Hi everybody,

We hope you’re all well and that you’ve had an enjoyable summer (or winter, depending on which hemisphere you live in!)

David (Hatter) and Al have been super busy in the UK workshop completing the last few jobs on Aminah in preparation for the upcoming season of trips. With a recon engine and a new clutch assembly fitted, new camping stools made, new leisure batteries fitted, a respray of the cab and locker level and a successful MOT pass, we certainly have put in the hours!

In just 3 weeks time Zoe and Adam will pack up the equipment and drive south for the big journey down to Dakar for the first trip of the season…..not long to go now!

Below you’ll find a selection of pictures of just some of the work that Hatter and Al completed over the past few weeks. Enjoy!

A big thank you to G and Charlie at Dragoman (as always) for allowing us to work on Aminah in their workshop, and to G for putting the new paint on for us! Thanks also to Darren, Pettsy, Nick, Amber and Jordan for helping us for a couple of hours taping Aminah up for the spray job!

Overlanding-West-Africa-Truck-Tour

Overlanding-West-Africa-Truck

Overlanding-West-Africa-Truck

Overlanding-West-Africa-Truck

Overlanding-West-Africa-Truck

Overlanding-West-Africa-Truck

Overlanding-West-Africa-Truck

Overlanding-West-Africa-Truck

Overlanding-West-Africa-Truck

Overlanding-West-Africa-Truck

Overlanding-West-Africa-Truck

Overlanding-West-Africa-Truck

Overlanding-West-Africa-Truck

Overlanding-West-Africa-Truck

Overlanding-West-Africa-Truck

Overlanding-West-Africa-Truck

Overlanding-West-Africa-Truck-Tour

Overlanding-West-Africa-Truck-Tour

Overlanding-West-Africa-Truck-Tour

Overlanding-West-Africa-Truck-Tour

Overlanding-West-Africa-Truck-Tour

Overlanding-West-Africa-Truck-Tour

Overlanding-West-Africa-Truck-Tour

Overlanding-West-Africa-Truck-Tour

Overlanding-West-Africa-Truck-Tour

Overlanding-West-Africa-Truck-Tour

Overlanding-West-Africa-Truck-Tour

We wish you all a great autumn, and remember, if you can join us on either our Accra to Ouagadougou or Dakar to Marrakech trips, please contact us via our Enquiry Form and we’ll send you over all of the relevant booking information.

Cheers!

David (Hatter) Oades, Al Goodridge, Jimmy Corrigan and Aminah

 

Hi everybody,

It’s been some time since our last update so here we go with all that’s been happening at OWA over the past few months!

Firstly, we’re pleased to say that we’ve sold nearly all of the places available on our trips in 2018-19, which is of course great news for us – and we hope an indication of the growing interest there is for travel in this less known part of the African continent.

We do still have a few spots available on all of our trips, mostly on our Accra to Ouagadougou and Dakar to Marrakech departures, so if you are interested and able to get the time off work, please get in touch as soon as possible to avoid missing out.

We’re also pleased to say that Zoe will once again be leading the 2018-19 season for us, this time accompanied by Adam Blay, who used to own a similar overland company called ‘South America Overland’. We’re sure they’ll run another great season for us and we’re looking forward to receiving all of their updates from the road starting this November!

In the meantime, David (Hatter) and Jason have been burning the midnight oil in the UK workshop getting Aminah ready for the big journey ahead. We managed to get all of the major work out of the way, including a rub down so that Aminah is ready for her new coat of paint in a couple of months time. As always a huge thank you to George and Charlie at Dragoman Overland HQ for allowing us to rent some space in their workshop and for ordering us all of the parts we needed. Cheers G and Charlie!

Below you’ll find a selection of pictures of just some of the work that Hatter and Jason completed over the past few weeks. Enjoy!

Changing the front springs and rebushing the rear springs:

The new front springs arrive – the last 2 sets in all of Europe (apparently…!)

