Second part of the 4 month old thread on my motorcycle travels

How much do CAR and DRC scare you? Any big worries of shit you might not have faced in Afghanistan?

Have slowly stopped coming to 4chan for various reasons but the old thread kept me coming back, almost daily to check up on your progress for all 4 months. Will look forward to having another year to follow.

>one more year in Africa
God-fucking-speed OP, you magnificent bastard. I will avidly follow your travels.

Godspeed my man!

Also I hope Belgiumanon will do a proper writeup with pics in the meantime

OP, you are one insane man. In a positive sense. Keep posting, and I will keep reading. Best of luck!

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OP here

>>1175418

Not so much to be honest. In my (humble) opinion, the only major danger I did not have previously is the volatility. In Afghanistan, bad as it may have been, everything is done for a reason, in the name of an ideology. In CAR or the DRC, it's a question of current mood, of drugs taken, of hunger or opportunity. You plan less, because there is less logic to reason with. But other than that, it doesn't necessarily terrify me.

>>1175423
>>1175435
>>1175437

Thanks again guys. It's truly a pleasure each time, reading your reactions, comments and questions. I hope to have many more stories to tell you as the road continues.

It is now 1AM, I wake up in 3 1/2 hours to go take the test for my ivoirian driver's licence, which will enable me to drive anything from a motorcycle to an 18-wheeler (legally). At this point I am so drunk the exam will certainly be done with cash instead of answers. But this is Africa!

Also getting (finally) the papers for my new bike tomorrow.

Pic of new bike getting worked on.

>>1175414
well this has the makings of an epic story! congrats OP on not sounding like a total shit cunt. hopefully i'll remember to check for your updates.

stay safe you crazy bastard

>>1175414
Really eye-catching bike. Hope it won't attract unwanted attention. Godspeed OP

>>1175414
My god OP, this is incredible. The best of luck and make sure to keep us posted.

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OP here

>>1175564

Hahaha. Thanks bud, I'll take that as a compliment. Although I'm not sure what a shit cunt would sound like in these circumstances :p

>>1175571

That is one of my fears at the moment, to be honest. I liked the rugged trashiness of the other bike because people looked at it with amusement rather than envy. But we shall see.

>>1175641

Thanks man! Will do, now that I can't rely on co-op to update :p


Pic of a hellish day in way-the-fuck-nowhere, Liberia, after what felt like 3 months of continuous rain. Shit roads, a badass Land Rover Defender stuck in the mud in the middle of the road, (the car with which I did the last road trip, oh the irony), and after having my bike knocked down by a pill-popping high-as-fuck on uppers bike driver.... This is Africa!

Your last thread was truly inspiring. Would love to do something similar on a smaller scale.

How have you been spending your time when waiting for licences, repairs etc.? Just exploring the area and seeing who you meet, or do you have contacts to point you in a direction?

Best of luck for the rest of your time out there, will keep an eye out for this thread.

Geo guy from last thread

Had a talk about CAR with one of the regional managers a few weeks ago (and the big platinum group igneous complex that people want to mine there), consensus is that its too unstable even for exploration. Reason was apparently the UN peacekeepers cant provide much assistance anymore because there is a bunch of anti-UN sentiment and they are pretty much pinned down in their bases by both rebels and protesters. You used to be able to get escorts if you were going through bad areas, but now thats impossible.

Also love the new bike, i actually wanted to get that exact bike for myself back home but they are way overpriced for what they are here, just going to buy a dirt bike instead and put some road tyres and luggage racks on it.

Probs get some dirt tyres if your going through the Congo though, roads can get real muddy even in the dry season.

Hey OP, have you checked out this blog http://www.swedentoafrica.com/? If you're still planning to go through the DRC it might be of use to you.

How much money have you spent since you started this particular voyage? Not counting Kenya.

>>1175414
When are you planning on setting out OP?

>>1175414
>OP has an africa twin


The only bike I'd ever give up my DR650 for

Hey op, watched your trip in last the thread, in morocco now. Making my way slowly down to maurtania, then senegal. Can't wait to get down there!
How hard is it without knowing french?

Ps. Just paint the mc with normal painting, use some ducktape to make it look like it's damaged and make it look a bit trashy

>>1175414
>>1175414
Hey OP, I'm hoping to do something similar to this in my country (Australia) in about a year. My Dad has done similar stuff here too, but when I asked him (old rich white guy) about what kind of bike I should use, he turned full snob, and told me how I needed at least 10 years experience riding bikes and a 6K+ bike to even have a chance.

