Kapp 2 Cape: Nordkapp to Cape Agulhas starting Oct 2012

2nd February 2013

All too soon (or so it felt) we decided it was time to start moving again. Destination Dakar to sort out the next leg of the adventure.

Palmarin (where we had been staying at Djidjack) is located on a land tongue with the Atlantic on the one side and the Saloum river on the other. This makes it a very nice location for Hotels, Auberges and Campements. On our way out, we stopped in at the very exclusive Lodge des Collines de Niassam. Here, some of the rooms nestle among branches of the large baobab trees and the resort boasts splendid views over the river delta and the mangroves – very romantic. We had a quick wander around before saying farewell to the little village that had been so welcoming to us.

From Palmarin, we meandered our way northwards towards the sprawling capital. Our route took us through Petite Cote – one of the more touristy places in Senegal. Lots of little villages are dotted all the way up the coast – so we stopped in at a few.

Mbodiene Plage was an unexpected gem along the way. Completely hidden from view it reminded me so much of the small seaside towns of my youth in South Africa: little seaside houses facing over the lagoon with a few B&Bs and hotels. Truly magic and highly recommended. We parked the vehicle and wandered along the shores of the little lagoon. We were then invited to enjoy the swimming pool and wifi at an auberge (for the cost of a coke of course!!)

Nianing was a charming little spot to stop for lunch. There were numerous restaurants – which all seemed to attract good crowds, and we found a lovely little shop selling Senegalese fabric. Of course, we couldn’t resist purchasing a piece of material to be made into clothing later. The tourism boom is certainly coming, and the number and variety of accommodation exceeded what the guide book had to tell us.

Saly is the place most geared up towards the European tourist we have seen, complete with European style hotels and lots of restaurants. There were even small supermarkets! It felt rather odd after our quiet camping in Djidjack. All of sudden we no longer felt that we were in Africa, but back on a European coastal resort.

We had decided to stay over at Popenguine on the way up, but it was a bit of a disappointment, to be honest. The campement we wanted to stay at is located in a part of the village bordering on a small nature reserve. Both the nature reserve and campement are run by a local women’s co-operative which generates valuable income for the village. However, it seemed to me that the fact it was a co-operative gave them free rein to raise the price and lower the standard. The local ladies also were rather persistent in selling their wares. All in all, disappointing. We did, however, go to the local “Italian” restaurant where we enjoyed a very good “yassa”.

Getting closer to Dakar, we stopped past Reserve de Bandia. It is a slightly artificial set up: a small park of only 3,500 hectares of naturally restored vegetation with lots of imported wild animals – sadly poaching and “demographic pressures” had reduced the numbers over time. You are virtually guaranteed to see wildlife! However, the cost is fairly pricey (for those on long term travel) and so we opted to sit at the restaurant and drink coffee while watching the birds and the crocodiles in the watering hole. It was still an enjoyable stop.

And then, we reached the Big City … but more about that later.

Kapp2Cape meets London2CapeTown

9th Feb 2013

There aren’t a lot of travellers out there at the moment – so it is always a special treat to meet up with other adventurers.

We first met Dan & Kumi in Rabat in December last year when we were all sorting out visas for Mauritania. I noticed Dan on his bicycle because he had a little South African flag flying – not something we came across before or again. We stopped and had Moroccan tea together before going on our separate ways again.

Despite our different modes of transportation, we all ended up in Dakar at about the same time. It was wonderful to catch up again – and compare our very different experiences of travelling from Rabat to Dakar. These guys are legends – make no mistake. However tough it was for us in a vehicle, it paled in comparison to their cycling through the heat, wind and sands of the Sahara.

Although we weren’t staying in the same hotel, we managed to meet up a few times. One day – before Kumi flew back to the UK – we took the 20min ferry out to Ile de Goree. The Island is a UNESCO World Heritage Site off the coast of Senegal opposite Dakar. It is a symbol for the slave trading during 15th to 19th centuries, and reports seem to differ on the size of the salve trading from there. We opted not to take a guide, so perhaps missed out on the detailed history of the tiny island, but still enjoyed wandering around. It seems frozen in time – no major construction in the last while, but still inhabited. It is hugely touristy, and you can’t move without being hassled by a guide, a lady selling jewellery or an artist peddling his paintings. We wandered up to the top of the lookout hill with its large gun, wandered through the art display near the port and strolled thought the history on display in the old fort (unfortunately all in French). We enjoyed a traditional Senegalese lunch (yassa) before catching the ferry back to Dakar. All in all, an interesting day.

It was so lovely to spend relaxed time just chatting – about Life, the Universe and everything in it! We lazed on the beach (their hotel had a stunning beach) or sat drinking coffee. Other adventurers are always so interesting to chat to – and Viking Explorer and I really enjoyed their perspectives on the world.

But all good things come to an end. Kumi’s adventure was done. She caught a flight and returned to the chilly weather of the UK. Dan has also left now, packing up his bike and flying to Windhoek in Namibia. His adventure is not done yet – he still has a 1,600km stretch to cover from Windhoek to Cape Town before flying back to the UK. As I said – a legend.

We so look forward to meeting up with our new friends again.

(PS – if you want to see about their amazing, inspiring adventure, head over to their blog: london2capetown.net)

Two very important points: 1) Africa changes quickly; 2) It isn’t about what you know, it is who you know…

We were in Tambacounda in Senegal when the French decided to intervene in Mali, and we were at the campsite in Palmarin when the five people were killed in Casamance. It really confirmed our decision to ship our vehicle from Dakar to Cape Town. Here is what we experienced:

Our initial contact with the shippers started Monday 28 Jan. After several broken promises of quotes, and two replies of “no, we cannot help you”, we realised we had to go into Dakar to knock some doors down.

