Ten years ago I was backpacking through Europe when I came across a magazine that had an article of a company that does African overlanding from London to Istanbul. After reading that magazine article I wanted to do it. I have kept that dream and desire in my head for the last ten years, and in March of 2012 I will embark on an adventure of a life time. I will be going from London to Nairobi...
Both countries were basically transit countries. We stayed 4 days in Gabon and didn’t do much. The highlights of Gabon were driving past the Equator. It’s the first time since Equator that I have been in the southern hemisphere. Everything seems a little different, a little turned around, or just opposite. The starts and the weather have all changed. The whole time in Gabon and Congo we free camped. Every spot was a previous spot where construction workers would use to take gravel for the road. In Gabon another highlight was Albert Schweitzer museum. Albert was a leading doctor in West Africa for elephantidous and leopardcy. His hospital had crazy old instruments, and work areas. We spent about 3 hours walking around.
Congo there was no real events. The first two days were on dirt and dusty roads. Everything we owned was covered with dust (moon dust) The first two days we didn't even go through a town that sold bread. On the 3rd day we hit pavement (I could have kissed the ground) and drove to the most expensive town in West Africa, Pointe Noire. We stayed two nights in Pointe Noire. The first night we arrived late, and the second day we spent shopping and messing around. I found a nice ice cream spot that I must have spent $20 on 3 different kinds of ice cream. First time in months I found cookies and cream (my favorite)...
The next day we spent four hours crossing into a 100km stretch of Angola owned land. We arrived at the border at 10 and left at 2. We spent it reading and filling out paperwork. We drove to Cabinda which is a pretty big city. We stayed at a Catholic mission which surprisingly had hot water. There was an ocean out in front of the mission and the boys and I decided this could be the last time we swam together so we took a very cold and refreshing swim in the ocean. We were supposed to spend just one night here, but ended up spending two. We woke up to cross into the DRC. We stopped at a market for food, and bought two days’ worth of food then drove an hour to the border only to find out that the DRC border is closed for a holiday. We drove back to the mission and had a unexpectedly relaxing day. The boys and I swam again. A few of us walked around the city of Cabinda, but being Sunday everything was closed. I did find a super market, and before I knew it I spent $12 on 3 bars of toblerone candy. That night we find a local bar that reminded me of a block party. It was on a dirt road with music blaring and locals dancing. I along with about 5 other unexpectedly got DRUNK… I broke my cardinal rule of no drinking on travel days especially border days.
I woke up to a pounding headache and the reality that I may be throwing up while crossing the border. Good thing is that I had 5 other companions sharing the same feeling. By the time we got to the DRC border I was feeling better, but not great. Note to self (I should not drink I get hung-over way to easy). The border crossing to the DRC was long, and the people were more hostile than any other border. Most people who see my tattoos want to touch it or ask me about them. Here it seemed that they all wanted to fight me. I decided after 20 minutes of drunk locals talking shit to me in their local language that it was time for me to stay on the truck.
Crossing into DRC was nothing like I imagined. For the last 4 months we heard stories of the DRC being the worst roads imaginable, taking 6 days to go 60km. I guess the good news is the roads weren’t bad and we made it to Matadi in two days rather than a week with only one free camp. To be hundred percent honest I was really looking forward to be stuck in mud on a one lane road with huge bogs and each truck pulls the next one out. Oh well, I guess its not rainy season so maybe next time. We spent two nights in Matadi, and our next stop in the actual Angola. I am actually looking forward to this country that I know absolutely nothing about.
Thinking back now it feels like we have
been in Cameroon for months, but really its only been two weeks. We crossed in
Ekok, and the roads were luckily not as bad as anticipated they were bad really
bad, but we were very lucky because there wasn’t serious rain. We had 80km
until pavement so keep our fingers cross it wasn’t going to take 8 days like
the previous trans. We actually made it about 60km with only one hiccup (a very
serious one that is) we were passing another truck when they pushed us off the
road into 2 feet of mud. Our bed of the truck was at a 45 degree angle and we
almost rolled. The truck honked and drove away without helping us (assholes).