I was wondering if you could quickly greentext the steps to setting this up. Mostly:
>Is there a certain type of bike or minimum specs you need to look for?
>What level of vehicle maintenance do you need to have to survive this trip?
>How do you find it?
>Any advice for somebody planning something similar?


I'm doing it in my home country, and have a year to prepare, so I'm doing it on easy mode, but I'll be starting from scratch skills wise, and trying to keep it as cheap as possible.

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>>1177673
>Australia
Sandy roads might be a problem, but other than that, my bike coast me €900 and it saw me through extremely rough roads without problems. Also, I had almost zero experience. If you stick to main roads, you can probably pull it off on a cheap but reliable bike without having much experience. If you plan to hit little travelled back roads, a cheap reliable bike will probably still see you through, but I'd recommend learning how to negotiate sandy roads first, and learning some basic bike mechanics.

In West Africa, which is densely populated, there's often people nearby who will help you out. I don't need to tell you that in bumfuck nowhere, Australia, while uninhabited places with distances being a lot longer, breaking down without help in sight can be more problematic.

Anyway, that aside, I've started going through my pictures and what scant footage I have, and here's a little movie for you from our trip, /trv/! Pic unrelated to vid, it's in Elmina, Ghana, taken from the old Dutch slave fort.

>https://youtu.be/_iwHObh3Rw0

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>>1175858
>Thanks man! Will do, now that I can't rely on co-op to update :p
Sad but true, but I still have plenty of pics to keep the thread bumped with interesting stuff! Speaking of which, here's that pic of you being a true colonial overlord.

For those who weren't there, this was during the few days where any vehicle OP used broke down. Like, seriously. His bike broke down. He took a moto taxi. It broke down. Got it fixed. Then it broke down again. His bike was supposedly fixed. It wasn't - it had a top speed of 7kph. We loaded up his bike on a truck to get it to the Ivory Coast border. The ball bearing broke. We loaded up the bike to get it from the Ivory Coast border to the closest city. The tire fucking exploded. Quite unreal.

>>1177709
>that dude wearing stans

Fucking baller

>>1177704
That's mental, how did he even get the bike moving in the first place out of interest?

>>1177709
I didn't expect OP to be a manlet.

truly inspiring thread(s) lads. I'll go as far to say as your thread was the best I've seen on 4chan and it was an absolute pleasure to read.

>>1177709
Do you have any plans to go back?

Also were there any photos of you in the last thread? Feels like I've seen dozens of OP but none of you.

>>1177804
>>>/fit/

>>1177709
I don't know much about Africa so this question will sound completely idiotic to you, but what is the food and water security situation like? Obviously a general question so answer by country if you need to but obviously in the West there is an impression that Africans struggle with food scarcity and many go hungry. How much of a problem really is it?

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>>1177741
Very much like in the vid - put his foot against the luggage rack and start driving. Starting was definitely the hardest part though.

>>1177973
I intend to go back some day, but as to when - I have no clue. There were one or two pics of me in the last thread. OP didn't take quite as many pictures as me because, while he has a better camera, he doesn't have a bag for it. Digging it out every time would've been quite a pain in the ass, so it went unused.

>>1177974
If people struggle with food in West Africa - which does happen - it's because they can't afford it - or maybe a bad harvest in remote villages. True shortages are, I'd say, rare and circumstantial, even if the variation may not be very spectacular.

Pic is summit view from Mt. Tonkoui, Man, Ivory Coast. Walked from the village to the top. Steep but nice hike.

>>1178007
I can smell the clean air from here that looks sick.

>>1175414
You were the guy that drove from Europe to Afghanistan for shits and giggles???

This is almost a surreal experience, as I have found so much inspiration in reading your previous thread.
I will have to read all about your new adventure when I wake up.
As I said, you're a huge inspiration to me, so I may pass a few questions as well.

>>1177673
>need at least 10 years experience riding bikes
Nope, I rode around backwater NSW and VIC for 1800 kilometers on a bicycle with 50 pounds of luggage. No motor needed.
I recommend any bike with good fuel economy and safe handling. Not OP here.

