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!
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!
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
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
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
Removing the front hubs to inspect the bearings
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
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!
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!
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:
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!
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
Hi everybody,
After leaving the UK in September 2016 for another expedition down to West Africa and back, Aminah is home!
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.
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!
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!
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!
Hi everybody,
If you’ve still got some annual leave to use up, or if you’ve had enough of work and fancy taking off for a bit, then come and join us in West Africa for one of our trips this season!
We still have 2 seats available on our Accra to Ouagadougou trip starting next month, visiting many of the highlights in Ghana, Togo, Benin and Burkina Faso. This trip runs over the Christmas and New Year period (19 December – 16 January) meaning it should be easier to convince your employer to let you take 4 weeks off work!
We also have a few seats available on our Accra to Freetown trip starting on 06 February 2017. This 42-day trip is full of cultural highlights as we travel through Ghana, Burkina Faso, Ivory Coast, Guinea (Forest Region), Liberia and Sierra Leone. Please note you will need to obtain at least 3 visas in advance so it’s worth booking as soon as possible in order for us to send you the relevant paperwork for your visa applications in good time.
Further ahead in April 2017 our Dakar to Marrakech trip also has a few seats available. This trip is a real contrast to our other trips in that it crosses from West Africa into North Africa via Senegal and Mauritania, before visiting numerous places in Western Sahara and the far south of Morocco. Crossing the Sahara desert truly is one of lives epic overland journeys, and one we guarantee will stay with you forever!
Remember, discounts apply if you book multiple trips. If you’re interested please send us an Enquiry Form and we can send you all of the relevant information.
On The Road Again!
We’re pleased to say our first trip of the 2016-17 season from Dakar to Freetown is now well underway. Aminah, Zoe and Jason left the UK in late September and arrived in Senegal a few weeks later after a long drive south through France, Spain, Morocco, Western Sahara and Mauritania.
After meeting Lisa, Jeremy, Robert, Vicki, Stefanie, Brian, Zinzi, Andy, Knut, Eva, Candace and Kent in Dakar they headed south towards Gambia and the Casamance region of Senegal.
One of the highlights of the trip (so far!) was a stay at Simon and Khady’s campement, a wonderful place where our group gets to witness a traditional koumpo dance amongst other festivities.
Check out these fantastic photos from Simon Fenton at The Little Baobab, our co driver Jason Parry and passenger Lisa Vitaris!
West Africa Tourism Organisation at World Travel Market
If you’re keen to learn more and/or play a role in helping promote the countries of West Africa as a travel destination, then why not visit World Travel Market in London next week?
West Africa Tourism Organisation, headed by Ola Wright, is hosting a press conference at the Novotel as well as a dinner at the Crowne Plaza (see the flyer on the left for more details).
The aim of the press conference and networking dinner is to introduce the new ECOWAS regional tourism policy. This is aimed at promoting the countries of West Africa to operators and travellers alike, as well as identifying and addressing the issues the tourism industry in the region is up against.
Ministers of tourism will be in attendance as well as Ambassadors and journalists. Dave the Hat is a member of the organisation and will be at the dinner representing OWA and playing a role in the proceedings. Come and lend your support!
David Oades (Dave the Hat), Al Goodridge, Jimmy C and Aminah
Overlanding West Africa
Hi everybody,
As many of you who are on our email list will already know, we’ve just started taking bookings for our trips in late 2016/early 2017 – and are pleased to say that seats are selling fast! If you are keen on joining us for a trip please get in touch with us via our Enquiry Form and come and see some of this magical part of the African continent for yourself.
We ran our new Accra to Ouagadougou trip for the first time last month, and welcomed Frank, Tracey, Tony F, Tony K and Sam to join those who had travelled with us from Dakar and Freetown. After some initial confusion, it was revealed that Frank was the owner of the trumpet that had mysteriously found its way onto the truck the previous evening!
We visited Ghana, Togo, Benin and Burkina Faso on this trip, and this blog post covers the first 2 weeks of the trip.
One of the highlights of southern Ghana is visiting the coffin makers around Accra, who make some lively and unusual designs. Above are some of the impressive examples we got to see.
