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The (Failed!) Trip to Dakar


Specs

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My mate Titus and I had decided that as we weren't able to do a circumnavigation due to the odd conflict here and there that a trip to Dakar would have to do as a poor substitute. Beer was involved in arriving at this decision.

On the morning of 16th March, in drizzle and 11degC, I set off for Plymouth where I was to meet Titus and his son Omar, who'd decided to come along for some father son bonding, and sharing his father's love of travel.

 Loaded  up ready to leave.

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Sainsbury's Plymouth for breakfast, meet-up and fuel.

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Then on to Millbay for the ferry. It took an eternity to get through checkin as Omar, late to the party, had booked as a foot passenger, whilst Titus and I plus bikes were on another booking. Computer couldn't cope and there must have been about fifty people involved in sorting it out. Then it was the same again at the customs check. Nightmare.

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Then I got mugged in the bar. Just leaving Millbay.The bogs where I used to sleep when I missed the liberty boat back to the ship has long gone. I think it was about £6 for a Murphy's.

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I'd booked a cabin for the night as I knew I'd be knackered but the other two decided to sleep on the deck somewhere. Apparently not very well as they were knackered in the morning.

Waiting to escape at Santander. Loads of bikes on there.

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Then it was on the bikes heading south for Palencia. A bit further than we'd liked to have done, but it was cheap. At one point Titus veered to the left then caught it and carried on pulling over for a coffee break - he'd fallen asleep. Bloody scary. Nice enough through the mountains but not what I'd have liked to have done. Needs must I suppose.

Parked up for the night.

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We wandered off up the road to try and find beer and food and ended up in a small tapas bar. They weren't hungry having devoured about six chickens between them that they'd got in Sainsbury's.

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4 minutes ago, Specs said:

At one point Titus veered to the left then caught it and carried on pulling over for a coffee break - he'd fallen asleep. Bloody scary.

It is really scary, but not when you’re the one falling asleep, if you’re falling asleep it feels nice and cozy … until you wake up.

That Tenere looks like it has a tale or two to tell! Looking forward to the rest of it.

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The next day I realised why I'd heard a few sirens during the night. Hotel was opposite the fire station.

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Then it was south again, on the motorways. 🤨

We stopped for coffee and fuel, and for Titus to look for insects.

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Another bit of motorway to Plasencia where I had read of an aqueduct that was supposed to be worth seeing. By the time that we got there my brain was nicely cooked so after grabbing some photos and slurping water it was back onto the motorway heading for Caceres where we were to camp for the night.

 

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We arrived, with my brain cooked a bit more, at the campsite and before even going to the pitch it was beer time.

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Back on the bikes and up to the pitch. All a bit strange having out own toilet and shower!

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A guy rocked up, barney who was a few pitches down from us. He was in the queue in Millay behind us. Small world. Anyway it was time for more beer and tapas so that was it for the night. A very pleasant evening after all the motorway riding.

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Today it was time to head for Portugal where Titus wanted to show us some stones. It was quite a pleasant ride through villages once we'd left the motorway. We found a campsite at Evora that was ok, it had internet, but the pitches left something to be desired. It was getting hot.

Time for some laundry.

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Then it was time to look for stones. By the time we set off it was bloody baking. Interesting ride ending up along some dirt track. Then it was a hike down a footpath broiling in the sun, where we saw a stone. Great.

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After hiking up a mountain to get back to the bikes I was bushed! More water then another couple of miles to look at more stones. I thought that the mound of earth was for burying people who'd cooked for long enough.

Lots of stones.

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I had a lie down on this one until I realised that I was cooking from it's heat.

 

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A new one for me. Bark taken for cork I assume.

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Then I thought it would be nice to photograph some flowers. I might have been hallucinating in the heat.

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It looks as if the bark has been taken off a lot of these trees.

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I remember this as being more colourful, man!

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This was the highlight of the day. Shade and beer!

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Unfortunately the food left something to be desired. All to be expected in the local football club bar.

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13 minutes ago, boboneleg said:

Nice one Alun, just a little trip to Dakar you say 😮

Well it was for me. The other two are there now. IMG_0638.thumb.png.cd813ddc104b4e7dae9bc5b21b096b56.png

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12 minutes ago, Specs said:

It looks as if the bark has been taken off a lot of these trees.

Those are cork oaks. Their bark is pure cork, like for wine bottles and flooring isolation.