Bumpety bump

how much do you need to know about bike repair to do shit like this? i've been riding for about 3-4 years, but outside of basic shit like changing the oil i don't really know much about maintenance or repair. a long term motorcycle trip seems cool as fuck though

>>1179586
Try actually reading the thread lad >>1177704

Bump. Any new updates/pics?

>>1175414
Have you set off yet OP?

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>>1180195
>>1180551
Still keeping in touch with OP, but he's still enjoying the good life in Ivory Coast while the new bike is being equipped.

Pic is the village harbour of Akwidaa, Ghana.

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>>1175414
wow didn;t know this cool thread exist, You're having a blast of your life, good luck on your journey OP, and try to be safe.

>>1181489
nice. does OP have any pictures to share?

>>1181489
>>1175414
question for you guys, seeing as you've already travelled a large part of Africa.

Is tehre some city (not a village) close to the sea which regardless of being somewhat fucked-up would be enjoyable to live quitly in for a year or so?

I understand that "live quietly" is kinda opposite of what you are /have been doing, but still I reckon you'd be able to give some opinion.

cheers

>>1181805
Dakar is pretty good and chill, but isn't as cheap as you might think. There are surf beaches, good bars and seaside restaurants. It's better to speak French, but there are a lot of non-Fr speaking foreigners there who live quite well.

I heard good thing about Cape Coast in Ghana. It is much smaller and can hardly be called a city, but it's nice too and English speaking. Accra is too big and gridlocked all the time, it is definitely not "quiet".

Lamu in Kenya was known to be chill. I'm not sure how it is now since the terro attacks in the country.

There is Calabar in Nigeria which might fit what you're looking for. Check it out.

Cape Verde is very cool, portuguese speaking, creole culture, very welcoming people. A bit touristy perhaps, and well, you're stuck on an island.
Sao Tome is somewhat similar, except it is a lot poorer and a lot less creole.

Remember though that African countries are often not very cheap if you want to live with decent comfort. Public transportation is not good, sometimes non existent. If you want to do a few things, you'll have to splurge on this such as a car or at least a motorbike. As you saw in OP's last thread, bikes are not cheap either.


Otherwise, there is always South Africa, but it's an different world entirely.

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>>1181805
>>1181883
Dakar is quite dry and dusty - and often smelly too. Still, there's some nice and calm quarters.

Cape Coast in Ghana is probably one of the more suitable candidates I've visited. Another decent choice might be Grand Bassam in Ivory Coast. Quiet and close enough to Abidjan to get whatever you want without too much hassle. Can't say I've come across other suitable places that fit the description, except maybe Freetown.

Public transport, however, is surprisingly functional, unless you want to get to the middle of nowhere - in which case it's often still possible to cover most of the distance by public transport and arrange private transport for the last stretch.

Pic is Cascade de Man, Ivory Coast.

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>>1181489
What are the car prices down in that area?
I'm planning on buying a Mercedes from Germany, and then driving it Cote Ivoire/Ghana/Burkina Faso,
just like Jeroen van Bergeijk did in his book My Mercedes is Not for Sale.

Still would like some general prices to know if it's still possible.
I can get a C240 from 2002 that has driven less than 100.000 km for a little below 3000€.
I can also get some E-classes from the 80s (which is probably a bit easier to get parts for down there) for less than 1000€.

I seriously leaning towards a newer version of car, as I would still like some comfort ability, but I'm afraid I will not be able to find spare parts, should this be needed.

Any information on any cars in the area you guys are in are very appreciated.

>>1181489
>>1182991
>>OP

Also, what type of fuel is most common? I don't wanna pick a diesel engine, if the place I'm going to is all gasoline..

>>1183475
Go for gasoline, it's way more common.

Don't go for the 80s cars, as many African countries have set age restrictions on foreign cars. Governments were a little bit fed up to see their countries used as Europe and US dumping ground for shitty cars, I suppose.
Yes, most cars there are European and American second-hand, so that shouldn't be too difficult de sell your 2002 C240.

Pre-customs, you should be able to sell it for 3000-3500€, maybe more.

If you want to easily find parts, go for a Toyota Corolla. That's the quintessential West African car, it's everywhere. For simili-SUV, Honda-CRV and Toyota Rav4 are very common as well.

b u m p

>>1178007
Coincidentally I was just looking at the area around Man yesterday with Google earth and thinking "fuck, that looks cool"
Now I see this photo, and fuck, that looks cool.

bumpity bump

Nice to see a new thread, I haven't been on /trv/ for a while. Great to see you're still at it. Your travels are truly inspirational. I hope to one day go on an adventure as epic as yours OP!