Raising the chassis on an Indian jack to remove the old front springs

The offending rivet which caused issues last time around

Springs removed and ready for a clean up

Adding the old blocks to the new leaves to give Aminah a bit more ground clearance

New springs on and ready for tightening

Removing the old brass bush from the swinging shackle

Inserting a new brass bush into the swinging shackle, drawing it in with a length of threaded rod

Cleaning up the threads on one of the rear U bolts

Jet spraying the old leaves ready to put together spare packs in case they’re needed

Jason by the press as we removed a brass bush

Replacing the carrier bearing and rekitting the front torsion bar

Marking the splines to make sure it goes back in the same position

The new carrier bearing

Removing the front torsion bar bushes and circlips

Engine Work

Replacing the leaking steering box top seal

A crank inspection whilst we replaced the weeping sump gasket

Cleaning up the engine sump in the kerosene bath

New sump gasket ready to be fitted

Colin lends a hand for a cylinder compression test and replaces the valve stem seals

Adjusting the tappets after replacing the valve seals

Axle Work

Removing the front hubs to inspect the bearings

David-Oades-Overlanding-West-Africa

Hatter about to remove the rear hub to inspect the bearings

Rear hub removed to replace a pitted wheel bearing and hub seals

A new rear wheel bearing about to be fitted

Nice fresh bearing grease for the front axle hubs!

Jason tightening the front bearings after reinstallation

And the rest…

Replacing the stereo voltage dropper (again…)

Tidying up the wiring

New voltage dropper fitted

Replacing the charging unit in the passenger area

Painting the roof

Sorting out the headlights for the MOT

Making a new stool locker panel

Et voila!

Removing another damaged panel

A lick of anti rust paint to the frame

Et voila!

The big rub down for the respray begins!

David-Oades-Overlanding-West-Africa

Hatter sanding away the truck body

Aminah’s cab after the rub down

Jason replacing one of the broken seat backs

Hatter and Jason still smiling after many late nights working on Aminah!

We wish you all a great summer and remember, if you can join us on either our Accra to Ouagadougou or Dakar to Marrakech trips, please contact us via our Enquiry Form and we’ll send you over all of the relevant booking information.

Cheers!

David (Hatter) Oades, Al Goodridge, Jimmy Corrigan and Aminah

 

 

 

Hi everybody,

We hope you’re well wherever you are in the world at the moment, and we hope you had a very happy Christmas holiday and a good start to 2018!

Many of you have been in contact over the past few months asking about our trips in 2018-19. We’re pleased to let you know that we’re now ready to take bookings!

If you’re still interested in booking a trip with us, please send us an Enquiry Form or reply to the initial form you sent, so that we know what trip/s you want to book onto.

Please note that nearly all of our trips have now sold out….there’s literally just a few places left on some of our trips!

Overland-West-Africa-Tour

Please note we have tweaked the trips ever so slightly to take into account what has and hasn’t worked in the past – so please have another look at the updated itineraries on our website before booking.

One noticeable change is on our Accra to Ouagadougou trip, on which we will no longer spend any time in the east of the country – we will instead drive over to the west to see some of the Banfora region.

Please remember we have a discount structure in place if you book more than one trip with us, and all of the dates, prices and itineraries can be seen on the trips overview page by clicking on the trip maps image below:

Africa-Overland-Tours-Ghana-Sierra-Leone-Guinea-Senegal

Please note we will endeavour to respond to your emails/enquiries within 24-48 hours of you making contact with us, and often much sooner – but please bear in mind we are expecting a lot of bookings in a short space of time so we appreciate your patience in waiting for a response. We have already sold over 30 seats since we opened the bookings 1 week ago!

SIerra-Leone-Tour-West-Africa-Overland
Fouta-Djalon-Guinea-Tour-Africa

We really hope you can join us for our next season of trips, and please do share the message on social media and with anybody you know who might be interested in travelling through West Africa with us.

We look forward to hearing from you soon – and wish you all a very happy 2018!

David Oades (Hatter), Al Goodridge, Jimmy C and Aminah
Overlanding West Africa

Fouta-Djalon-Overland-Tour-Guinea-Africa

Burkina-Faso-Tour-West-Africa

Senegal-Tour-West-Africa-Overland

Hi everybody,

After leaving the UK in September 2016 for another expedition down to West Africa and back, Aminah is home!

