Saturday,
10, December 2006
After a short ride through no man's land I reach the
border post of
Unbelievable, I do not even have to show my passport.
The formalities are 50 km down the road in the small town of
In Nioro I first need to go
to the customs office in order to import the bike. The official immediately asks me whether I would
like to sell him my motorbike. As my answer is no he seems to be a little
disappointed but gives me the entry stamp and wishes me a good journey. The
mandatory visit at the police post runs in approximately the same way, one
police officer sits on the stairs in front of the station and plays the guitar
while some other guy asks me to test one of the policemotorbikes
on the yard. In a dark garden under a sun shade I can also buy my bike
insurance for West Africa this evening.I just have to
wake up the insurance broker and explain him on the basis of ‘his’
documents how much ‘I’ have to pay!
Now the moment has come, where I notice that I have
changed as well. All these things no longer seem strange to me, they are simply
part of it. Now I have really arrived in
Today the journey starts at
The first section of the road begins directly behind Nioro. At the moment they are building a new tarmac road
next to the piste and due to the heavy building
vehicles some sections exhibit deep sandy ruts.
With my heavily loaded BMW the road can be done quite
easily, most of the parts I do in 3rd or 4th gear.
With rains certainly, that would be a different story.
Before we reach
Small fires burn beside the road and I drive through a
wall of dust and smoke. On the roads are pedestrians, unlighted vehicles and
all kinds of animals. I use the horn, flash the light and operate both turn
signals to make people notice me. The ride is a constant fight for survival. If there
is something to avoid it is definitely to drive at night in
We reach
Today I have the opportunity to get to know
During the day I go for a taxi ride through the city
and I’m inspired by the atmosphere. Everything seems to live and move with high
speed.
People create something useful out of all things and
make a merry impression on me.
Today I spend a nice day in the lodge. In the morning
I go for a run again and cross the river via the old bridge. An
adventure.
Subsequently, I work on my motorcycle and change the
transmission and engine oil. Much to the interest of the
locals who immediately try to have a crashcourse in
mechanics by watching me.
Since most of the people here are technically
talented, I have soon trained them for various helping tasks.
Today I drive to the largest supermarket of the city.
I automatically go to the fruits and pack three apples
into a plastic bag.
I look for the code number of the goods and as I enter
it I don’t trust my eyes. The price is 6500 CFA. That would be nearly 10 Euros
for three apples!
Of course I don’t buy them and as I check some of the
other prices I can only shake my head, Their offer can generally be compared
with us, some of the prices however are up to 3! times
more expensive.
In one of the poorest countries of
the world. By the way, the cheapest mineral water costs
300 CFA. Nearly 50 Eurocents is definitely a lot if one considers that children
and pregnant women should actually drink nothing else.
I use the day to see the
Only the museum guards extremely anoy
me, they pursue each guest at every step and keep constantly telling that it is
forbidden to take pictures. Questions to the individual objects can thereby
only be answered with „Oui, Monsieur “.
Of course they fail terribly with me and my
intentions. I just tell one of the guards that I saw a flash behind the next
corner and assume an illegal photographer there.
The righteous man thanks me and immediately runs around the mentioned
corner to catch the perpetraitor, while I can take my
picture “tranquilement”.
Wonderful, like Lara Croft in Tomb Raider!
Today' s
duties make it necessary to go to the embassy of
Generally visas for
I tell them that I need a visa and they asks me to come in.
As I’m obviously the only client I can go to the
counter immediately and everything happens differently than expected.
The lady behind the desk asks for my nationality and
as I say
Today I decide to see the nearby waterfalls.
Since you cannot safely park your motorcycle anywhere,
I decide to take a taxi. In addition this usually represents a low-priced and
relatively safe kind of transport as well as a nice alternative to the
motorbike.
I flag down a driver and we begin to negotiate the
fare. After approximately half an hour the whole taxi stand as well as some
pedestrians and moped drivers are already involved into the discussion.