We arrived at our hotel in Dakar, and met Dominic at reception. We decided that it wouldn’t hurt to ask for help, and so we asked if he knew someone in shipping. Turns out a close relative of his regularly ships from Dakar to the UK, and might be able to help. And even better, she was in Dakar at the moment and might be able to stop by the hotel to chat to us.

Malika arrived the next morning (Monday) and announced that she also needed to talk to her shippers, so we could join her if we wanted. We arrived at Delmas Shipping and met Pauline, who Malika has dealt with before. A quick request to Pauline and we had a quote in hand! The quote stated 50 days, but on further enquiry the schedule came down to 19 days (the rest was safety margin…). Pauline then introduced us to Ousseynou who would be our Freight Forwarder for the shipping, and he gave us a quote for his services. Having the shipper and the Freight Forwarder in the same company is definitely a plus! Ousseynou also indicated that we could load the container the following day.

Tuesday we drove down to the offices, armed with our Carnet and Passports. We had to get both stamped by customs, and followed an assistant to customs to have it all sorted. The customs officer was very understanding, and stamped the Carnet with an exit date corresponding with the vessel departure date. After lunch we jumped into the vehicle and followed Ousseynou to the container yard to load. It turned out to be a very long process with lots of waiting. At one stage it looked like we would have to leave the vehicle there over night, but we managed to look sufficiently irritated and we finally loaded after 3.5 hours. Carnet stamped, passport stamped, vehicle loaded, container locked and sealed. Looking good!

Wednesday we went back to the offices to pay, we thought. When we arrived we had to fill in another form, but no payment was taken. We asked, several times, if there was anything else we needed to do. “There is no problem” was the reply, so we left the offices for the day.

Thursday morning I wake up to an email saying they want an inventory for the vehicle. I send a list of 8 bullet points, but this is not enough – they need a detailed list (down to the number of socks and undies…). I suspect this has something to do with customs, but not sure where and how (I guess we’ll find out). Slightly tricky as said vehicle was already sealed in a container, but we did our best. That sent off, we tried to relax the rest of the day.

Friday we decided to go back into the offices to ensure they had everything they needed and to maybe pay. As we sat waiting the big boss came to see us. He said he was concerned that we had been there so many times that week, and wanted to know if everything was OK. We said we were waiting for Ousseynou and he promptly went over and had a chat. When we spoke to Ousseynou again he was noticeably more stressed than ten minutes earlier. We said we only wanted to ensure he had all the information he needed, and after an affirmative answer we left the office for the weekend (we thought). Around lunchtime I received a slightly panicked phone call from Ousseynou asking me to “come to the container depot with the Carnet now now now”. Turns out the customs at the depot needed to see it again (although he had witnessed the loading himself) so that he could make some notes on the back of the Draft Bill of Lading. After that, one of the other Delmas Agents needed the Carnet to go to the Port Authorities to do some more paperwork. Ousseynou looked visibly shaken and stressed, and made several references to his boss calling him repeatedly.

Monday again (following week) and I wake up to an email saying that Ousseynou will contact me as soon as the ship has departed, so that we can come and pay and receive the original Bill of Lading (which we need to get the vehicle out of the container and start the Carnet process in South Africa). Looks like it has all been sorted, and that we can fly out in a few days.

Tuesday rolls around, and we still have not heard from Ousseynou. We call, and he again says he will call us when we can come to pick the paperwork up. We are starting to lose patience, so we decide to go down to the offices to see what’s going on. When we get there Pauline asks if we want to pay, and we say yes. The process of sorting out the Invoice and the original Bill of Lading then starts, and again nothing is straight forward… The original quote was in USD for the shipping and in EUR for the freight forwarding. Turns out I cannot pay in USD and EUR, only in CFA. Do I have CFA? No. So I need to go change. But the banks are closed at 1640, so we have to use a Bureau de Change. The cashiers at the shipping company close at 1630, but fortunately they had stayed open for me to pay. I was not impressed at this time, so it was a good thing I could pay. Payment done, I received the receipt, and could then go to collect the Original Bill of Lading. Finally we were done.

Thursday, and we are at the airport passport check. I go first, and the customs officer asks how I entered the country. I answer by car via Diama Dam, and he then wants to know about the car. Because we were adamant that the car exit should be stamped into African GirlChild’s passport we show him that stamp, and all is good and it is all smiles. Process is now finally completed on the Senegal side, and all three of us have safely and officially exited Senegal.

Here are some of the facts and points to remember:
• Meet up at the offices in person. You will likely not get very far over the phone or via email.
• Try to arrange for a Freight Forwarder (Transiteur) that works for the same company, as this avoids handover problems and issues around area of responsibility.
• Have a detailed inventory ready.
• The container depot will likely not have lashings and tie-downs or padlocks. In Dakar there are hardware stores on every street corner so rope and load straps are not difficult to get.
• This is a very stressful process (at least we found it to be) and will be very frustrating at times.
• The Freight Forwarder will probably not have done this before, so he will not understand the pressure you are putting on him. Only his boss can apply that pressure.
• We had to run around a bit as we wanted to hang on to the Carnet and the Passport. If you are willing to leave the Carnet and the Passport with the Freight Forwarder it may be slightly easier.
• Ensure you get the car stamped into your passport on arrival, and that it is stamped out in your passport on exit. It makes life so much easier.
• Don’t wait for the Freight Forwarder to ring you after the departure of the vessel. Be impatient and go to their offices to pay and to retrieve all paperwork.

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We have put some photos on the blog if you want to know how much space I had left over in the container.

I'm also happy to answer any questions you may have about the finer details of the process.

Cheers,

VE