Overland-Tour-West-Africa-Adventure-Travel

Our last trip of the season arrived into Marrakech at the end of May 2017 after the long journey north through Senegal, Mauritania, Western Sahara and southern Morocco. After a couple of days turnaround in Marrakech, Aminah, Zoe & Jason headed to the Spanish enclave of Ceuta, crossing the Mediterranean to Algeciras where they began the long drive back to the UK via Spain and France.

Rainy season is now well underway in West Africa, a time that makes travelling in the region challenging at best, so time for Aminah to have a well deserved break back home in the UK.

Africa-Tour-Mauritania-Morocco-Africa-Overland

We’d like to say a massive thank you to Zoe and Jason who ran the trips for OWA this season, they both did a truly fantastic job! With trips in West Africa it’s so important to have good crew on board, they’re an essential part of any overland expedition, and Zoe and Jason’s hard work and enthusiasm is highlighted by the overwhelmingly positive feedback we’ve received from the passengers that travelled with us. Thanks very much indeed Zoe and Jason!

Liberia-Sierra-Leone-Overland-Adventure-Travel-Africa

Guinea-Africa-Fouta-Djalon-Tours (Kath)

You can read some of the great comments the passengers from this seasons trips wrote about Zoe, Jason and OWA (as well as previous seasons comments) by clicking on the photo below. Thanks so much to all of those who took the time to write such positive feedback for us. Cheers guys!

Reviews-Overlanding-West-Africa-Tours

Dave the Hat headed up to the Drago workshop a few weeks ago to give Aminah some TLC and a good deep clean, as well as a good mechanical inspection. As you can imagine the road conditions take their toll on Aminah and the mud and dust clings to everything, so it takes some time to get her cleaned up properly. After a few long days and nights Hatter parked her up under cover until our next season of trips begin in late 2018/early 2019.

So what’s next? Well, over the next few months we’ll be jigging things around a little to take into account what has and hasn’t worked well on our trips to date. We’re going to start the 2018-19 season slightly later in the year, with our Dakar to Freetown trip starting in early November rather than mid-October. Hopefully the extra few weeks will give the roads more of a chance to dry out!

You can see all of the dates for our trips in late 2018/early 2019 here: 

If you haven’t done so already please send us an Enquiry Form to register your interest in joining our trips in the future.

Remember, you can keep in touch with all the latest happenings at Overlanding West Africa via our social media channels (Facebook, Twitter, You Tube, Pinterest and Google +) by clicking on the icons close to the top right hand side of each page on this website.

We look forward to hearing from you and hope to see you on board Aminah in 2018-19 for another adventure through magical West Africa!

David Oades (Hatter), Al Goodridge, Jimmy C and Aminah

Below is a wonderful selection of photos that our passengers took over the course of the season. If these don’t tempt you to visit the region with us then we don’t know what will! Many thanks to Mahesh Patel, Zinzi Speear, Kath Donaldson, Knut Ovrebo, John Stenson, Melanie Smith and Jim Stolk – your photos really do show off what a magical region West Africa is to visit!

Guinea-Africa-Tour-Overlanding-West-Africa

Africa-Tour-Ivory-Coast-Adventure-Travel

Ducor-Hotel-Monrovia-Liberia-West-Africa-Tour

Liberia-Adventure-Tours-West-Africa

Senegal-Casamance-Africa-Tourism-Adventure-Travel

Overlanding-West-Africa-Tours-Sierra-Leone

Burkina-Faso-Tours-Africa-Overland

Sahara-Overland-Africa-Tour

Senegal-Group-Tours-Adventure-Travel-Africs

Sierra-Leone-Tours-West-Africa

Overland-Group-Tours-West-Africa (Melanie)

Ankassa-National-Park-Ghana-Africa-Tourism (Jason)

Overlanding-West-Africa-Mauritania

Sierra-Leone-Adventure-Travel-Africa-Tours

Casamance-Senegal-Tours-Africa (Jim)

Hi everybody,

It’s been quite some time since our last post – and as you can imagine a lot has been going on at Overlanding West Africa since then.