A number of the group went on a walking tour of Nima, a lively residential district of Accra for an insight into the lives of the local people. The guide was the principal of a primary school: as you can see the children were rather excited when we visited their classroom!
From Accra we headed to Ghana’s Volta region, a beautiful but relatively little visited area which is sandwiched between the artificial reservoir of Lake Volta and the Togolese border. We enjoyed the cool air and beautiful views up in the hills, a lovely contrast to the weather on the coast. Frank even had some time for trumpet practice!
The views from the top of Mount Gemi down to Lake Volta and across to Togo would have been great if it wasn’t so hazy!
Above are waterfalls near Amedzofe that most of the group visited after the trek for a refreshing dip.
Before we crossed over the border to Togo, we visited a community of habituated Mona monkeys which are revered as sacred by the locals. Jase seemed to be feeding them the tastiest bananas!
Our first stop in Togo was among the cool green hills close to the summit of Mount Klouto. We walked among coffee plantations, explored villages, learnt about medicinal plants and natural dyes, cooled off under waterfalls, and looked for butterflies.
We enjoyed a great evening of drumming, dancing and fire breathing with plenty of opportunities for dancing practice which we so clearly needed!
After a brief stop in Lome to visit the famous fetish market, we arrived in Grand Popo in Benin where we camped on the stunning beach for a couple of nights. Some of us enjoyed boat trips to visit fishing villages and to see salt production where the Mono river meets the sea.
Above and below are photos from the voodoo ceremony we witnessed in southern Benin. Voodoo continues to play a huge role in the culture of the people in Togo and Benin, fascinating though a little bewildering at times! We were encouraged to try the local palm spirit while watching the ceremony, sprinkled with talcum powder and sprayed with perfume. Al and Jase smelt the best they had in weeks!
Ouidah is known as a centre of the voodoo religion, as well as having a tragic history as a port from which many millions of slaves were transported across the Atlantic to the Americas. We visited the famous python temple, numerous other temples and shrines, and learnt about how the voodoo religion travelled across the Atlantic with the slave trade to parts of Brazil and the Caribbean.
We spent Christmas in Ganvie, staying at the famous stilt village on Lake Nokoue, an area originally settled by people escaping the slave trade. After a tour of the village we spent the rest of the afternoon and evening watching the world go by. Frank entertained both the locals and the group by playing Christmas carols on his trumpet! Many people were celebrating by singing and dancing on boats parading around the village; it was certainly a memorable Christmas!
Having spent 2 weeks slowly exploring Ghana’s Volta region and the south of Togo and Benin, after Christmas we had a couple of days driving up to the north of Togo.
The grounds of this primary school made for a great bush camp – the children were fascinated as we set up camp for the night!
We had plenty of interesting stops along the way. In the photo above, Alice is standing in front of the Aledjo Fault, a stunning geographical feature through which the main road passes. On the right, Frank is trying to get through the entrance of a sacred Baobab tree, which has a large cavity inside with room for about half a dozen people to stand in. It was a bit of a tight squeeze!
Below are the weavers hard at work at a local co-operative we visited. They were weaving long but narrow strips which were then sewn together to make a range of colourful garments.
The Tamberma Valley World Heritage site is home to the Batammariba people. We spent 2 nights with them in Togo, visiting their fascinating ‘Takienta’ (mud fortress houses), learning about their customs and beliefs, and witnessing traditional music and dance ceremonies.
Below, Tracey tries her hand at archery. It’s a good job we weren’t relying on her to catch our dinner!
As the day cooled off we trekked up to a cave network, formerly inhabited as a retreat in times of tribal war. From here we were treated to some spectacular views of the valley below.
From here a short drive took us over the border to Benin and the Atakora hills, home of the Tammari people. We learnt about their animist traditions, and saw the similarities between their fortress houses with those of their cousins in Togo. Most of these were spread out among their agricultural land rather than being grouped into villages.