We spent about an hour trying to dig Rosie out of her predicament and we
finally got a road construction truck to get pull us out. That was the only
real answer. Unfortunately it cost us 10,000 CFA ($20). We bush camped that night
at a really cool place. It was a clearing for the road workers to get gravel
(China is building a super highway through Cameroon, in 3 years it will be
finished and China will reap all of Cameroon trees). Once we arrived it started
to pour down rain. Myself, Maria, Cecilie, and Toby all stripped down in our
undies and washed ourselves in the tropical rain storm. There was also a ankle
high river close by that we washed our hair in.
The next morning myself and Talbot road
upfront with Suse, I felt honored that she trusted me because of the roads.
About an hour before we took off it started to rain again. Once it stopped we
attempted to drive off and once again Rosie started slipping. We tried several
attempts but the only thing happening was our back end was sliding and we were
eventually going to slide into the river we washed our hair in. A couple locals,
Suse, Talbot and myself carried buckets and buckets of gravel and tried to get
traction for Rosie, but after an hour of her still slipping we had another 4x4
road semi-truck to pull us up the hill. He only wanted a beer. Suse said she
will always pay someone for offering to help no demanding it. If the situation
was reversed she would pull them out for free. She also slipped 5,000 francs to
the driver. The rest of the 20km was a muddy mess. It was only one lane road and
many times we had to stop and let oncoming trucks go first. After the 20km of
mud, the roads turned to pavement. We ended up finding a shortcut missing
100km. This shortcut was at one time a dirt road, but recently it was converted
to tar. We ended up free camping in a small unknown village. All the locals
came out and watch our cook group cook a rice and tomato dish. We bought some
wood from the villagers and made a nice fire everyone could stand around while
we cooked.
The next day we had a short drive day and
arrived at Limbe around 2. We stayed at a really nice hotel that had a pool,
and a restaurant. The place to camp was small but it worked out because Sarah,
Denise, and Suse upgraded. I wasn’t planning on it because I was planning to
climb Mount Cameroon. The rest of the day I spent it finding a ATM (I had to
pay back $200 because my card wasn’t “smart” in Nigeria). I also found a bakery
and ate chocolate covered croissants.
The next day I spent the day preparing to
go up to Mount Cameroon. It was going to be Nico, Cecilie, Jareb, Talbot and
myself. It was 40,000 francs ($80). That included the hut at camp 2 (if you
called it that), guide, and 3 porters for all of us. We brought warm clothes,
rain gear, and enough food and water for two days. The plan was to leave at 6
from Limbe to the town 45 minutes away were we started the hike. Day one we
walked to 2,700 meters spend the night then wake up a 4 in the morning and hike
5 or so hours to the summit which was 4,097 meters.
The next day we all were extremely excited
and couldn’t wait the adventure we were about to embark. It was so early that
none of us got coffee (which turns out couldn’t have been my biggest mistake).
Next thing I know we have 3 porters (one of them wearing flip flop sandals) a
guide (wearing shower shoes) and the 5 of us hiking Mt. C… Within 30 minutes I
was cursing myself for being stupid enough to want to do this. Finding out
later that every one of us was feeling the same thing. The first day we hiked
little less than 2,000 meters. The journey was tough, but I felt good. I knew
that the next day I would be sore, but I couldn’t wait. Day 1 was about 15
minutes of hiking straight up then a few minutes break. Day 1 myself, Jareb, and
Cecilie were the best hikers. Nico is about 50 pounds heavier than the rest of
us, and Talbot knee was giving him problems. We arrived at our hut around 3pm.
This hut was a shithole and looked like something off a horror movie.
Completely rat infested. The weather was getting cold, so I changed out of my
shorts and put on long underwear, pants, and a hoodie. Put our sleeping bags on
this elevated planks of wood that was completely miserable to sleep on. We ate
an early dinner and by 7pm we all called it a night. I was starting to get a
headache. I thought it was from not drinking coffee. That night was one of the
worst night sleeps I have ever had. My sleeping bag is a summer one not made
for cold, and the wood planks we slept on were uneven causing my back to go
into spasms. It was absolutely awful and my head was pounding worse and worse.