Curious to know more? Then read on to find out all the latest:

2015-16: Another Successful Season!

We’re incredibly proud to have operated another successful season between October 2015 and May 2016 throughout the West Africa region.

As you may know, we were the first overland operator to return to Guinea, Sierra Leone and Liberia since the Ebola outbreak came to an end. Al and some of our passengers even made an appearance on the BBC News as our Dakar to Freetown group were filmed on the golden-sand beaches of Freetown on the day Sierra Leone was officially declared ‘Ebola Free’!

Over the 7 trips we operated we were joined by 56 passengers from Canada, Norway, Germany, UK, USA, Australia, New Zealand, Sweden and the Netherlands – all of whom experienced the warmth, hospitality and friendly welcome from the people of the 14 countries (and 1 disputed territory) we travelled through.

Aminah, Al and Jason arrived back in the UK at the end of May and took some time out for a very well earned rest and a chance to catch up with life. You can see a small selection of photos from the trips at the bottom of this page which gives you a good idea of some of the amazing places our passengers got to visit.

If you like the look of what you see in the photos then please send us an Enquiry Form to book yourself onto a true overland adventure trip with us in late 2016/early 2017!

Guinea Overland Adventure Tour West Africa

Our Revamped & Responsive Website

Those of you who’ve visited our website before will notice there have been a few changes! Noting that Googles preference is for ‘mobile friendly’ and ‘responsive’ websites, Dave the Hat has spent countless hours over the past few months transferring the website content over to a new custom-made and fully responsive theme that our web hosting company devised for us.

As you can see, much of the website is exactly the same as before, except now all of the content should be ‘fully responsive’ for mobiles and tablets and make life easier for those viewing our website ‘on the go’!

We hope you like the new look and that each page loads faster than before. If you spot any errors or issues with the functionality of our website then please do send us an email to let us know – despite all the hours Hatter has put in I’m sure there are still some glitches that will need attention!

UK Turnaround For Aminah

For a couple of weeks in August 2016, Dave the Hat went up to the Drago workshop to get Aminah turned around for the upcoming 2016/17 season in West Africa. George and Charlie were, as always, incredibly generous to rent some space at their UK workshop to OWA for the work on Aminah to be completed.

To do a number of the heavier jobs on Aminah, Hatter was helped at various stages by Nick Fulford and Dave Pettsy, as well as Adam, Jemima and Sara (the 3 trainees) – all of whom played a role in helping get Aminah turned around for next season.

We want to take this opportunity to say a massive thank you to G and Charlie for lending Hatter some of their staff for a few days, as some of the jobs really do require 2 people so we truly are grateful – cheers guys!

Here are a few pictures of just some of the work that was done to Aminah over the course of the fortnight – and to such a good standard Aminah passed her MOT again first time with only 1 advisory – hoorah! (An MOT is the UK-based annual vehicle test for those that don’t know).  As you can imagine, the roads in some of the countries in West Africa do take their toll on the old girl, especially on the axles and suspension, so though a painful and tiring amount of work it’s good to get Aminah ship-shape and in good condition again for the upcoming season ahead.

Overlanding West Africa Truck 0

Replacing a rear wheel bearing and hub seal after the rear springs were taken off and rebushed

Overlanding West Africa Truck 2

A new diaphragm for the rear brake pack – which alas still leaked so an entire new pack was purchased and installed!

Overlanding West Africa Truck 3

Re-setting the valves/tappets to ensure the valve clearances were correct

Overlanding West Africa Truck 5

Front wheel bearings re-greased after new front springs fitted – with new brake linings too!

Overlanding West Africa Truck 7

Replacing the belt tensioner and swapping the pulley over

Overlanding West Africa Truck 8

While the wheel bearings were off Hatter fitted brand new brake linings on both axles

Overland Truck Africa

2 new sets of front springs ready to go on and bearings ready for fresh grease!

