shakes all round, and we were off. So easy to get the wrong idea.

We didn't spend long in Mali, a pity but not the place to hang around at present. The new road was built by the EU. It was fast, no speed humps, a pleasure to drive on.

19^th June. Chez Salim, Lac Rose, Senegal

Bit of a tourist dive this area. The sand dunes that separate the lake from the sea are a mecca for the quad bike fraternity. Chez Salim would have 50 or so parked as well as larger 4x4s that take the more less adventurous for a drive. The lake has a pinkish tinge due to the chemicals in the water, hence the name. Saltier than the Dead Sea between Israel/Jordan we were encouraged to take a dip. Not my idea of fun. This is the low season however, the place is almost deserted, we have a lovely campsite below palms with a power point handy for the 2^nd battery. I think I mentioned having it seen to in Togo but the repairs were short lived. Good batteries are difficult to get here esp the deep cycle type. We may have to wait until we get to UK to get a good one.

The drive down from Tambacounda yesterday was through wind swept dry arid country. However the baobabs were shooting new growth perhaps heralding the approach of rain. Such a beautiful tree it was refreshing to see them bursting into life. It was an excellent road donated by the EU. Each village had a sign reminding you of the fact. Senegal has a major trash problem. It would have to be one of the messiest countries we have passed through. On each side of any town and often through it as well the amount of rubbish esp plastic bags is shocking. Often animals and people are foraging through the trash picking out anything of value. I think only Nigeria would come close in this aspect. Consider Congo/Brazzaville where no plastic bags are available. Even the meat and vegetables are enclosed in paper bags in their supermarkets. It makes you feel the people or the government just don't care.

Tomorrow we hope to get the last of our visas, Mauritania. It will be our 14^th I think. Apart from Benin & Togo, they have all involved going to embassies to arrange. At times it has caused anxious uncertainty as there is no guarantee they will give it to you as what happened to us with the Nigerian crowd in Canberra. Many people heading south have had to alter their plans because they lacked DRC or Angola. Spending 2 months in the DRC travelling the length of the country to bypass Angola would be taking the adventurous spirit to the extreme. The web site of Radio Baobab gives an absorbing idea of what they went through on that route. It is also well written and hard to stop reading. Might be best to access it through The HUBB of Horizons Unlimited web site. So we have been pretty lucky in getting ours. Cheaper than expected in many cases and much quicker than we were told. Also the people at the consulates who we have dealt with have in the main been friendly, helpful and pleased we will be visiting their country. One or two have stood out: Mrs Mana, the consular officer at the Senegalese consulate in Ouagadougou was so interested in where we had been, she gave us a 2 month multiple entry visa, much better than we required and came out to hand us back our passports personally. Even the lady at the Angolan consulate in Pretoria. Spelt out exactly what we needed to write in a letter of introduction, stayed open later for us to get back, then gave our passports back to us earlier than we were told so we could get our application into the next embassy that same day. That one took 8 days but even that was quick for that crowd. But, I may be repeating myself with this story, the most relaxed visa issuance was at the Togo border where the officer sat under the mango tree at a desk issuing the visa. I wanted to take his photo but he said 'Mango tree yes, desk yes, Me no!'

20^th June. Phar de Esperance Mission (Beacon of Hope) Mammele, Dakar.

It often happens, after a couple of days rest like we had at Lac Rose, the body relaxes making the following day a draining experience. The Mauritanean Embassy was hard to find in the shambling metropolis of Dakar. We resorted to following a taxi, luckily we were in the area and the driver knew where it was. $2 well spent. The visa forms consisted of 2 pages all in French. Even a Frenchman also applying who could speak a little English couldn't work out what they wanted. But what we wrote satisfied the consular officer and after handing over $81 per person were told to come back the next day to pick them up.

From there we headed to the Oceanium, a dive centre that also allowed camping. It was very nice, right on the water with the Isle de Gorree in view a few kms off shore. We had lunch then put the bed out, opened the door to get a breeze, then fell asleep for a couple of hours. We were both very tired. Joan was woken by a beggar tapping her on the shoulder wanting alms, he got a short shrift. On waking we thought it wise to charge the battery so took off to a Casino Supermarche that came up on Garmin. Took a while to find it even with that but worth it as apart from getting provisions we picked up a sim card for the country and Joan was able to have her glasses adjusted to make them more comfortable. We went to a newsagent for the sim card, he didn't sell them but sent one of his staff out into the street to get one for us. Then they installed it, made sure it was working at no extra charge. I think they were amused being able to help us and something to tell their family that night of two oldies, couldn't speak a word of French, and how we were able to help them.