We
woke up at 4:30 (a little late) that is if you call it woke up. Most of us minus
Talbot slept horrible. He was the only one who brought an air mate. Our guide
told us the sleeping area was suspended and we didn’t need to take one. We all
threw on warm clothes and within 10 minutes we were hiking. Our guide
Mattious was a complete ass this morning. He told us no way Nico will make it
and that if it rains he will turn us around. He said that Nico will slow us up.
That and he kept asking Cecilie if she was alright (like she was the weakest
link). After 20 minutes of basically running up the steep hill. I stopped and
waited for Nico. I also needed a break because my head was pounding so badly,
and I felt like I was going to throw up. Every time I drank water I thought I
was going to hurl. Mattious told us to stop further up the mountain. I told him
he can, but I am waiting for Nico. After Nico caught up with us, I approached
our guide and told him I didn’t know I needed my running shoes. He told me that
Nico will not make it. I told him that Nico hasn’t complained once and he WILL
make it. I then told him that we are a group and we will make it as a group. I
told him that if he had a problem with that then he could go ahead of us and
forget about his tip. He said he was worried about the rain. At this time there
was an electrical storm below us, and stars above us. I told him if it rained
then so fucking be it. Mattious said he understood, and we continued mission.
Everyone smiled at me, and said I just went ARMY on our guide… I was still
hurting and feeling worse every step I took closer to the summit. That rest of
the hike was terrible. I haven’t felt that sick in such a long time. By the
time we reached hut 3, I was freezing and still on the verge of throwing up.
The summit was 45 minutes away and there was no way I was going to give up. 40
minutes later (40 minutes of digging deep, very deep) we all made it. It was
extremely cold, and I finally hurled on top of the summit. 30 minutes or so
later we were done taking pictures and we were going as fast as we could to hut
3 to pick up our stuff and head down the mountain. By the time I reached hut 2
I was even sicker, stopping every 200 meters to puke. When I reached hut 2 I
collapsed, to sick to pack anything up. I was the second person to arrive.
Cecilie being very nice packed up my stuff while I tried I feel asleep. At this
point I wasn’t sure if I was dehydrated, coffee withdrawals, or altitude
sickness. Once everyone got back to hut 2 and packed all their stuff it started
to torrential pour down rain. We had no choice but to start our treacherous
trek back down the way we came back. Cecilie carried my stuff and even gave me
her water. That 3 hours back down was one of the hardest hiking ever. There is
no real trail, and the grass and rocks were so wet that all I kept downing was
slipping and falling down the mountain. By the end of the decent I couldn’t
lift my feet and I was a falling idiot. By 5pm we were on a taxi back home to
Limbe. After 30 minutes and a redbull I realized my headache was gone and I was
feeling so much better. Turns out I don’t do well in altitude, and I had
altitude sickness. On our way home from the trek, our taxi got stopped by
police who wanted to see our passports. We didn’t have them with us so I told
them they were in Yaounde getting visas for Gabon and Congo. The cop started
yelling at me so me being tired and irritated I started yelling back to the
point in which everyone thought I was going to be spending the night in
Cameroon prison. He wanted a bribe and I wasn’t going to give it to him. I was
tired, hungry and not happy. Our taxi driver gave the cops 1,000 francs and
they let us go. That night I slept so great!
The next morning we drove to Yaounde… I
loved Yaounde!!! It was the 2rd of July and we arrived pretty late.
We had our first blow out of a tire. It was the back passengers inside tire.
Our cook group made a stew which Cecilie added a little too much local spices
and Toni gave me a yelling. Good old Toni, you almost got to love him. He is
German and says what he thinks but doesn’t hold a grudge.
3rd of July I spent shopping and
eating at the bakery that we found close to missionary we were staying at.