Overlanding West Africa Truck 10

Inflating the new tyres after the rims have been given a fresh coat of paint

West Africa Truck Overland

Dave the Hat inserting a new bush into the rear spring swinging shackle

Overlanding West Africa Truck 12

Freshly painted wheel rims with new tyres on ready to go back on the axles

Overlanding West Africa Truck 11

The front torsion bar after being repaired and rekitted – no more play!

Overlanding West Africa Truck 13

Rear brake pack repair attempt round 2!

Hatter will return to Drago in a few weeks time to finish off the interior jobs in Aminah and to ‘tart’ her up outside, whilst Al will bring the equipment and remaining tents that he has been busy cleaning whilst away.

Not long to go now before Aminah sets off for the long journey south to Senegal and the start of our first trip of the season from Dakar to Freetown!

Bookings For Trips In 2016-2017

We’re incredibly pleased that our trips are selling so well again. Each of our trips currently has an average of 12-15 passengers booked on, and fresh enquiries have been flooding in over the past 10 days so we are hopeful that most of our trips will sell out very soon.

If you want to join us then please send us an Enquiry Form and we can forward you all of the relevant booking information. Remember, we offer discounts if booking multiple trips, and it’s important to book sooner rather than later to ensure you can get all of the necessary visas in time before flying out to West Africa for the start of your trip/s with us.

Need convincing? Then check out the selection of photos below from our overland trips last season. Many thanks to passengers Alexi O’Brien, Alice Lowry, Alice Richardson and Alice Goodridge for letting us share some of their photos.

In addition, you can check out Al’s excellent OWA Travel Blog which highlights exactly why an overland adventure trip through West Africa with us is something you will never forget!

We hope you can join us for the adventure!

Dave The Hat, Al Goodridge, Jimmy C and Aminah

Overlanding West Africa

Guinea Overland Adventure Tour West Africa 3

Guinea Overland Adventure Tour West Africa 6

Sierra Leone Overland Adventure Tour West Africa 3

Burkina Faso Group Tour Overland West Africa 2

Ivory Coast Overland Adventure Tour West Africa 1

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA

Adventure-Travel-Africa-Overland-Group-Tour-Guinea-Liberia

Burkina Faso Group Tour Overland West Africa 4

Senegal-Mauritania-Morocco Tour 11

Sierra Leone Overland Adventure Tour West Africa

Senegal-Mauritania-Morocco Tour 02

Ivory Coast Overland Adventure Tour West Africa 2

Morocco Adventure Tour 02

Morocco Adventure Tour 01

Burkina Faso Group Tour Overland West Africa 3

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA

Guinea Overland Adventure Tour West Africa

Senegal Overland Tour West Africa 4

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA

Morocco Adventure Tour 09

Sierra Leone Overland Adventure Tour West Africa 2

Senegal Overland Tour West Africa 9

Ivory Coast Overland Adventure Tour West Africa

Burkina Faso Group Tour Overland West Africa

 

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA

Senegal Overland Tour West Africa

Senegal-Mauritania-Morocco Tour 09

Senegal-Mauritania-Morocco Tour 01

 

Hi everybody,

What a hectic few months it has been since we last wrote a post for the website! Finally we have the time to sit down and put pen to paper (or fingers to keyboard) and fill you in about what’s been happening at Overlanding West Africa.

See what the sign says below? THEY’RE IN LIBERIA!

Group Tours West Africa Overland

Overlanding West Africa are proud to be the first ever overland truck based company to run a trip through the country. Here’s a picture of Al, Nev, and the group as they crossed the border from Sierra Leone a few days ago. Al says the drive from the east of Sierra Leone into Liberia was a long hard slog, the roads were terrible, and it took longer than expected, but in the true nature of overland adventure travel they made it!

Another first for Overlanding West Africa after being the first ever overland truck based company to run trips in Guinea Bissau and Sierra Leone in 2012. Well done Al, Nev, Aminah, and all the group, congratulations!

Liberia Overland Tours and Adventure Travel

Well, what else has been happening over the past few months?

