Day 70. Faranah to Guekedou. Guinea. Monday 27th Feb.

After a day of maintenance.

It was excellent having a day’s rest from driving yesterday. I greased the driveshafts again and tightened the rear diff plate as oil was weeping past the gasket. Washed, dried and lightly oiled the dirty air filter and stored it for the next change.

This morning we were up and on the road by 9.15am. Pretty good effort. The two motorcyclists Sebastian & Alexandra were first away, followed by us.. Adam stayed back for a bit but we waited for him in Kissidougou., 130k’s down the road.

Policing.

iOverlander records very aggressive policing going through Kissidougou, so we were ready for them. Driving through the town, I stopped to wait for Adam so that he would know he was on the right road. A Policeman saw us stopped and raised his hand blowing his whistle at the same time.and standing in front of us, demanding we not move. As soon as he moved around to the drivers window I drove off. Job done.

Lunch stop.

What a difference a good road makes and today’s road was exceptional, apart from the last 50k’s, to our present camp, 6 k’s south of Guekedou.

Along the way we encountered three disastrously smashed vehicles. The first, a Chinese made dump truck that had approached a corner too fast, over corrected and ended up on his side having spun 360deg. I bet the driver was shaken. While I had the GoPro record the crash site, I didn’t get a photo. The second was a, interestingly, following our experience a couple of days ago, a bus that had turned over..

Lastly a semi trailer that had hit something, head on or someone had hit him? I

Tomorrow we will be close to the border with Ivory Coast (Cote’ D’Ivoire) and soon decision time as to whether we ship or drive to Namibia. Nigerian elections are supposedly over and results will be through soon. How it will affect us, who knows. What we do know is that people are getting through to Camaroon. The question for us then if we can, is what about the wet season that will be on it and others, in little over a month?

Tonight, we are camped in amongst palm trees in a fairly large compound attached to a hotel. Again we are renting two rooms amongst the 5 of us which we will use for toilet and showering, though the shower will consist of a bucket and pourer. The scourge of this camp, are little black flies. Like Sand Flies.

Adam’s sister.

We have just learned that Adam’s sister is a jazz singer of repute. Listening to one of her recordings, she has an amazing voice. Her name is Patricia but records under Patricia Bonner. Check her out on YouTube or Spotify.

Lastly, we have been following the disastrous flooding and damage that NZ is experiencing. Nothing like it in my memory. Our sympathies to those affected. Thankfully, our house in Rotorua has escaped other than minor surface flooding. Thanks Ash for keeping an eye on things for us.:) Oh! and Ash, could you also thank Chis for his suggestion of radiator repair cubes. They work a treat.

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