The next morning I woke up a little home
sick, and really wished I was on Matt’s house boat watching the fireworks.
Found out that during the night someone snuck up in the truck while Toni was
sleeping and stole two bags off the seats. Sarah’s, which had her hard drive
(all her pictures) Camera, $300 worth of money, charging equipment, and Talbot
who got his iPad, journal, wallet (with his name embroidered by his father who
died, one of two things he has of his fathers) and $150… I was lucky that that
evening I grabbed my laundry that was hanging on the line and threw it on my
seat with my bag… That afternoon, Cecilie and I were walking
towards a super market called Casino when we noticed a Asian restaurant. We
stopped in and the next thing I know we were sitting next to an American chief
warrant officer named Erika, and a local restaurant owner named Phi. He was
from LA and Erika was from Ohio. By the end of the meal I wasn’t homesick and
we got invited to show up around 1930 hours to celebrate Cecilie birthday
(which was the next day). At 1930 we showed up and I ended up meeting a Spanish
lady who works at the International Red Cross, two marine soldiers, a navy
seal, Erika, and Phi. We had a great night eating cake, and shooting the shit.
I felt like I was at home, and it was a well needed break from everyone. Erika
husband was on vacation and she invited C and I to her house to spend the
night. We refused but the selling point was she had 2 extra bedrooms, all with
baths and hot water. SOLD!!! By 2300hrs I was sitting inside this gorgeous
military/ embassy issue 5 BD, 6 BR, 2 living room house watching the Armed
Forces channel watching Texas play Chicago. I was in hog heaven. I slept in the
most comfortable temperpedic bed.
The next day for Cecilie birthday she just
wanted to chill and watch movies all day. So we did, and had a mini vacation
from our vacation. We woke up to Erika's homemade bread, and her leaving for the
day to go to work. It was such a relaxing day.
The next two days I spent getting caught up
on blog, buying groceries for the next part of our adventure, and just
relaxing. I must have eaten two more times at Phi's restaurant. I took everyone
else there and we all had quite a feast. Between Erika and Phi, Yaoundewas one
of the best places I have been to.
So before we left we heard that our trip
will once again be altered. We now cannot go north because the week before,
there were 27 killings, Churches getting bomb and just civil unrest. We crossed
the border and it only took a few hours. We had a pastor with us who we met in
Benin. This pastor helped Cicilie get a visa. The day we were supposed to leave
for Nigeria Cecilie found out that she was issued the wrong visa. It took 2
days but she was able to get one with the help of Emanuel (the pastor) he gave a
letter of invitation.
The border crossing wasn’t that bad. It
took about two hours. While we were filling out paperwork a truck hit Rosie
(she didn’t get any serious damage) the truck just hit our spare wheel. Once on
the road we took off for about 2 hours. We stopped on the side of the road and
this is where shit started to hit the fan. Out of nowhere 2 guys got out of a
car and started demanding money. They were shouting at Emanuel trying to get
into the vehicle. After I got done pissing I ran to my bag and grabbed my SOG
seal pup knife and unsheathed it. I kept it down to my side. Once everyone got
on Rosie one of the guys came running towards Suse and looked like he was going
to hit her. I kept the door open ready to attack if I needed to. Everyone started
yelling at me to put the knife away. I told them all to shut the fuck up and
let me back up Suse. I saw her look at me so she knew I was there. After a
while Suse got into Rosie and took off leaving both men behind. The men flagged
down a vehicle and drove in front of us to the closest town. They got out of
the vehicle screaming demanding something (my guess is money). They ended up
causing a road block and within a matter of minutes we had 50 guys all around
us. I thought instantly of being ambushed. Luckily one unknown guy witnessed
everything and flagged down a local police officer to help out. It turned out
he was an off duty military person. About 5 minutes later Suse was driving to Abeokuta.
We arrived in the evening at the golf club where we set up camp for the night.