We trekked to see waterfalls, caves and farming land. Above are examples of giant grain storage jars which are partitioned inside. They’re in a cave, near a water source that was used as a retreat in times of tribal conflict as well as to escape the slave raiders. It is believed that people could have hidden for up to 6 months inside!
Below, Frank, Tony, Al, Alice, Theo and Tony stand outside a sacred Baobab tree which we visited on another trek.
Millett is a common crop of the area and is made into millet beer. Above, Tony and Sam share a gourd of it, wondering if it might be a little more palatable cold! We watched 2 locals down a gourd, drinking simultaneously from the same vessel, but didn’t manage to pull off this same feat ourselves!
Below, Jason climbs up to look inside a grain storage hut on the roof of a house, which is partitioned inside for different crops. A bell on it’s rain hat stopped thieves getting inside without waking the household who would sleep nearby for security.
Another short drive took us to Pendjari National Park, part of the WAP complex, the largest protected wildlife zone in West Africa. We boarded a couple of 4×4’s for a bumpy and dusty day of wildlife viewing.
We were lucky enough to see buffalo, water-buck, warthog, jackals, crocodiles, antelope, many different types of bird, and numerous herds of elephants. At our first coffee stop we were treated to a rather special encounter with a group of elephants that wandered right past us. We also visited a pool where we saw many hippos up close.
Below, Tracey, Janet and Sam were getting as dusty as possible on the game drives!
From Pendjari we headed across the border to Burkina Faso and after a great bush camp we stopped in Fada where, above, Al is in front of the signs. Here we encountered a major problem…no eggs! Jase and Al were both very concerned about the next few breakfasts!
We then travelled west to Bobo Dioulasso, home to skilled artisans and a fantastic live music scene. Some of the group visited the impressive domes de Fabedougou (above) and the nearby Karfiguela waterfalls.
The trip ended all to soon in Ouagadougou, but we’ll be back in Burkina Faso very soon to explore further on our current Accra to Freetown trip.
Many thanks to some of the passengers for allowing us to use their photos we very much appreciate it!
Hi Everybody,
There’s only a few seats left on our Southbound trips starting in October 2015, so now is the time to get in touch if you want to experience the magic of West Africa with us! If you do want to join one of our trips please remember that you will need to obtain a number of visas in advance before you travel, so you will need to book as soon as possible to ensure you can get all of the necessary visas in time.
After such a dreadful year in 2014 with the Ebola outbreak in Guinea, Sierra Leone and Liberia, it’s great to see the West African region finally returning to some sense of normality. There are now just a handful of cases being recorded each month, all of which are confined to a very small area (geographically speaking). Contact tracing is now much more efficient than before and has played a significant role in combating the spread of the virus. The vast majority of each of the 3 affected countries have been Ebola free for many months now, making travel through the region possible once again.
Since we last posted a couple of months ago, Al and David (Hatter) have been busy getting Aminah ready and all of the paperwork in place in preparation for the upcoming season. We’re pleased to say she passed her MOT first time with no advisories (that’s her annual mechanical check for the non Brits out there) and also her tachograph calibration. All that’s left to do is to stock her up with spare parts and food supplies for the big journey ahead. Not long to go now!
For those of you who don’t already know, Jason Parry will be joining Al as the co-driver for our upcoming 2015-2016 season. We know Jason from his time working for Dragoman Overland, and though he has been away from overlanding for the past few years doing a ‘normal’ job in the real world, he is itching to get out on the road again!
We’ll let the man himself do the talking:
“I know Dave (Hatter) & Jimmy from my time working at Dragoman, last seeing them in person just prior to their first OWA season in 2012. Having recently met up with Al in preparation for the season ahead, I cannot wait to get back out on the road, and am looking forward to meeting all of the passengers and immersing myself in the diverse cultures, customs, and terrain of West Africa!”
I first fell in love with Africa when I spent 4 months working in South Africa back in early 2000. Since then, I have travelled independently in South Africa, Kenya and Namibia, as well as leading trips for Encounter Overland between 2006 and 2008.
