Trip to Africa Diary - page 1
11th October 2004 Figeac France
This is our first diary entry since leaving home on 26th Sept. With various people to see, spares to pickup etc the 400m to Dover took us 10 days but went very smoothly. Even having our passports translated into Arabic in Peterborough, which we'd expected to be a hassle, took only 15mins. The 5am crossing, 6th Oct, was smooth and so quick we soon found ourselves lost on the outskirts of Calais in the pitch dark and realising we hadn't driven on the right for years, only cycled which is entirely different. Since then we've covered 650m through increasingly beautiful countryside, avoiding major roads, discovering little, old villages and gradually unwinding. It always takes us a while to relax into travelling mode. The weather has done everything, started grey and gloomy with spells of torrential rain and ending the day in a midsummer heatwave. We've even had snow in them there hills.
Motoring wise the merc has been running very well, coping well with the hilly country, albeit somewhat slowly. Gazoil (diesal) prices, like the UK, are on an upward trend, ranging from 92cents to 1eu 15c per ltr. Our 1000m of motoring since leaving home has thrown up a few niggling problems, mostly dealt with on a daily basis. Now, while relaxing with friends near Fideac we have the opportunity to check over a small problem with overheating front brakes, caused by a broken bracket on the rear load equaliser system. Sounds complicated but if we were at home I'm sure Phil would have the job done in no time at all. We are off to the local garage to test out their skills & our French.
24th September 2004.
Our round trip up north of 541 miles gave us the opportunity to visit friends, take in a quilt show, (Penny's should get in the first three at least!) spend a whole day tracing an electrical fault and battle with gale force winds while worrying about our newly stuck-on solar panels. They survived and are working well.We just made it to our family wedding, great hog roast, and a wild ceilidh finished off a grand day, the bride looked stunning. Dispite having to position our washing up bowl under the van to catch the diesel every time we stopped all our modifications worked well and we returned home in a confident mood ready to tackle the fuel tank saga on Mon. 20th. Removing and canabolising the pipe work etc from the old tank took a whole day, another to weld in the pipes and offer up the tank at least three time before we could persuade it to slot into position. Unfortunetly the brickworks was experiencing a run of bad luck with brakedowns so Phil was stretched to the limit, but as always coped manfully. Also the gale force winds had followed us home so it was'nt just Bill who finished up 'Dusty' .With the last major job completed we motored over to Lincoln City for a local paper photocall, on wednesday, and another the following day in Retford, emptied the shelves at our local Asda store, and all Penny has to do now is sort and load it. 'Easy Peasy'. Huh!
10th September 2004.
The best laid plans etc. etc. have a habit of going wrong. Our fuel tank repair
only lasted until we filled up to its fullest capacity and then leaked like
a sieve. With no time left to find/source a new one Brian, of Imp Transport,
once again came to the rescue and found us a fuel tank fabricator called Alan
Wiles. Though "stowed under with work" Alan agreed to have a new one
ready for us to
collect on Monday 20th Sept. That's just six chaotic days from the new final
departure from home. Fingers crossed Phil will be available to help install
it.
At last we have a decision on the solar panels, they arrived yesterday and are now installed and up and running. Should have been the last major job, hopefully the fuel tank saga will end as easily.
Away up north to the wedding Sat 11th and the last trial run before the off. We are packed almost to the gunnels but loads more to load in the last few days. Heaven only knows where it will all go.
30th Aug 2004
!4 days to go! quite a week, Phil took a look at the sheared hinge and said no problem, but we shall have to remove the whole rear door to effect a good repair, so we did , then William our number one son (known as dusty Bill, on account of the brick dust) suggested we chop the rear door in half (see photo) great idea so we did, this has made Penny very happy as it has improved the ventilation 100% to the kitchen area.
While all this was going on I was allowed to get on with removing the fuel tank,awfull job, tanks made in two halves have a habbit of rusting above the half way seam, ours had! Phil came up with the solution, within 48 hours both problems were solved, back door fixed and fuel tank back in position, yours truely connected up the pipe work, after very carefull consideration,because I knew there was a wronge way to do it, so I set of for home, well part way, I'd got it wrong! no fuel ! Not obviose at first so the mobile phone summoned up the the rescue team from the works and eventually my mistake came to light.