We were all on edge and Suse just informed us that it was some guy who was just
pissed drunk trying to show off in front of his friends. I didn’t believe that
for one moment but I kept my mouth shut. Later that evening after a few beers
with Suse I informed her that I had grabbed my knife, and a few people thought
I could have put them in jeopardy because of my actions. I also told her I
thought they were profession thieves. Suse pulled me aside and told me she knew
I grabbed the knife and had her back, and she trust my judgment. Also that
these guys were thieves but she didn’t want the rest of everyone to know
because she didn’t want one dudes actions to ruin their opinion of Nigeria and
the people.
The next day was Sarah birthday and Emanuel
had set up a driver to Lagos (the biggest city in Africa) Our plan was to drive
into the city and get dropped off, then eat dinner in the evening and then come
home. Well we were all excited and crammed into a minivan. This day turned out
to be completely disastrous and not like anything we wanted or expected. We
spent all day driving around and after begging from Suse we stopped at the
market and got an hour at the market. Then we drove another 2 hours to Emanuel
house. By this time it is 4:30 and besides an hour for lunch and an hour at the
market we spent all day cramped in the van. We were all hot, sweaty, and upset.
We all felt so bad for Sarah, who just wanted a nice dinner, and a fun time in
the city. The driver was told only 4 hours of driving and for some reason
Emanuel had other ideas for us. We ended up driving to Abeokuta and finding a
Chinese restaurant that screwed up my order (this seems like a regular thing now
days for me) I felt really bad for Sarah who kept apologizing to all of us. After
dinner we waited an hour for taxis who never showed up. We ended up asking
around and getting locals to take us to the Golf Club.
The next morning Suse, Nico and I splurged
and hit 18 holes of golf. It was kinda of expensive, but so much fun. I had a
caddy, and a decent set of clubs. The course was a shithole but you could tell
they were trying. The greens and the fairways were like our rough at home. I
had a really good time. We left at 1:30 and took off towards Oshogbo. We
arrived about the usual time around 6. We arrived at the most random craziest
place ever. We stayed at a guy named Okonfo house. It is called African
Communication Center. This guy was around 60 and probably a few fries short of
a happy meal. His house was on this dirt road about 5km from the main town. His
family has been there for generations and everyone called him father Okonfo and
would do a small bow. We stayed there two nights and both nights we had live
drumming and dancing. It was so random and a lot of fun.
The next day we drove all day, it was a
normal traveling day. Cards, lunch, cards, reading, and napping. We free camped
right outside a village who has never seen white people. Nico and Suse had to
ask all the elders permission to spend the night there. That night we had many
visitors from the town. Only one person spoke English, and everyone else just
watched us.
The next day myself and Jareb road upfront
and we had somewhat of a long day. We were going to drive as far as we could.
We either had one free camp or two to get to Calabar. Just as we entered Benin
City we got stopped by 3 guys wearing regular clothes and a 2X4 with nails on
it. They demanded a 10,000 Niras to enter the city for all trucks. We told them
to see the receipt and they refused. At this time two trucks drove by and
slowed down and gave them 100 Nira. We told them there was no way we were going
to pay 10,000 when everyone else is paying 100. They made up some excuse that
they would receive the rest of the money on the way back. Suse being Suse refused
to pay and the guys being guys refused to let us pass. This lasted a good hour
maybe an hour and a half. They guys kept telling us they were going to get off
at 5 and we would have to spend the night we told them no problem. Then they
insulted Suse about showing her a good time. Suse did a fantastic job of acting
saying “how she has never been treated so bad before (yeah rightJ)” After an hour of the Mexican standoff, we remembered them wanted
us to move over off the road. So we thought let’s move to the middle of the
road. Once we did we stopped all moving traffic, and the first Infinity SUV
stopped and told us we were free to go. Mission success! We free camped that
night at a school that was being built. Two local guys stayed at the school
(the owner and the builder) they got stoned all night. Not only was it a muddy
mess but it smelled like skunk from the weed.