I reluctantly left the road in 2008, intending to knuckle down for a couple of years doing a ‘proper job’ to secure myself some sort of financial security. My intention was always to return to overlanding, and after too many years of masquerading as a grown up, I am finally in a position to do just that. Hatter approached me earlier this year and could not have timed it any better”.
As you all know we always love to highlight a more positive image of the region, and to support that initiative we recently found this superb article entitled “The Top 10 Least-Visited Countries in Africa” written by ‘Travel Geek UK’. We’re really pleased to see so many countries in West Africa represented, highlighting just some of the many reasons why you should visit West Africa. Click on the photo from Sierra Leone below to read the full article and to see more beautiful images from around the region!
We have recently partnered with ‘Friends of Conakry Refugee School’, where 26 staff offer an education to 500 students, provide them with a meal each day, and help with safe housing for the vulnerable. Guinea has historically received rather less international assistance than some of its neighbours, so it’s great to see a UK organisation involved with such a valuable project.
Many of the children at the project are orphans from Liberia, Sierra Leone and Cote d’Ivoire and simply can’t afford to go to school. FCRS are setting up small business initiatives such as catering and soap making, and running IT and English classes for the local community in order to subsidise the education of the poorest. We plan to visit the school on our Freetown to Dakar trip, bring out supplies from the UK, and make a financial donation to the project.
You can see more information about the project here on the Friends of Conakry Refugee School website.
We’re really looking forward to returning to West Africa and meeting all of you who are booked onto our trips in a few months time. To keep you going for now, check out the video below from our trips between Accra and Dakar in 2014 – showing off just some of the best places we visit in West Africa!
Dave the Hat, Al, Jimmy and Aminah
Overlanding West Africa
Hi everybody,
After many weeks of planning, writing, and HTML, we’re pleased to announce our new itineraries for late 2015-early 2016 are ready to go and now live on the website! All of our trips can be viewed here or you can navigate to the trip that interests you by hovering over THE TRIPS tab at the top of each page. This will bring up a sub menu to take you to any of the trips we operate.
All of our existing trips are still there, but with some minor changes:
Dakar to Freetown – stays the same
Freetown to Accra – much the same as last year, except we will visit the south of Ivory Coast instead of the north, and not visit Burkina Faso
Accra to Ouagadougou – very similar to our Ouagadougou to Accra trip, but visiting more of Togo and the east of Burkina Faso
Accra to Freetown – stays the same, but includes a visit to the Gurunsi homes of the Kassena people in Tiebele, Burkina Faso
Freetown to Dakar – stays the same
Dakar to Marrakech – Brand new trip, taking in northern Senegal, some of Mauritania, Western Sahara, and southern Morocco
Marrakech to Tangier – Brand new trip in Morocco, visiting many of the key highlights in the Sahara desert, Atlas mountains, and Rif mountains
Our Trips And The Situation In West Africa
The ebola outbreak continues to affect many lives and communities in Sierra Leone, Guinea, and Liberia. From watching the mainstream media news channels, the situation seems as bleak as ever.
However, all this doom and gloom is not a fair representation of the facts and decidedly unbalanced. There has been a huge improvement in all 3 of the affected countries:
- The rate of new cases being reported throughout Liberia has drastically reduced in recent weeks, things really are looking alot better there now
- The east of Sierra Leone around Kaliahun and Kenema (where the outbreak first surfaced in Sierra Leone) has improved dramatically, with virtually 0 cases being reported over the past month. In and around Freetown and the west of the country, the number of new cases being reported has declined by a huge amount
- The outbreak continues to rumble on around Guinea, though at a much lower level than before, with the number of new cases reported being significantly lower than in Liberia and Sierra Leone
A lot more is being done by the governments and the international community to help improve the situation, though there is of course a lot more work to do. It does appear slowly but surely the outbreak is being brought under control, and we are very hopeful that the region will return to some sense of normality very soon.
We want to reiterate that we cancelled our trips in late 2014-early 2015 due to the closure of a number of key borders throughout the region. That was the only reason we cancelled – the logistics of operating multi-country trips became impossible.
All sensible advice from health professionals continues to be the same – the risk of travellers contracting the virus is considered very low, you need to come into direct contact with the bodily fluids of somebody showing symptoms of the virus to become infected.
