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.
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| unpredictable winds make beautiful dust swirls |
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| not much point continuing once visibility deteriorates like this |
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| majestic mountains of dust |