The next day it was a short day while we
drove into Calabar. Suse got extremely sick, and spent the previous night with
a fever, and hot and cold chills. We arrived at Calabar and stayed at the
paradise hotel. This was no way a paradise. It looked like something from a
horror movie. It was built in the 80’s and its owner died a short time after it
was open. No one has touched a thing on it, and everything is so run down. We
spent a total of 4 nights here, originally it was only supposed to be two days
but it turned out that Suse has Cholera, and Typhoid. The second and third day
at Calabar I spent at the Drill ranch animal re-habitation center. They had 3
chimpanzees and about 60 Drill monkeys. Drill monkeys are the monkeys that have
rainbow butts. The alpha male has the brightest butt and once he loses his
alpha status his butt colors fade and the new alpha take over. The drill ranch
also has another place in the Afi Mountains which we are going to see after we
leave Calabar. The second day I decided
to go and get tested for malaria to see if it's gone. I got tested and found out
that I am malaria free but I now have typhoid… WTF eh? They gave me this
medicine that clears everything from typhoid to the clap.
We left Calabar and Suse was feeling a
little better not great. She said this is the sickest she has ever been in her
entire life. She thinks she picked it up from Okonfo house. The first night he
gave her a homemade drink which she was the only one who drank from it. We
drove most of the day to a turn off to Drill ranch. We only made it about 1km
when the road was impassable. Our original plan was to spend two nights up
there then head to Cameroon. While we were parked on a muddy hill, Rosie
decided to die again (fuel filter). An hour and a half later we were reversing
down the muddy hill. We decided to find a free camp spot then have drill ranch
pick us up at 0900 the next morning. We found a free camp with no problems and
at 0920 the next morning all 14 of us were crammed like sardines on a back of a
range rover truck. By the time we made it up the mountain which is 12km of the
worst muddy roads I have ever seen my back was seizing but I was able to
stretch it out. We first took a walk around the sanctuary which was like the
one we saw in Calabar but 1000X bigger. Each drill monkey family had 30 acres
of free roaming. When we got to the chimps we all stayed there in complete awe
looking at the size of the Alpha male, and 8 other chimps. What was really cool
about this place was they combined species of chimps, and there is a total of
30 in this lot of land. There was a female chimp named Jackie who I fell in
love with. She was the class clown of the chimp park. She would make noises, do
push-ups, and make hand jesters. While I was watching her in awe (5 feet away),
another chimp I didn’t get his name threw a stone at me and nailed my arm. They
he had the audacity to laugh at me… I kept the stone for good luck.
After we walked around the sanctuary, we
walked on another canopy walk (it wasn’t too special, but Ryse, Cecilie, Nico,
and Toby decided to time ourselves running on the small walkway 100ft high).
After the canopy walk we hiked 30 minutes through the jungle to an absolutely
stunning river with a very small 5 foot waterfall, but there was a swimming
hole that was so refreshing. The water was so clear, and beautiful. Once we
finished swimming, we piled into the trucks again and drove back. About 6km
back I realized that I left the bag of wet swimming shorts on the table. This
is an ongoing theme in my life. The bag not only had my shorts, but Ryse and
Toby’s. I stopped the land rover and paid a bike to take me back to the ranch,
then 12km to where the truck was. It was the worst drive in my entire life. I
sat on a wooden piece of wood on the back of the shittiest bike ever, while a
local guy (who was cross eyed) speed way to fast up and down muddy roads. Not
to mention we broke down 3 times on the way there. After an hour I made it back
safe to Rosie, with the bag of shorts and 1000 Nira less then when I got on the
land rover… That night we free camped at the same place we did the night
before…
The next morning we got an early start, and
we were going to cross in to Cameroon. Suse said the last time she took this
road, it was dry season and it was the worst 80km of driving she had ever drove
in. Let me remind you that it has stormed every day and night for the last 3
weeks… We are officially in the wet season. She said there are ruts the size of
trucks. That one truck gets stuck while another truck pulls you out. Then you pull the next truck. We were all a
little nervous and excited about what we were about to face. Part of me wanted
to be in knee high of mud digging Rosie out…