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1 minute ago, XTreme said:

I think @Pedro in particular would be interested!

It's more about the piss poor service by the local stealer. Spent time yesterday complaining to the warranty people, who were sympathetic, and then transferred me to BMW UK complaints who were also onside and would have paid for the bike to be transported elsewhere for inspection. Anyway, it seems that all dealers are currently overwhelmed with work on recalls! 😂 I have a tracker fitted so noticed that the bike had been in the workshop all day today. Maybe the phone calls yesterday helped a bit.

No idea what caused the problem yet, but I reckon a new Honda Transalp might be the solution!

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17 minutes ago, Specs said:

It's more about the piss poor service by the local stealer. Spent time yesterday complaining to the warranty people, who were sympathetic, and then transferred me to BMW UK complaints who were also onside and would have paid for the bike to be transported elsewhere for inspection. Anyway, it seems that all dealers are currently overwhelmed with work on recalls! 😂 I have a tracker fitted so noticed that the bike had been in the workshop all day today. Maybe the phone calls yesterday helped a bit.

No idea what caused the problem yet, but I reckon a new Honda Transalp might be the solution!

You couldn't handle the transmission whine Al :classic_laugh:

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13 minutes ago, Pedro said:

It can't have been that hot! :classic_laugh:

It was in my body! When I used to join ships out in the Tropics it always used to take me about two weeks to acclimatise, and I'm older and more decrepit these days. 😆

 

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1 minute ago, Specs said:

It was in my body! When I used to join ships out in the Tropics it always used to take me about two weeks to acclimatise, and I'm older and more decrepit these days. 😆

 

Heat is harder to take as you get older!

I was coping with it 15 years ago now I really struggle.

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3 minutes ago, XTreme said:

Heat is harder to take as you get older!

I was coping with it 15 years ago now I really struggle.

Have you considered removing your string vest?

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It was decided after a phone call that we would make it to Marbella in a day. It would be across country as well without as many motorways, a plus. The negative was that it was getting hotter! We went to Italia just north of Seville to look at some stuck together stones. I would normally have enjoyed exploring the remains of one of the Romans' largest amphitheatres, but by the time we got there I was running hot, and thought that sheltering under the trees by the entrance was more attractive. Anyway we didn't have a lot of time so Omar and I went for a wander while Titus kept an eye on the bikes.

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Italica Amphitheatre


 

 

 

 

 

 

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Then we joined the gridlock that was Seville. I was fuming at this point as my GPS was offering a route avoiding the city. It was generally all that I dislike about cities, heat and traffic, all to save 20 miles.

We followed some pleasant enough roads towards Ronda and I was looking forward to a coffee or beer in the shade somewhere when I realised that we were heading towards the town centre. Great I thought - beer. Anyway I was wrong. We went down some cobbled goat path that led to a viewpoint of the bridge above the gorge where apparently people were thrown out of the door to their deaths. 

It was all that I could do to grab my hat and water and then shelter under a bush until it was time to move! Had it been cooler I'm sure that it would have been a wonderful place to visit.

Ronda. The track that we came down was to the right out of shot.

 

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I enjoyed the ride down from Ronda to the coast, a tarmac ribbon of bends, bends and more bends. It would have been more fun with less traffic in cooler weather but I still enjoyed it really.

It was beer on arrival and more tapas. It was very good of Carmel to put us up for three nights. Lots of beer consumed!

Local poster that caught my eye.

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In Marbella I was so overcome by the heat and the beer that I failed to take many photos. Also I had a lot on my mind as I was suffering from what I thought was vertigo, and I was increasingly concerned about how I wasn't adapting to the heat. I hadn't realised at the time but there was an unseasonal heat wave going on at the time that didn't exactly ease my suffering. Thoughts about 'letting the team down' and the reality that I could become a liability had to be taken into consideration. Did we all want the same thing out of the journey? All this was going through my mind and despite copious amounts of beer kept me awake at night.

Eventually I decided on giving up on the African adventure with something in mind about trying again maybe, when it wasn't as hot. Decision made I felt better but still have niggling concerns about letting Titus down. Titus and Omar are now in Senegal and are talking about heading back as the political climate isn't great in some of the countries that they'd have to cross if they tried to get further south.

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A stroll between sessions in the pub! The sailing ship was supposedly a replica of the Santa Maria, maybe. We decided on not going aboard as the price was rather steep and the money would be better spent on beer.

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View from Carmel's appartment.

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