Launch Of The Unite 4 West Africa Initiative
Since October 2014 we have played a key role in setting up and promoting the Unite 4 West Africa initiative, along with West Africa Discovery, Barefoot Liberia, and Another World Adventures. The aim of this collective effort is simple – to challenge the mainstream media portrayal of the affected countries in West Africa, and to raise funds for organisations working on the ground to combat the outbreak.
The Unite 4 West Africa initiative was launched to the media at World Travel Market in October 2014. We’re pleased to say it was a huge success, the room was heaving with journalists interested in hearing what we had to say!
On the panel were the Ministers of Tourism for Senegal, Ghana and Nigeria, as well as Ben Keene from Tribewanted Sierra Leone, Dr Ron Behrens from the London School of Tropical Medicine, and David Oades (Dave The Hat) from Overlanding West Africa. Everybody gave a 10 minute presentation about the situation in the region.
In addition to helping put the outbreak into perspective, Unite 4 West Africa is raising funds for organisations who are working hard in the region to help combat the spread of the virus:
- 50% of the money raised will go to Medicins Sans Frontieres (MSF – Doctors Without Borders), who have worked tirelessly from the moment the outbreak was confirmed as ebola back in March 2014
- 40% of the money will go to 3 grass roots organisations in each of the affected countries, being TINKISSO in Guinea, KRITERION MONROVIA in Liberia, and WELT HUNGER HILFE in Sierra Leone
- 10% will be distributed to other grass roots organisations who are doing great work who might approach us for funding – if not, this 10% will instead go to the 3 organisations receiving 40% of the funds raised
All money raised will go directly to the organisations listed above. All of the time we have spent setting up and promoting Unite 4 West Africa is entirely voluntary.
We’re pleased to say we have secured the support of a large number of other travel operators and organisations who run trips and have an interest in the countries of West Africa, including Exodus Travels, G Adventures, Explore, and Intrepid Travel. We’re proud to say we’ve raised over £4,000 since November 2014, and hope to raise much more. We want to take this opportunity to thank all the organisations who have donated to the initiative so far, and all the individuals who have made a personal donation – thanks so much to everybody!
Please visit the Unite 4 West Africa website to learn more about the initiative, and help promote a more positive image of the countries in West Africa. There is also a Unite 4 West Africa Facebook Page and a Twitter Page where you can keep up to date with all the latest news. Please use the hashtag #Unite4WestAfrica when posting about the initiative.
With so much negative media coverage coming from Sierra Leone, Guinea, and Liberia in recent months, there is a real danger that these countries will be associated and stigmatised with this image for years to come. We all need to work together to help promote a more positive image of the affected countries and the West Africa region in general.
Sierra Leone, Guinea, and Liberia were just starting to develop a tourist industry, something we want to see flourish once again as soon as possible.
Remember: A huge number of people throughout dozens of countries all over Africa rely upon tourism for their livelihoods, and many are now starting to struggle due to a decline in tourism. Nearly every major tour operator is saying bookings for trips all over Africa are down. Lets put this in perspective – only 3 countries have been significantly affected by the ebola outbreak to date, just 3!
Africa is a continent, NOT a country, help us put the situation into perspective!
Cheers guys, we hope you are all well, and we hope to see you on Aminah in late 2015-early 2016 for another adventure through the countries of West Africa!
Dave The Hat, Al Goodridge, and Jimmy C
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!
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!
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.
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.
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.
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!
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
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!
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
Hi Everybody,
It’s been quite a while since we updated our latest news section. Alot has been happening since we returned from our recent trips in West Africa so here we go.
Firstly, we want to say a massive thank you to everybody who had the confidence to book with us for our first season through West Africa in 2012-2013. We couldn’t have run these trips without you! We took a gamble by devising, marketing, selling, and operating a trip which no overland operator had done before, connecting Senegal to Ghana via the coastal countries of Guinea Bissau, Guinea, and Sierra Leone. We also travelled through Senegal’s Casamance region, which has not been done for several decades by an overland truck based operator, and Ivory Coast which has effectively been closed to overlanders for the last 10 years. We were the first to run trips into Guinea Bissau and Sierra Leone, something we are very proud of!
