Plymouth-Banjul Challenge 2007

© Julie Turner 2006

See our photos!
Photos by Lelos Team
Photos by Team ZiggZagg

See a map of our route

20 January

Hot bath, our own bed. Home sweet home!

18 January

Just been in a procession of forty cars with a police escort all around Banjul. Good fun, lots of noise, Peter on the roof!

16 January

p.m. We are in Banjul!

a.m. Hopefully we will get to Banjul today. We made a bad decision yesterday and had to stay over as the road was too bad in the dark. We are heading to the ferry at Barra.

15 January

We are in our team of three on our way to Banjul. We do not know if we will make it today. It is very warm here, the landscape is now savannah. There are lots of police checks and two more sets of customs to negotiate!

14 January

We are with Ziggzagg and Lelo's team in Saint Louis. Tomorrow we drive to Banjul.

13 January

We are fine - at Zebrabar camp near Saint Louis in Senegal.

10 January

On the road early. May not have a signal for the next couple of days.

09 January

p.m. Peter is teaching Lelo's Team and Ziggzagg to play cricket in the desert! We have bought two mop handles and cut them to make wickets. The bat is a big shovel!

a.m. Rest day in Dakhla today to check the car and fill jerry cans ready for a 6am start tomorrow. Long drive to the border, lengthy process to check out of Morocco and into Mauritania and the desert for real!

08 January

6pm The landscape on the Dakhla peninsula is like the moon!

p.m. We are driving on a tarmac road on sand cliffs next to the ocean. The views are fantastic but we are not getting very far as we keep stopping to look!

a.m. We made it to Laayoune late last night. The town is full of military and the UN today. We are now in the Western Sahara. Today we drive to Dakhla.

07 January

p.m. We are on the road again!

a.m. The transit is being fixed. We hope to drive to Layounne later today.

06 January

We are waiting in Tiznit to see if the transit of Lelo's team can be fixed. They have big problems with the gearbox.

05 January

We have set off hoping to get to Tiznit today. Have arranged to meet team Ziggzagg and Lelo's team en route.

Spectacular scenery through the high Atlas. Crazy drivers here like everywhere in Morocco. Enshallaah rules the road!

04 January

We are having a day playing tourist in Marrakech but not the sanitised version. We are with our team and there are six of us so we feel safe!

03 January

On the road again. Long drive to Marrakech today. Got lost out of Fes. Now on a small road. Somehow missed the motorway - the adventure continues. Lots of animals and people who look like extras in Aladdin walking along the roadside.

02 January

p.m. We can see the Atlas mountains, they are covered with snow!

a.m. On our way to Meknes and Fes, making a detour from the convoy. Bright sunny day. Well tended fields with cactus hedges. Rif mountains are in the distance.

01 January

p.m. We are travelling to Rabat where we will stay tonight. We are in a convoy of four, two English Land Rovers, one German car and one Portuguese transit van!

a.m. We are a bit quiet today after the party on the car park last night! The adventure begins, we are on the ferry to Tangier! Have been given guide books by a lovely couple who have broken down and are returning home.

31 December

On the road again, Tarifa is our destination today. Feeling a bit nervous. Going to meet fellow travellers for the first time. It's a lovely sunny day as we leave, after 36 hours R and R in Carvoeiro!

30 December

Peter drove for twelve hours yesterday. No prizes for guessing where we are today! This is a rest day, tomorrow we drive to Tarifa. The Disco has been a bit of a diva.

29 December

On the road again after a few wrong turns in Bilbao. Made a list on the boat of all the things we have forgotten! Fleeces, Magellan guide books. But don't worry about us being cold or lost! Oh, and I forgot my lipstick! Still, we have now managed to find a fuel station with fuel and we are only in Spain.

27 December

Had an horrendous journey. Our four hour drive took eight hours on the M6 car park! We got on the ferry by the skin of our teeth. Hoping to chill tomorrow. We will - I forgot our fleeces!

Tom at FGT has offered to drive our support vehicle

It was all a long time ago!!