136 km the road stone said to Kidra, the frontier town. It sits on the river that separates eastern Senegal and Mali.
Up at 7 am and saw the sun rising. Had the usual bread,fried luncheon meat and water. Packed my kit away and tried out my phone camera, attached to the left indicator. ( Both of my head cams have now broken. The Braun,literally shaking apart inside. Due to the ' road '.)
The rest of my journey to Kidra was a road from hell. Constant stream of pot holes. Just everywhere. The bike taking another major pounding.
It was hard,hard work. Very hot and humid,particularly in mid day. But by 1 pm.i was at the border town.
Guess where .......river Nijer seperates the two countries
Familiar with the border routine now. And intrigued to see if the Senegal Gaustapo would notice I'd not been into Customs at Karang. And didn't have a Passavont for the bike.
Into see the Police,no bribe and stamped out the country. Into Mafia Customs.......They looked at my ' Passavont ', and I said " plus dou joules. Karang ". And.... .cha pooow. Stamped my passport and I was out of Senegal. Result. Didn't buy another Visa or Passavont. Score evened.
Over the river and into see Mali police. Stamp in passport and over to Mali Customs. 5000 CFA later,I had my Passavont and was finished. No bribes and no hassle.
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| First thing i see inside Mali.....blown up or just an accident: |
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| Starting to see a lot of these..........can you guess ........ant hills !!!! |
One big down side,my rear shock absorber has gone. The rear mudguard hitting the tyre over the slightest bump. This is a very expensive part in the UK. And I very much doubt possible to get here in Mali. (I only ever see Chinese mopeds.) Plus the tyre is now worn,with the rubbing. The Suzuki Van Vans rear wheel size is its Akilease Heal. It's unique and Suzuki don't sell this bike here. So I will have to courier one from the UK.
Without a solution, this challenge will be over. But.. .but...We are not done yet. I am now 400 km inside Mali. Writing this two days in arrears. I have 300 km to Bamako. The capital. Where I will try and fix it. I don't have the money and you know they will triple the cost.
One solution is to retro fit a Chinese moped shocker on the near side. To take most of the weight. Watch this space. I've got about £1500 to my name. And with a dozen more Visas and Passavont s to pay for. Fuel and food,I'm getting desperate for a bit of charity myself. If you can help,please donate to the Team Fuel Button.
Lots of accidents on the road today. Helped a tiped over bike,come pick up. Stopped for an artic lorry that had rolled over. And saw another truck all burnt out.
Rest of the village came out and we got him right way up!
I've been trying to get a few good pics. I went to a watering hole. No,not a Pub. Chance would be a good thing. Saw loads of animals and met their herdsman. They looked at me like I was from a different planet.lol nice moment. :)))
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| Watering hole...no Fosters! Wouldnt be surprised if i was the first white guy thed met! |
I've been wild camping here in Mali. But do plan to get a cheap room in Bamako. As it's been ten days since I had a shower. ( The Mandinka tribes idea of a shower, was a tap and a cup.) So I'm pretty smelly basicly.
Im sat under a tree,by the road side. Middle of nowhere. Yet four mopeds have past,each one offering to help.But its the usual fried Luncheon meat and biscuits for me:Lost 9 kg easy so far .Washed down with a glass of tea:Nice.
They live as we did 2,000 years ago. Mud huts,usually round with straw roofs. Protected by sticks in the ground. They wave when I toot the horn. But absolutely gorp at me at the same time. I think I've heard them shout " M J ". Or similar.
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| Can you spot the Cell tower.........villagers tapping into free elctricity |
I've found it really hard to find St vendors. So been buying biscuits and frying the luncheon meat I bought back in The Gambia. Definitely lost quite a lot of weight. Feel slightly weaker, but nothing too bad.
Ok. Im heading to Bamako. Be there in the morning. I have no internet. I can text but can't receive them. Will publish blogs if I can find wi fi anywhere.My kit is slowly but surely,falling apart.Latest to break is my Head Camera.It was actually the replacement !!! It litterally shook apart from the road.
Huge fingers crossed I can somehow fix the bike. I don't want this to be the end.
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| Braun camera in bits |
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| Flint coming out of the ground,thought it was a grave yard at first. |
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| Can you see the village huts ... |
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| ......and behind me ... |
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| Setting the ground on fire........no idea.... |
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| animals at the watering hole |
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| surprised heardsman in the middle of Mali savvana |
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| another feast....... |
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| fire...birds dropping out of the sky.. |
Will