After finishing the trips in Dakar in mid-April 2013, Jimmy and Hatter drove back to the UK. It took just over 2 weeks so we were both pretty tired when we got back to UK. The journey home took us through Mauritania and Western Sahara, a sparsely populated area with some of the most beautiful coastline anywhere in the world. Here is a shot of Aminah where the Sahara desert meets the Atlantic ocean.
On returning to the UK, we met Al who has decided to join the OWA team as director. Al is an experienced overland trip leader and a fellow West Africa aficionado. We’re both very pleased to have Al onboard. Al will be leading the 2013-2104 trips. Read more about the new OWA team by visiting our Who We Are page.
Looking ahead now to 2013-2014, we have decided to include Liberia in the itineraries for our Freetown To Accra and Accra To Freetown trips. We will be the first commercial truck based overland company to devise, market, sell, and operate a trip through the country, something we are all very excited about. Liberia has only opened up to tourism in the past few years and with the British Foreign Office lifting the travel advice we are very pleased to be able to include it in our itineraries.
We have also been busy with our web designer changing a few things on this website. We now have a sliding image gallery at the top of each page, showing off some of the best photos taken by us and the passengers on our recent trips. We have a new social media click through bar at the top right of each page, which will take you to our popular Facebook, Twitter, and You Tube Channels, as well as one for Pinterest. We have some incredible shots on Pinterest do click through and have a browse to whet your appetite for West Africa travel!
In addition, we have a new box on the right hand side of each page below the latest news section called ‘Photo Gallery’. Al has been very busy adding some of the best images from the trips we have just run. It’s an incredible selection showing off the beauty of the people and landscapes of the region.
There is also a new “OWA Trip Videos” tab on the right hand side of each page. Click on any of the videos shown, enlarge the screen, and sit back and imagine yourself on one of our trips in West Africa!
We would like to say a huge thank you (in no particular order) to Holly Melanson, Ian Grieve, Sally Crace, Wilna Wilkinson, Ant Marcon, Will Betts, Rob Kuhlman, Di Forgan, Inga Lotta, Simon Ottner, Annie Porter, Jemma Dunn, Clare Glade Wright, Scott Carlyle, and Sally Holbrook, for allowing us to use some of their photos for promotional purposes, thanks so much guys! You can see a photo of some of the passengers who joined us on the trips lower down this page.
We would also like to say an extra special thank you to Jamie Noel, who joined us on our Accra To Freetown trip. Jamie is a professional film maker and made a number of short films about the trip. Highlighting the people, culture, music, landscapes, and trip life in general, the films offer a fantastic insight into the region and are accompanied by superb soundtracks. Thanks so much Jamie! You can watch Jamies videos below, and will find them elsewhere on this website.
Below is a photo collage of some of the passengers who joined us on Aminah for our 2012-2013 trips. We are looking forward to meeting everybody booked onto our next set of trips starting in late October this year (once rainy season has thrown the worst it can down and the region is drying out).
Remember, we still have a few seats left on all of our 2013-2014 departures, and are offering discounts if you book two trips with us. There never has been a better time to visit the region. Not sure yet if you should come along for the adventure? Read some Passenger Feedback about us and the trips we run to find out more, and read our Why Travel With OWA? page to see what makes ours trips so much better than others out there!
Al, Hatter, Jimmy, and Aminah
THANKS TO ALL FOR AN INCREDIBLE FIRST SEASON!
Hi everybody!
We’re currently in Grand Bassam, approx 30kms east of the capital Abidjan, and having a couple of relaxing days on the beach just along from the old colonial quarter. It’s quite odd being back on the ‘tourist trail’ after so many weeks away from it. Well, we say tourist trail, the thing is, there are none around. The recent civil war in Ivory Coast has had a severe impact upon visitor numbers to the country….there are still expats and NGOs hovering around, but haven’t really seen any other travellers at all.
