harmattan

We have timed this trip around work commitments, annual leave availability, discount flights, kids school holidays, and a myriad of other commitments.  Our research regarding the geopolitical environment (both official and unofficial) has been extensive, and we have a sound understanding of the risk's involved in the trip.

You would think that someone, during all this time, might have mentioned the harmattan.

It has just been brought to our attention that we are trying to wander through West Africa right in the middle of harmattan season.  This is a hot, dry wind that blows from the northeast or east in the western Sahara.  It usually carries large amounts of dust, which it transports hundreds of kilometres out over the Atlantic Ocean; often interfering with aircraft operations.

In Australia, we associate dust with hot, dry conditions.   In remote Western Africa, the harmattan dust is associated with extreme cold and humid conditions.  The effect of this is severe clogging of all porous substances: skin, nasal cavities, bike air cleaners, etc.  A coat of heavy dust covers everything when the harmattan rolls over.

In terms of our own planning, the approach will simply be to bag all the electronics, get the tents up and settle in for the duration; then clean filters and other elements thoroughly before continuing.  We do carry spare washable filters and they cope with particles as fine as 4 microns, but I would not like to test the bikes for any duration in those conditions, particularly because it would also be very dangerous and uncomfortable riding.

unpredictable winds make beautiful dust swirls

not much point continuing once visibility deteriorates like this

majestic mountains of dust

ouch

yellow fever          typhoid          cholera          malaria          meningicoccal          rabies          tetanus          hepatitis A          hepatitis B

The list of shots required for travelling in Mauritania is endless.  My arms and arse are littered with puncture wounds and there is a stampede of antibodies charging around my system.

We need to show the yellow international immunisation card at the border, and there is a significant focus on compliance since the Ebola outbreak.  A little bizarre, seeing as an Ebola vaccination is not required on the immunisation card for entry to Mauritania.

newbie trip prep

It has been amusing watching James prepare for this journey, as we try to stuff 20 years of accumulated adventure bike knowledge into him.  To his credit, James has selected one of the giants of the adventure bike world to carry him (Honda Africa Twin), and has devoted an inordinate amount of time towards informing himself about the route and what to expect on the road.

It quickly dawned on James just how far from assistance you are if things go wrong out there.  There are no shops, few lodgings, no cell phone coverage, nothing.  In fact, the only real assistance in the event of an emergency comes from local triage whilst waiting for a response from the Global Rescue Response Centre.

It is certainly not a matter of just throwing a few items of clothing and a credit card into a tank bag and then setting off towards the sunset, although that can also be fun.

James recently posted through some photos of the kit he will need to pack in the panniers and take with him.  By the time this lot is packed in, there is precious little room for anything else such as clothing or food.  We also need to carry 12L of fuel and 12L of water because both are in very scarce supply along this route.

team member comment (james)

As the newest member of the team, there has been a lot of work to do in preparing for the trip. While I have done a lot of riding in my time, I am entering some unknown territory here in terms of riding style, terrain and preparation. So I have broken my preparation down into some phases:

1)    Bike preparation

2)    Gear preparation

3)    Trip preparation

4)    Personal preparation

As Tony has already mentioned, I purchased an older but well known and highly regarded motorbike - the Africa Twin XRV750 RD07a. It's a model which has a history of Paris to Dakar wins in the late 80's and 90's, and it is not uncommon to see them running around with 2-300,000 km on the clock! I bought mine with 100,000 km on the clock and a dodgy output shaft in the UK, and then rode it down to my house in France.

Bike preparation

Once in France, I decided the best way to learn about the bike (and fix the output shaft problem), was to strip it down and rebuild it. Over the next 3 months, the engine was taken out, stripped down to the transmission and rebuilt with new seals, bearings and piston rings. Suspension was stripped and checked, new brake disks and pads put on, wiring checked and sealed, known issues replaced or fixed and so on.  

Once this was all done, I added a few extras - light guards, additional CREE LED lights, RAM mount for GPS Sat Nav and tracker, some charging points, metal dash, bark busters, etc. Tyre selection was next, with tyres selected for primarily road (70%) and a little off road for the first part of the trip. I suspect I will change them for something more off-road in the second leg.

I can now say with confidence that I know every inch of the bike inside and out, so I feel well prepared for any eventualities on that front.

Gear Preparation

After reading Chris Scott's Adventure Rider manual, and getting a lot of advice from my compadres, I knew I had a lot of work to do on this. There is very little space on a motorbike, and only essentials can be taken or the bike gets too heavy to ride and lift when it falls over. This means finding the smallest possible tent, sleeping bag, mattress, pillow, food prep gear and so on possible.

I ended up collecting items from a few of countries, sourcing items from France, UK, US and South Africa. I am fortunate enough to travel a lot in my job, so I could personally go and locate what I wanted in each country.

Each item was carefully selected for its size and weight, and then evenly distributed across the panniers. The top box will be kept as light as possible with only clothing, an overnight bag and some personal electronics in it.

Trip Preparation

20 years ago I owned an old agricultural bike - a Honda 2 stroke 400cc monstrosity that seemed built from iron and virtually indestructible. I used to take it to the RAAF 4x4 training grounds and muck about having some fun. But that's the total extent of my off-road training. And while I now have 25 years of riding under my belt in a huge variety of countries, the majority of them have been on good to fair roads. Time to learn some new techniques!

Riding steep ascents is fairly easy - just point and open the throttle, picking your path upwards. Steep descents are another matter entirely though - you need to sit as far back as you can go, use engine breaking and hover your foot over the rear brake, very carefully picking where your front tyre is going. The rear tyre will wander a bit, and you need to try not to be too bothered by that.

Sand riding is my next area of techniques to learn. The tricky bit is finding somewhere to practice where someone can help dig you out if you get too stuck. Not much good doing it on a beach with a rising tide; it may add an element of motivation to get it right, but explaining why I can't go on the trip because the bike is under 3 feet of water is just a recipe for embarrassment...

Personal Preparation

I've been incredibly fortunate in being able to spend the last 12 months renovating an old house in France, so I am probably fitter than I have been in the last 10-15 years of driving a desk. Not enough though, as I am now back at work and spending a good portion of my day shining a seat again. I have however, been able to build a small gym in my attic. So it's up to the gym 4 times a week, and some fast walking through the local vineyards with my wife and the dog. Probably not nearly enough, but at least something, and the dog seems amused by it all...

Mentally preparing yourself is just as important I think, so I have studied the blogs of others, read widely on adventure travel in Africa (hiking, riding and driving) kept up to date on the HUBB forums and been involved in the route planning as we go. I know it is only 3 weeks, but I admit to feeling a little trepidatious at the unknown, and preparation is the best way to solve that I think.

Whilst in France, I have been slowly learning French, and as much of the first countries we pass through use French for administration purposes. I think I can add some value in the communication process and suspect it may also avail me of some opportunities to have a little fun at the lads expense...