Next day dispite the whole works knowing of my pipeworks cock up we got on to fitting the three new 10 ply steel belted tyres,(two rears and the spare wheel) because we may have to do it in Africa I elected to do the job myself, with Phils help and my new set of tyre leavers all went very well, untill we realised our new tyres were larger than the old ones on the front,our campervan looked like a jacked up hot rod from the U.S.A. so we have finished up with five new tyres all of the same size, and to my suprise the handling is ok. and having removed six old tyres and fitted six new ones my time is down to just under 15 minuites!Whilst all this has been going on Penny has been cracking on with loads of paperwork, phone calls and fax messages to all and sundry and finding time to raid the local library for even more books on Africa,and we managed to fit in our last couple of injections and pick up our year long supply of malaria tablets (£130.Ouch!) .
We managed to finish the week of on a low note, as usual we completely forgot it was a bank holiday, and that for some, that means it starts friday! So we lost a couple of days! 'Hell' so what! its only time ,we'll tread water for a couple of days and enjoy a few more 'Olympic Golds'
Aug 2004
Twenty days to go and we have just returned from a three week trial run in the
van that has proved most useful. We set off with a load of odd jobs still to
do, such as re-wiring some of the equipment into our two extra liesure batteries,
just to ease the load away from the van batteries. We had intended to install
our solar panels, but they failed to arrive on time so we still have that to
do.
Testing the roof top tent went well until the weather took on monsoon proportions
that quickly exposed our weakest link. A quick re-think and a dash back home
to collect Penny's sewing machine and the problem was solved, proof that one
has to test, test, and test again!
Penny delt with making and fitting the mosquito netting while I and Caroline,
one of our many helpers in this project, got on with painting palm trees, camels
and pyramids on both sides of the van to help us blend into the African landscape.
We plan to add a little more as we pass through each country through out our
journey.
The die is cast over tyres. We have gone for the Bridgestone steel belted radials
on the rear and will stick with our original choice on the front end to maintain
the good handling we have enjoyed to date. Towards the end of our test period
disaster struck again. Opening the hatch back type rear door the left hand hinge
sheared! Almost a complete disaster as I found myself supporting a heavy door
above my head and f earing that the right hand hinge would not be able to take
the strain. Fortunatly Penny was to hand and rushed to my rescue, this has yet
to be resolved! But there was more to come. Moving the van on the last night
revealed a pool of diesel beneath the fuel tank, a leak! There's only one way
to look at these little problems, rather now than along the way.
So we are back home licking our wounds and grasping the nettle. Over the past
few months we have been trying to convince the owner of an off the road and
rusting away old van, simular to ours, to sell it to us for spare parts. After
months of negotiations we have a deal, but getting it home is another job to
fit in. But its almost complete so should we have any major problems along the
way we shall have spare parts available to be shipped out.
So the major tasks for the coming week are to get down to our son's brickyard
workshop, talk to Phil our mechanic, remove the fuel tank while he looks at
making us a new hinge, and sort out how to tow the old spare parts vehicle the
30 miles back home! Sounds like quite an ordinary week to me!
Finaly whilst away I celebrated my birthday with an impromptu party when a few
of the family turned up unexpectedly. I am not one for parties usualy but things
that just happen are always the best, thats what we find with our type of travelling,
the best things are just round the corner waiting to happen!
Charities.
Yes at last we have decided on a charity, Penny attended an exellent event in
the village a few weeks ago WaterAid a charity that promotes self help in Africa,
in providing the infastructure for villagers to provide themselves with a sustainable
water supply that they manage and are responsible for, not like so many organisations
that pour money in, then walk away!
See WaterAid link how you can support their enlightened approach.
June 2004
Plans are underway and trials have been carried out on the van. Still undecided about whether to make some links with a charity before leaving - Wateraid or the DeafBlind Childrens' Society are possibilities.
Route is decided but this could change depending on the policitical situation, weather etc.
12 months is the planned timescale.