Well, where to start?! It’s been an incredible few weeks since we last posted. We left Freetown in the midst of election fever. The city was buzzing with support for Dr Ernest, and we now know he has since won the election. Every day and every night we were in the country felt like a carnival, some kind of rally going on for one political party or another. We were held up in Freetown for a bit longer than planned, mainly due to a diplomatic spat between the UK and Guinea……so of course the Guineans refused to issue the Brits with visas. Ah, bit of a problem there, we had 5 Brits on the trip, and both the drivers were also UK passport holders. So for 3 days, yes 3 days, Hatter went back and forth between the British High Commission and the Guinean embassy to massage egos, kiss ass, and generally plead our case. Eventually the issue which caused the problem in the first place (can’t really talk about it here!) was defused, and we had our visas, HOORAY!
So with visas in our passports, we headed north to Kabala, set close to the beautiful Wara Wara mountain range. It just so happened that the President was due in on the same day as us, so we followed his motorcade for some of the way there, and were treated to his helicopter landing in the town the following afternoon. Some of the passengers went to see his rally on the local football pitch, election fever was in the air! The views of the surrounding mountains were stunning, and many thanks to the Oxfam team for allowing us to camp in their compound. Sierra Leone still has a long way to go before it is ready for organised tourism, but for us overlanders a patch of grass and a toilet was all we needed, cheers guys!
From Kabala we headed down to Tiwai Island, and wow, what a drive it was. At first the road from Bo to Potoru was pretty good tar, then it abruptly ended and turned into washed out dirt. After Potoru, the road became very narrow, barely suited to a motorbike but we squeezed Aminah through regardless as we found ourselves driving through dense vegetation. Once we arrived at the river side village, the heavens opened up (AGAIN!)……so 1/2 hour waiting for the rain to relent, and we crossed onto the island on speed boat. The next day we all went on nature walks and boat rides, and saw a variety of wildlife, including the rare Diana monkey (which pissed on our heads at one stage!). A big thanks to all the Tiwai Island staff and the villagers on the other side for making us feel so welcome!
From Tiwai we headed to Kenema for a couple of days. The town is described as about far west as the diamond diggers will venture and about as far east as the diamond dealers will go. So you can imagine there were heaps of shops acting as go betweens to sell their precious stones. We stayed at the Catholic mission on the entrance to town, a beautiful place set amongst rolling grass fields and trees, Father Augustine was a great host. When he saw the truck, he read out the names of all the countries listed along the side and then exclaimed “Jesus Christ!”….most amusing! From here we drove all the way back to Guinea for a visa run in the capital Conakry.
The next stage of the journey saw us head back towards the stunning Fouta Djalon region from where we headed east into the Forest region. This is where the roads started to deteriorate, slowing our progress down. Arriving into Faranah late, we saw the Presidential airstrip in the distance….built sometime in the 1980s we think, Faranah was Tourre’s home town so he had an airstrip built capable of taking a Concorde! Well, we saw a track leading to it so turned off and bushcamped there for the night! Our journey continued through the Forest region via Kissidougou, Gueckadou, Macenta, and Nzerekore. All along the way we tried to find the elusive lliana bridges (made from vines). After 4 or 5 failed attempts, we struck gold! Alot of them no longer exist as the new roads that have sprung up in places mean people no longer maintain them so they fall into disrepair and are lost for good. However, perseverance paid off and we found one! It took us about an hour of trekking through the forest to get there, but when we did it was worth it, and the locals are still using it to this day to get produce around the forest region, superb!
Leaving the Forest region, we headed into the lush tropical jungle that borders Ivory Coast and Guinea. We made a slight detour towards Liberia to visit the wild chimpanzees. A beautiful spot not far from Mount Nimba, we camped in the grounds of the research station. The next morning we were up early and ushered through the forest to see the chimps in their natural habitat. After 45 minutes or so, one of the big males appeared and crossed right in front of us, before clambering up a tree. After a while he was joined by another 3 adults. It was a real treat to see them, and we spent a good hour or more watching them in the tress above, a real highlight for all of us. It’s not really meant for tourists strictly speaking, it is a research centre where people study the behaviour of this particular group and how they interact with the surrounding villages. So we were very fortunate to be allowed to visit.