Some are on my side and naturally believe that the taxi driver is a bandit,
others are against me for they think that the rich tourist shall pay
In
After a further nerve cracking 15 minutes and the
threat from my side to start negotiations with another taxi driver, we finally
agree on the price. 7 Euros for the whole afternoon don’t kill me and for the
driver it’s the business of the week.
So here we go! It must be remarked here that in most
cases the taxi driver has no idea where the destination actually is. Each fare
is taken and the places are normally found sooner or later by questioning
colleagues and other car drivers for the more or less correct way.
With my desired destination this gets particularly
difficult. The waterfalls are outside the city and we must first find the right
exit. We do not really succeed and get lost in one of the suburbs of
After a dozen further questionings as well as giving
transport to allegedly well informed local pedestrians suddenly the car stops.
At a closer examination of the engine and the starter
we find the cause of the problem. The fuel is exhausted.
Not on the correct way yet, but without fuel and gas
station in reachable distance, we are on breakdown!
Actually it does’t need to
be mentioned that the taxi driver has no money for fuel and therefore naturally
asks me it to help him out. After a long discussion about the further procedure
we come to a conclusion. The price remains as negotiated, the taxidriver takes the fuel money off the fare and I watch
his car as he tries to find fuel. Within a few minutes the children of the neighborhood have gathered to watch the stupid Toubab (white man), who parks a taxi in the middle of the
road.
After approximately one hour suddenly my dear friend,
the chauffeur returns.
In his hands he has two bottles of fuel.
After successfully refueling
the vehicle and approximately two hours of break we continue our ride.
By pure intervention of fate and the transport of one,
this time really well-informed pedestrian, we reach the waterfalls around
With the last energy I have I climb the rocks and
enjoy the beautiful nature. I did not know up to now how arduous taxi rides can
be.
The return goes rather calmly. We get lost only once
and the fuel lasts. Briefly said, the journey back is a success.
As I pay the driver, he automatically asks me for a
little gift and to contact him again when I plan the next trip.
Today I am happy to go for a run at the river and
still must think about the cheerful taxi experience from yesterday.
Actually it is exactly these things, which really make
a journey. The more you get in contact with the people, the more interesting
and also funny things happen.
This evening I am invited to the cultural center of
The party is excellent. The music transports a good
atmosphere and after a short time the whole stage area is in motion. The people
dance, applaud and sing.
Covered by the party crowd some guys try to climb over
the fence to avoid the entry fee.
After a short time they get noticed by the police. The
procedure in such a case is a little different from
I watch some more and then go to bed.
Sunday,
17. 12. 2006
In the morning I go for a run and come by the Lybian embassy. The security guards are tired as every
morning, but the men greet me nicely. Today they even have a cup of tee for me
and afterwards we do some push-ups together.
In the afternoon I drive to the city center to draw some money from the ATM.
For any inexplicable reason none of them functions, so
I make my way home.
Today I drive to the Nigerian embassy to pick up my
visa. They are very friendly again and immediately hand me
my passport with the essential documentation .
Valid for 3 months and one month of stay.
Exactly this visa would have cost me 300US Dollars in
I thank them very much and inquire about the current
security situation in the country.
The security in some areas of
My intended transit route should be passable, however
according to informations of the embassy there should
be some problems in the region. Over a distance of 600km I will have to expect
approximately 150 checkpoints and police roadblocks!
If they all want a gift I must either sell my bike or
risk to be arrested as a cigarette smuggler. Let us hope the best!
I have sorted out all important things in
Today I write my christmas
letters and prepare everthing for the departure to
I plan to spend Christmas and New Year in
My climatic window for
Subsequently, I would like to thank all my friends,
acquaintances and people who know me for supporting my project and wish them a
merry Christmas.
I would also like to send two small impressions
home.
One should never forget that. Exactly the same as one
should not forget the people here in
Let us keep
this feeling in our hearts!