Welcome to Sub-saharan Africa - Senegal, The Gambia and Mali - Part 3

Today’s post is our third from Mike ‘the Bike’ McLellan, cycling enthusiast and long-time supporter of Yes to Life who is cycling from Italy to West Africa to embark on the adventure of a lifetime and raise lots of money to help us support people with cancer along the way.

The cultural differences between Mauritania and Senegal was probably the most striking of any of the border crossings. Senegal was colourful, noisy and much more in your face than any of the previous African countries.

St Louis is the first city you come to heading South, and was fascinating with its French colonial architecture and vibrant markets. A few kilometres south of St Louis at the popular over-landers destination of the Zebrabar camp site Annie and I met up with Belgium couple Antoine and Elizabeth who now live in the Gambia and were touring northern Senegal on their interestingly designed tandem, so we decided to continue together.

The Desert: Mike 'The Bike' cycles West Africa - Part 2

Today’s post is our second from Mike ‘the Bike’ McLellan, cycling enthusiast and long-time supporter of Yes to Life who is cycling from Italy to West Africa to embark on the adventure of a lifetime and raise lots of money to help us support people with cancer along the way.

The so called gateway to the Westernmost Sahara is Guelmim in Southern Morocco. As we approached it I could see a completely different landscape to anything I have seen before looming before me. Long barren mountains ran South from that city and were present for several days as we rode South-west to Tan Tan,  and then disappeared as we went on to Tarfaya and then to the border with Western Sahara.

Desert cycling is challenging in many ways, but probably mostly psychologically,  in that very little changes. To the mind this can be a big challenge, gone are the usual things that stimulate us; different landscapes, people, places to rest, cafes, shops. But changes there are. Hills appear and disappear,  the colour and texture of the sand changes, at times fine and almost white, at other times yellow or red, sandy or rocky. Sometimes huge dunes appear majestically in the distance and then are gone.