Now the adventure started! People talk of the great overland journeys, and both Jimmy and Hatter, and many in the group who are currently travelling with us, are fortunate to have done some of them (crossing Mongolia, the Silk Route, Cairo to Cape Town, Loops of South America etc)…..but one that just has to be done by people is the crossing from Guinea into Ivory Coast. It is BEAUTIFUL! It’s remote, the roads are awful at times, but the people are SO friendly, and the landscapes stunning. It took us about 2 days from Lola to get to Danane, bushcamping en route at the immigration post between the 2 countries. You see everything from traditional African villages, to mud roads, mountains shrouded in steamy mist, dense jungle and forest, and rickety old bridges. One of which was broken, and had been for 2 years, so everybody who could had to ford the river. Alas, just 30 mins before we got to the fording point, the heavens opened up and it POURED! So there was a huge volume of water flowing into the river, and the entry and exit points became a slippery greasy nightmare from all the mud. After 1/2 hour or so of putting rocks down for traction and bamboo, Aminah took the plunge down a steep ravine and swam through the river to the other side, GO AMINAH!
Once through the worst of the roads (that diff lock and crawler gear came in very handy at times!), we popped out onto the tarmac in the west of Ivory Coast. What a treat awaited us!! We turned off on the dirt for 50 kms or so and found one of the villages that is famous for it’s stilt dancers. We approached the old wise men of the village, 4 of them in total, who in fact looked so old we suspect they were at least 100 years old! They agreed to us pitching camp in the village, and one of the younger men walked to the top of the hill and chanted in the local language at the top of his voice to call the men in from the forest to perform a dance for us all. And what a dance it was! For 90 minutes or so, we were treated to one of the best ceremonies/dances most of us have ever seen, all set amongst the surrounding forest and mountains, in the most beautiful picture postcard village you could ask for, check out the pictures, it was such a great evening of festivities!
The next morning, we handed out some of the supplies we had bought for the kids. In aid of ‘MOVEMBER’, everybody on the truck donated some money in return for the lads growing a moustache for the month of November. With the money the group bought pens, exercise books, geometry sets, footballs, chalk etc, and decided to give it out to various schools as we headed through the West and North of Ivory Coast. Having had such a great time in the village where we saw the dancers, the group decided to give some of the supplies to the village school……below are some of the lads with some of the village by Aminah just after we gave them the supplies. The other picture is of us handing over a load of boxes we brought with us on the roof of Aminah from Alet Les Bains, France. These boxes were for the CREER project, run by Chloe Grant, a foundation being set up to help children in Cote D’Ivoire. CREER is now moving along at a fast pace, and we hope to visit them in their new buildings next time we pass through!
Heading north the roads deteriorated again, and it took us a while to reach Korhogo, where some of the group went off to climb Mt Korhogo, whilst others visited the artisan villages surrounding the town to see the weavers, jewellery makers, and wood workers ply their trades. Some just sat by the swimming pool all day, a great chance to kick back and unwind after a crazy journey into the country from Guinea. Now on good tarmac (well, reasonable tarmac!), we headed to the weird and wonderful de facto capital of Yamoussoukro, and paid a visit to the Basilica….what a sight it was too! Modelled on St Peters in Rome, it sits amongst green jungle scenery. Though highly controversial due to its cost, you can not help but be impressed by the craftsmanship that went into the construction of such a beautiful building.
From Yam we headed south to the coast for a few nights in the old colonial ex-capital of Grand Bassam……lots of crumbling old colonial buildings right on the seafront, a perfect way to refresh ourselves before the final leg of this particular trip as we head into Ghana tomorrow. It’s been an awesome journey, one that everybody who loves real overlanding should experience. Though not easy, and indeed challenging at times, it has been an immensely rewarding journey, and one we will never forget! More updates to follow from Ghana next week, stay tuned, and keep following our progress via our Facebook page there are LOADS more photos on there of what we have been upto, enjoy!
