First bit

Hi

This is a blog of my ramblings (verbal and physical) as I travel down from the UK to somewhere in Africa.  

"Where's 'somewhere'?", I hear no-one ask.

Well, I'm not sure.  My first target is Timbuktu - and other places in Mali - and then Burkina Faso and Niger.  If, by then, I still haven't run out of money, marbles or health, then I'm intending on carrying on down south through Cameroon, Gabon, the two Congos, and then somehow down to Cape Town.

I don't intend to fly, at least, not until I decide (or am forced) to come back.  So on Monday 20th October I'll be getting the train to Dover, a ferry to Calais, and then making my way down to Algeciras, on the Spanish side of the Gibraltar straits, by train.  Then ferry across to Morocco, train and bus down south.  I'll need to hitch across the border into Mauritania, and then it'll be 'bush taxis', boats, buses, trains, whatever, on from there.

I'm not sure how long this will take.   I may get fed up with my own company after a few weeks (which is understandable, most people get fed up with my company after a much shorter time) and come back then.  On the other hand I may end up on the road for several months.  Realistically, I reckon I'll be away for anything between one and six months.

By the way, the reason I'm not taking the Landy is that I'd rather not do it alone; being stranded in a broken down bus in the middle of the Sahara is one problem, being stranded by myself in a broken down car is something else entirely.  Obviously, the landy never breaks down, so I really shouldn't worry...

Anyway, enough for now.  The next exciting installment will be about preparation.  

It will be a very short installment indeed.

Joe