Re-re-re-re-RECAP!

Some wise guys once said, "the thing about Dakar is no matter how you get there, in da-car or in da-plane, there are crazy adventures to be had." That statement definitely held true and arriving in Dakar the second time was certainly a strange experience. Did that even happen? Where are we? Who are we? Dan, is that you? You're so beautiful. In order to keep things exciting for you readers we generally refrained from describing most details about where we were and what we were actually up to. So, now that it's all over, we thought it best to provide a brief summary of the countries and their highlights; some of the adventures that were had. Bear with us.

Morocco (and Western Sahara)

A great start to the trip and a good intermediary between Europe and Africa. We got used to traveling again and unfortunately were accompanied by parasites. Crossed into Western Sahara, our first conflict zone, and arranged dodgy transport to Mauritania. Leaving here felt like we were truly entering 'Africa.'

Mauritania

Desert and Moor desert. The words 'ore' and 'train' are thrown around a lot these days but never quite in the same sentence. We married that odd couple in a wonderful rail adventure, bunking down with turbaned Moors, peeing in bottles, and sharing boiled goat and tea in jolting ore cars under the crystal night sky. The first rain of the trip is encountered on our camel trek into the Sahara.

Senegal (1)

Our first taste of the sub-Saharan vibe and also Pete. Tasty. Got any Maggi? Crumbling colonial buildings and frantic markets make their first appearance. Dakar was a surprise in its urbanity and modernity. Remove the street vendors, throw in some traffic lights, take out some hustle, throw in a little bustle, and you've got yourself a First World city.

The Gambia

Beach bums, a recurring local who was basically Flava Flav, and Dan's birthday rounded out the Gambia experience. This tiny sliver of a country had some key lessons for us: don't enter countries with unmarked blue tablets (don't worry Moms, they were just sleeping pills); how to open coconuts with only our bare hands and raw ingenuity; and how to deflect the attention of overly persistent hustlers and beach bums.

Sierra Leone

Getting off the ferry in Freetown was one of the most intimidating experiences of the trip. In daylight and with some common sense, it turned out to be no worse than the downtown eastside of Vancouver and was one of our favourite cities of the trip. The idyllic Banana Islands just outside of the city and the relative safety, lack of hassle, and friendliness of the people were all things we didn't expect to find in such a recently war-torn country.

Liberia

Surfs up! Because of our local connections with driver Kelvin and Morris, a member of the Monrovia SWAT team, our experience here was more personal. Hearing their war stories and having clear examples of the country on pause for so long had a much more immediate impact on us than reading about Charles Taylor and the recent conflict. We hung out with Evan's mom and the Liberia '77 film team and Evan got malaria. It was free. Bonus!

Cote d'Ivoire

CDI was all about avoidance. Dodging the mystical Touaregs that had somehow abandoned desert life for the beach; bypassing diarrhea-inducing rice and sauce in favour of tasty grilled fish; evading the persistent demands for bribes from the hungry rebels; not to mention, circumventing the ridiculous prices of Abidjan. One thing we couldn't avoid was Basilicasaurus in all its biblical awesomeness! This was the country that was actually currently in conflict, something we hadn't really realized until our arrival in West Africa.

Ghana

Oh Ghana, how long did we spend enjoying your cheap beer, luxury T.V.s and beachside resorts? Too long? We think not. We couldn't have timed things better as our stay in the country coincided perfectly with the World Cup and Ghana's entire run to the round of eight. Big elephants, big bus rides and even bigger mommas (Ghana was pretty well off).

Togo

A breezy ten days in Togo brought us more inexplicably lengthy minibus rides, cliffside granary discoveries, and pristine waterfalls. This was the land of the taxi-moto (motorcycle taxis), avocado sandwiches(!), and omelette sandwiches. We watched the World Cup final in the derelicte capital of Lome.

Benin

Why is there a border between Benin and Togo? We couldn't tell you. Crossing the border, absolutely nothing changed. Much to Peter and Evan's delight, the FanIce merchants were permitted free passage, ensuring adequate bagged ice cream consumption. Rasta beach hotel, voodoo culture, and the little tyke-run stilt village of Ganvie. This was the extent of our Easting and the closest we would get to Nigeria. Talking hockey with a Peace Corps volunteer made our bush taxi ride North fly by. We may have made his week as well.

Burkina Faso

With only a month remaining in Africa, Burkina felt like a corner was being rounded. The abundance of sights and fellow tourists came as a surprise in a country that we knew so little about. We had a great night out in the wonderfully-named capital, Ouagadougou. Waterfalls, limestone peaks, and hippos, oh my!

Mali

Another horrible border crossing that we neglected to mention. Slept in the back of our minibus at the border and then somehow drove through the border post without getting stamped in, leading to mega headaches down the road. More ridiculous travel statistics: 36 hours to travel 400km. Great sights though. The world's largest mud-brick mosque at Djenne, Timbuktu, and the culturally and geologically unique string of villages that comprised the Dogon Country. The start of Ramadan marked the end of our nightlife.

Senegal (2)

Having come full circle, Dakar was an old hat. We were gone long enough for new highways to be completed, grocery stores to be entirely renovated, but not long enough for our favourite restaurateur to forget about us. Flying out at 230 in the morning gave us lots of time, in the groggy netherhours, to reflect on all that we'd seen and experienced in a 5-month African adventure that, a year ago, none of us would have envisioned (except for Peter who'd been planning this trip for four years in a different part of the continent; sorry man).

Thanks for listening to our rants and taking our posts with a grain of salt. Sorry if we went too far sometimes but we had a blast writing them and often got a little carried away. We're all looking forward to our eventual returns to Vancouver, sharing pints, elaborating on our stories, and hearing what everyone else has been up to.