At that point we decided a stay in an hotel may be more recuperating. The LP had one near the Mammelle lighthouse, sounded good but of course no coordinates. We went to the lighthouse, asked a few people with differing answers. It was almost dark, in desperation we pulled into this mission that had a big area outside the inner gate but suitable for a night. The guard wouldn't commit as 'le chef' wasn't there, just then a group of young Americans came loping along carrying handfuls of wood. They could speak English but only one had a smattering of French. By a series of phone calls to their supervisor and the guard's 'chef' we were given permission. The mission is interdenominational having accommodation for visiting church groups. The young group were running crusades on the university campus. They came from different schools in the US. It was a godsend for us. The lighthouse was directly above us, a beacon in the night.

21^st June. Zebrabar, near St Louis, Senegal.

The other refuge for Overlanders, we made the Zebrabar late afternoon. It is a real haven, unfortunately we are the only ones here. The Mali coup and the wet season have severely affected people heading along the west coast. It is built on the edge of a long lagoon that makes up part of a national park. The birdlife here is reputed to be phenomanal and sitting out this morning that seems to be the case. It would be even more so if one was visiting around Christmas when the migratory birds were in residence. I didn't think I would wish to come back to Africa but a visit here with a few birders, at that time of the year, would be worth considering.

We picked up our passports around lunchtime then headed north. The land became drier and dunes began to appear. But the towns were still as lively as elsewhere in the country. Just a shame about the rubbish. Filling in time to pick up the p/ps was spent at the Sea Plaza, an ultramodern shopping centre that, fortunately, had a hair dresser for Joan. Three months between cuts is a long time. She looks a stunner again.

23rdJune. Zebrabar, Senegal.

St Louis was the first established French settlement in Western Africa. Now stretched to the mainland, most of the action is still on two elongated islands connected to each other and the main land by 4 bridges. Fishing is still its major industry with these sleek wooden boats pulled up along the waters edge, being built, repaired or unloading the latest catch. It is just a seething mass of people engrossed in their everyday life. Some areas can be a bit smelly but even that can be forgiven, it adds a little to the charm of the place. I was wanting to drive through one of the side streets to the ocean but many were impassable due to the clothes lines stretched across the sandy tracks. We needed to buy some bread but lacked small change, they never have any in most of the shops, a bloke doing some sign writing nearby sensed a problem and offered to make up the difference out of his own pocket. We had Euros but he wouldn't accept those, it was a gift he said.

While there we met Tommy a member of the diplomatic corp for the Mauritanian government, he had escaped over the border to have a few drinks, as I said earlier Mauritania is a dry country. We should have a good time there if they are all like him, shouting us drinks in the early afternoon and effusively showing us the places we MUST visit when we cross the border. He was a delight.

Back at the Zebrabar I have been spending my time sitting in an easy chair taking note of the variety of birds that visit us. The acacias are in flower now attracting many types including the Yellow Crowned Gonolek, the beautiful sunbird and the red-billed firefinch. Looking at the photos I have taken I realized that one of the birds I snapped at the NP where we had the discussion with the ranger was the elusive African Finfoot. That was the bird I spent early mornings trying to see in South Africa. Down there it was at its southern most point of its range, up here it is at its norther extremity. We have also seen two Abysinnian Ground Hornbills and an Abysinnian roller amongst many others. Native animals are scarce but the birds make up for them.

24^th June. Zebrabar

We seem to be slowly recuperating and getting our strength back with this prolonged stay at Zebrabar. But then it is a perfect place for this to happen. On the banks of the Senegal River and part of a national park the consistent westerly cools the bakkie delightfully at night. The place is inundated with crabs. Hordes of medium sized ones on the beach and at night these blue monsters make an appearance. I was coming outside barefoot to have a pee during the night until we saw some of them scurrying away from us as we walked back from the restaurant. It will be slipons in future. Then there are the baboons Joan saw today. We have wondered what has been shaking the van at night more than just what the wind can do and then there are mysterious things being dropped outside. I even went out to investigate last night. With the sighting of the baboons it all fits into place.

Reading material is starting to cause a problem; Joan is an avid reader and myself also. The bookshops stock French and the swap shops seem to have few English books, mainlf German and French. We have a Kindle on which I downloaded the complete works of Tolstoy as well as others so we will never be completely devoid of material. At the moment I am 29% through 'War & Peace', the library here had one of Jeremy Clarkson's books made up of 40 odd chapters each one of a car he tested. I thought I would have a break but what a difference; from wondering who Prince Nicholas is going to marry, Sonya or Princess Mary to Clarkson's crude but funny musings with lines such as 'Elton Jon has all the money in the world and he still looks like he has a Huguenot carpet tile on his bonce' We have read many African books on this trip often going through the areas the book is set at the same time. It gives added interest to the trip.

We were told the mail takes two days to get from France to St Louis, if that is the case we should have the papers early next week.

The last three days has seen large groups of youth spending the day here. Ranging from primary school to university students it is a great place for them to let off steam. The lodge provides kayaks and the such for use as well as other things to occupy the day guests