Back from Timbuktu

Trip Start Sep 28, 2005
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Trip End Jun 24, 2006


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Sunday, November 20, 2005

We had a really bumpy ride for two days going south from Timbuktu back to Sevare, Mali. Also in typical African fashion, we had to wait for 3 hours for a ferry, because some government official was passing through and requisitioned the next ferry for himself.

Being on the edge of the Sahara, the Sahel region is auite sandy, as we found when driving slightly off-road to avoid potholes. We got "bogged" (as the Brits put it) -- stuck is what we'd say. First tried pushing, but the tires dug in deeper. Then dug out the sand from around the tires -- no good. Then combined digging, pushing, and "sand mats", which are steel grates put in front of the tires to help them get traction. Finally that worked to get the 16-ton truck back on the road. We managed to get bogged 2 more times that day before finally bush camping that night.

We arrived back in Sevare, and after Timbuktu the accommodations seemed quite luxurious, even though we were still camping on the roof.
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kwfaulkner
kwfaulkner on Dec 2, 2005 at 09:55AM

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I love the fact there's a URL on the door of your truck! ;)

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