19 days and 1 hour after leaving Hyde Park, the Battlestars and their crew have landed safely in Douala. The cars have clocked up 7400 miles each over desert, earth, potholes, gravel and tarmac. We've travelled through 10 countries (including two where right hand drive vehicles are illegal), 7 border crossings, one live minefield and we estimate around 200 police (or variation there of) check points. We've managed to keep a clean sheet with regard to bribery and corruption, yielding not one penny or 'souvenir' to any green-eyed fuzz, nor have we incurred one speeding ticket between us. That we know of. Road kill has been kept to a blissful minimum and not included any mammals, only reptiles and their feathered relatives. Non-organic casualties of our driving have included BSIII, a couple of walls and a police check point barrier/stick - depending on your frame of reference. We've used 7 out of 9 spare tyres although two were prophylactic changes and some of our present spread we couldn't be bothered to change, so we just bashed them back into shape with a hammer. Most of us ran out of clean underwear over a week ago.
During our journey across West Africa, we have crossed 7 borders and have met many immigration officials who have checked our visas, stamped our passports and written out their registers (with the exception of the crossing at Kirawa, from Nigeria into Cameroon where Bruce was recruited to write out the register for the very pleasant official!). However, we have also had to visit the customs officials the "Douane" at each border to show them our Carnets de Passage and to get them stamped. On almost each occasion, Bruce and I have been sitting in a little hut with the Customs man and after we have shown the officials where they need to sign and which part of the Carnet they need to keep, we have usually managed to be on our way within half an hour.
If you speak to anyone about driving through Africa they'll usually finish with a throw away line that of course no one drives in Africa in the wet season. Wet season is roughly June to October. So far, our wet problems have been limited to a bit of mud here and there, a few fordable rivers and some phenomenal thunderstorms. I've got that feeling at the moment though, the one you get when the pressure is building and the clouds are going to burst sooner or later. Other things currently troubling me are the fact that every last one of the overloaded zombie killer mini-coaches veering into our path from the south has got a snorkel, the rivers are getting increasingly swollen with water and there's some very big jungly looking mountains on the horizon, partially obscured by grey clouds. I might dig out my waterproof at the next stop and make sure that spade is handy.
19 days and 1 hour after leaving Hyde Park, the Battlestars and their crew have landed safely in Douala. The cars have clocked up 7400 miles each over desert, earth, potholes, gravel and tarmac. We've travelled through 10 countries (including two where right hand drive vehicles are illegal), 7 border crossings, one live minefield and we estimate around 200 police (or variation there of) check points. We've managed to keep a clean sheet with regard to bribery and corruption, yielding not one penny or 'souvenir' to any green-eyed fuzz, nor have we incurred one speeding ticket between us. That we know of. Road kill has been kept to a blissful minimum and not included any mammals, only reptiles and their feathered relatives. Non-organic casualties of our driving have included BSIII, a couple of walls and a police check point barrier/stick - depending on your frame of reference. We've used 7 out of 9 spare tyres although two were prophylactic changes and some of our present spread we couldn't be bothered to change, so we just bashed them back into shape with a hammer. Most of us ran out of clean underwear over a week ago. 
If you speak to anyone about driving through Africa they'll usually finish with a throw away line that of course no one drives in Africa in the wet season. Wet season is roughly June to October. So far, our wet problems have been limited to a bit of mud here and there, a few fordable rivers and some phenomenal thunderstorms. I've got that feeling at the moment though, the one you get when the pressure is building and the clouds are going to burst sooner or later. Other things currently troubling me are the fact that every last one of the overloaded zombie killer mini-coaches veering into our path from the south has got a snorkel, the rivers are getting increasingly swollen with water and there's some very big jungly looking mountains on the horizon, partially obscured by grey clouds. I might dig out my waterproof at the next stop and make sure that spade is handy.
