Day 1 – Oude Wetering|Tours
September 2nd, 2011
Some sensible people would say that if you want to travel the 5900km odd from Amsterdam to Dakar in Senegal in West Africa – take a plane. Simple, hop on the train to Schiphol and in a few short hours, and hopefully with a pitstop in the KLM/Air France lounge in Paris you’re wheeling over the Atlantic in final descent onto the narrow spit of land that is the most western tip of Africa.
Some sensible people would also say, “Why Dakar”, why not take a nice tour somewhere where there are nice biking roads, tourists etc. And why do it on a bike as old as this one. When this KLR650 rolled off the production line in the spring of 1987, I was pretending to study for my A-levels in school, Belinda Carlisle was topping the charts, the Japanese were about to buy the rest of the world, there was no such thing as islamic terrorism and the twin towers still stood. How the world has indeed changed.
Why Dakar – well, it’s on the coast and is on just about the only route that you can get into sub saharan Africa, across, or rather around, the Sahara without needing a lot of money, equipment, support groups, local fixers and a gaggle of TV cameras to help you get famous! So to those who think being an overlander on this route is “tough”, it’s about the easiest way to get to Sub-saharan Africa. without vast amounts of time and expense being required. Did I mention that the coast road is generally rather less hot that the interior thanks to the Atlantic.
When you get on a plane there’s always this physical an mental disconnect between where you leave and where you arrive. And it’s particularly stark when you leave a nice European airport and land in Africa. I well remember the 1st time I landed in Nairobi in 1986! Seeing the landscape and people change gradually gives a much better sense of connectedness I think – so I wanted to see this gradual transformation first hand, and I figure it can be accomplished in three and a half weeks as the road is now sealed the whole way and Western Sahara (claimed by Morocco) is largely quiet.
Thanks to some ongoing negotiations on the home front, I’m a day late, but ended up setting off Thursday, Sept 2nd. Bike is fully packed, all essential tools for most eventualities are on-board and the machine itself is about as good as she’s been, probably since 1987! Various modern upgrades etc and all essential parts are updated. Left Oude Wetering and headed down the highway, usual heavy traffic in Rotterdam and off course the obligatory road disaster in Belgium (accident in the Kennedy Tunnel in Antwerp) so it was slow going. However made it across the border to France with beautiful weather under clear skies finally. By the time I hit Paris the bike was running as smoothly as I recall her ever having done, and despite the added weight on the back is performing admirably. The higher geared back sprocket makes for a slightly higher cruising speed and she cruises along nicely at 120kph.
Rocinante ready to hit the road
Pushed on into the evening and it kept getting warmer the further south I got and there was a super sunset over the golden French countryside. Reminded me of a similar evening riding across Wyoming 3 years ago, easy to lay down the miles in these conditions. I finally arrived at Tours last night and a small B&B on the edge of the Loire river beckoned. Checked in and in bed by midnight with 800km down. All in all a good day. Tomorrow it’s across the Pyrenees and down into Spain, want to get as many miles down as possible as I’d like to be applying for that Mauritanian visa in Rabat, Morocco on Monday 🙂
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