Well, we have nearly reached our half-way point, this being week 14 as we wend our way down the length of Africa to Cape Town. We are now 15,612km into the trip, which started in the UK.
Owing to poor communications in the places we have passed through during the past couple of weeks, this latest update is a bit late!
Leaving the Ganvie stilt village and Benin behind us, we proceeded to Nigeria, where people grew a bit anxious as they read the scary bits in their Lonely Planet and Rough Guide guidebooks to the country... As the Lonely Planet guide states: One of the highlights of visiting Nigeria is living to tell about it.
We entered Nigeria and found the police and people to be very friendly. Although the officials at every police checkpoint ask, What do you have for me?, they seem to be quite satisfied with the response, TOURISTS. Our aim is to get through BRIBE free...
We headed straight for Abuja to obtain Chad and Sudanese visas, to find that the main highways (so to speak) are not maintained very well, and the back roads are even worse.
From Abuja, we went to Calabar to obtain visas for Cameroon Visa. This took longer than expected, as the consul was away and nobody knew where he was, or when he would be back. So the two trucks split, each trying different National Parks, and both returning with varying degrees of success, as the roads are not really designed for Overland Vehicles.
From Calabar we entered Cameroon, with its beautiful mountains and scenery... And the road conditions... Well, Have a look for yourself. (See photos below)
We have made it down to the coastline of Limbe, where some have gone off to Climb Mount Cameroon - the highest in West Africa - and others are choosing to lie on the beach...
From Limbe we will head northwards to Wasa National Park, and then enter Chad...
Bye for now and speak to you soon - The Oasis Team
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