Datum:
Mittwoch, 23. Dezember 1998 18:54
Betreff: News from Niger
Hello
everybody,
Yes we are still alive and well. Thanks to everybody for the messages
and let this be a reminder for the ones who have not sent a message yet.
At the moment we are in Niamey/Niger and we'll spend Christmas and New
Year here. Our route so far: Genoa - Tunis - Sfax - Douz - Nefta - Hassi
Messaoud - In Amenas - Djanet - Tamanrasset - Arlit - Agadez - Tanuot
- Zinder - Maradi - Niamey.
Tunisia
was relaxing. With no worries about fundamentalists we spent a couple
of days digging around in some sand dunes, swimming in the hot water springs
of the oasis Ksahr Gelane and drinking beer. In Algeria things changed
- no beer and no tourists. The first 500 km were tar road and after that
only sand and dust. The scenery changed from huge sand dunes and flat
stone deserts to mountains. Most of the time we slept in the open and
water was rare. Occasionally we got a bath in a hot water spring or could
make use of the Hamada - the public steam bath. Some of the highlights
from Algeria:
|
across
the Sahara
|
The
day the Land Rover learned to fly:
In southern Algeria we were crossing a flat
and boring stone desert. The surface, smooth and rounded pebbles, made
it possible to go fairly fast. We were happily cruising along in excess
of 70km/h when all of a sudden a drop appeared. We and the car got airborne.
When the front wheels hit the ground, everything like dates, bottles,
boxes and cameras came flying to the front.
We inspected the damage and measured the flown distance: one and a half
meters. Not bad for a three ton car. As for the damage: we had to do
some realigning of the steering geometry - but only after we drove the
700 kilometres to Tamanrasset.
|
Begging
in the name of Allah:
Having read about the possibility to buy food at one
of the drilling stations, we stopped there and asked the guard. In my
rural French I tried to tell him that we wanted to buy some food. Somehow
it did not quite get across
|
car
repairs
|
the
same way. He
asked me if I was hungry. Truthfully I said yes. He left and shortly
after came back with some friends all of them carrying food like couscous,
rice, cheese and water. We then wanted to pay but they vigorously refused.
One of the five pillars of Islam is to give to beggars
Border
Crossing:
A long stretch of 500 kilometres of sand brought
us to the border of Niger. There we had a lot of hassles with the customs.
A little bit of money for this document and a little bit of money for
that stamp. When one guy came and demanded money for parking, a spot in
front of a little sand dune, we had enough. Pretending to fetch money
we climbed in the car and drove off. Quickly we drove off in what we thought
was the right direction. In the rear mirror we saw him running after us.
But we missed the track completely and spent 4 scary hours driving through
the desert, not finding the way. Only with the help of the GPS we managed
to find the next town.
|
Niger:
On the way from Agadez to Zinder we met a Tuareg
family in the desert and they invited us back. It was great! We spent
the night
in one of their tents, visited the school, got a tour around their herds
and were treated to supper. In return we disinfected some wounds and did
some fault finding on the generator.
|
a tuareg families hospitality
|
A
couple of days ago, disaster struck. A faulty thermostat caused the engine
to overheat and the cylinder gasket broke. We made it to a catholic mission
and with the help of the priest, his belief in god and our ability to
improvise we got the car going again. Three days later we were on the
road again.
There
are still more stories and impressions that I would like to tell you.
But there is no time. Right now we are at the house of some friends we
met up with. We had to order some spares from Switzerland to properly
fix the gasket. For the next two weeks we'll be stuck here. No problem
for us. The plan for the next couple of months: Mali-Cote d'Ivoire-Ghana-Togo-Benin-Nigeria-somehow
to Kenya-Tanzania-Malawi-South Africa-Madagascar-Brazil-Ecuador-Borneo
Have
a good time
Axel and Herbert
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|