After our hugely successful first season, Hatter has settled in the UK permanently to focus upon the operations and marketting for Overlanding West Africa and working to build upon the success of the first few years. Jimmy has decided to move to Australia to focus upon a new business venture and to settle down with his partner Claire.

To enable the trips to keep running, Hatter and Jimmy invited Al Goodridge to buy some shares in Overlanding West Africa and act as the new director, and Al is currently leading our trips in 2013 and 2014 with ex-Oasis Overland driver Nev Kelly.

Aminah needed some TLC after her first run down to West Africa, so Hatter and Al spent some weeks getting her back to her sexy self, including a brand new spray job with a new flag scheme down the side (note the Liberia flag!)

After a full mechanical overhaul, restocking her supplies and spare parts, and passing her MOT, Hatter and Al drove her down to the south of Spain. Upon arrival, Nev flew in to take over from Hatter, and off they went across the straits of Gibraltar to Morocco for the long drive to Dakar.

Overlanding West Africa, Trans Africa Tours

As those of you who follow us through social media will know, our Dakar to Freetown trip is now well underway. The group are currently in the beautiful Casamance region of Senegal enjoying a couple of nights on the Atlantic coastline.

Al, Nev and Aminah left Dakar with a group of 19 overlanders: A warm welcome to John, Ant, Narelle, Sascha, Phil, John, Arnold (Will), Warren, Jane, Robert, Connor, Chris, Daniel, Ian, Peter, Ina, Janet, Birgit and Tania.

Overland Tour West Africa, Liberia Tour

To help us all keep up with the excitement on the road, Al has taken on the task of writing a blog detailing all that’s happening on the trips. If you’re a fan of adventure travel and overland trips you will love Al’s updates! Please do follow our blog through Google+ and all the usual social media channels:

Overlanding West Africa Travel Blog

You can expect regular updates from Al and the group as they make their way down to Ghana over the next 10 weeks or so.

A real highlight of the trip so far was the groups visit to Abene in northern Casamance. Al and Nev took the group to a wonderful campement managed by Simon for an evening of traditional music and dance. The climax of the festivities was witnessing a ‘Koumpo’ (known as a forest spirit) whip up a frenzy on the dancefloor, a real privilege to see.

A massive thank you to Simon, the staff at the campement, and all the performers for such a wonderful evening of entertainment.

Overland West Africa

Back here in the UK, World Travel Market took place at London’s Excel Arena this week. Hatter popped along for the day to visit those stands representing West Africa. Gambia, Ghana, Sierra Leone, and Nigeria were all present, and it was great to put some names to faces after so many years.

We want to say a massive thank you to Ola at ‘Come To West Africa’ magazine for including Overlanding West Africa in the latest edition. Ola was working at the Nigeria stand at WTM helping push the West Africa tourism message, and Hatter was lucky enough to grab a photo opportunity with the editor himself!

Hatter And Ola

Not only is Overlanding West Africa on the front cover with 3 photos, but there is an 8 page feature inside talking about what we are trying to achieve with our trips. Thanks so much for including us Ola we really appreciate it! Also many thanks to ex OWA passengers Rob Kuhlman, Inga Lotta, Wilna Wilkinson, Holly Melanson, and Clare Glade Wright for some of the superb photos used in the article.

Read more about all the media publications Overlanding West Africa has been featured in over the past few months here: Overlanding West Africa In The Media

Overlanding West Africa

Also a big thank you to Christophe Noel for writing a review about us for the superb Overlanders website Expedition Portal. Christophe highlights the fact that our trips go as far off the beaten track as possible and to places well of the radar for most travellers. Thanks Christophe!

Overland West Africa

Remember, you’ll need to book quite soon if you want to take the last available seat on our Accra To Freetown trip in January 2014. We also have just 3 seats left on our Freetown To Dakar trip starting in March 2014. If you can’t join us this season, we will have new dates for our trips in late 2014/early 2015 on our website by January 2014 so keep checking in!

We hope you all have a very happy Christmas wherever you are in the world, and a very happy new year. We hope to see some of you onboard Aminah in 2014 for another incredible adventure through West Africa!

David, Al, Jimmy, and Aminah

Overlanding West Africa