>>1184437
It was fucking cool indeed. Best view of the trip.

is the previous thread archived somewhere?

>>1186398
Yup!
http://archive.4plebs.org/trv/thread/1132461/

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Keep us posted, OP.

All I managed to do was rent a meme ATV and go 1 hour into Sahara with a guide.

>>1186398
http://archive.4plebs.org/trv/thread/1132461/#1132461

>>1186399
thank senpai

Q for OP (or anyone else really since ive never been to africa): how obvious and customary/open is the corruption there? I member going to thailand i believe it was and people would conveniently "hide" some dollars in their passport to speed up the customs process. But the whole this was pretty secluded and nonobvious to the unknown. I always imagined it'd be more open and less frowned upon in africa? Can you shed some light on how this works in africa? is it like so integrated in the culture that you can actually negotiate the price to bride someone?

>>1186430
Not OP, but I can confirm the money in passport thing. Did it myself a couple of years ago in southern Africa (South Africa or Simbabwe, IIRC) to speed up the process. Worked just fine! There was no negotiation though, just a few dollars worth of bank notes. Some dude I met along the road told me to do it this way, apparently because of plausible deniability that you just forgot a bit of emergency cash which you keep safe together with your passport. Dunno if this is true, though.

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>>1186430
We never did, but corruption is both rampant and easy to bypass with a bit of patience. Officials will often simply ask for money, but if you've done nothing wrong, you can talk your way past them easily. Sometimes it's just a customary bribe, expected and openly given. Other times it's a discreet handshake to hand the bribe.

As a rule of thumb, if everyone's open about it, there's no need to be discreet. Otherwise, opt for the handshake. Do ask a few locals how much the customary bribe is. However, one should first and foremost try to avoid the bribe in the first place - patience, banter and being slightly stubborn or dumb without getting angry or agitated are the way to go.

>>1186430
And oh yes, the price of the bribe is totally negotiable if you haven't asked locals yet. Haggle.

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OP here

Hey guys! Well, it's been forever since I posted updates... For some reason, my ivoirian 3G sim was banned from 4chan... go figure. I now switched to a 4G card, and everything seems to work....

Anyhow, here goes for a massive answer to all posts!

>>1175898

Well, here in Abidjan I'm relaxing a bit to be quite honest. Slowly getting some nifty tools built on the bike (dual xenon lights to turn night into day, 12v charger, secondary battery in relay, phone holder for gps, new suspension......), but also really enjoying the girls, the beer, the weather.... it's basically December, and every morning I start my day by walking half naked 100 meters to the beach and taking a swim.

No contacts before I make them. Sure, along the way I meet people who have friends further down, but usually it's more of an on the spot thing.

>>1175920

Hey Geo guy. Yeah there is a lot of anti-UN sentiment with the population, but they are still liked on the main Douala-Bangui corridor, as they are the only reason the truckers can supply the capital... Last time the UN fucked off, prices rose for basic goods, causing mass outrage. I'm still a ways off from CAR, so it's definitely still on my route, and we shall see how it goes.

Thanks man! I'm loving it myself. It's an amazing bike. Going for dual purpose trail tires, as I don't want to be lugging two sets and have to change them all the time.

>>1175957

Yeah! I read it a while back actually. Seems like a cool guy. He only did a tiny bit of DRC if i recall correctly, and on the opposite side of the country.

>>1176503

No clue, and I honestly don't want to know :) would scare me too much tbqh.

>>1177061

Not sure. Aiming on being at Nigeria border end of January to meet up with some other overlanders to convoy through Nigeria.

In December before Christmas I'll head up to Mali to see some friends in Bamako for a bit (round trip), then spend the holidays in Abidjan, and then off I go.

Pic of yesterday at the beach...

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OP here, big update part 2

>>1177117

Nice digits bro ;)

Honestly it's the best bike I ever rode... a delight. I'll definitely keep it after this trip.

>>1177655

Not knowing French will make it pretty godawful hard to be honest. Only country I crossed where I didn't speak the language was Bissau, and it made everything so much slower...

You'll get by, but expect more time, more problems, more costs... and a lot of loneliness, as you won't be able to converse with locals. :/

Nah, no worries, not repainting this beauty. It's the best color scheme ever made for the old model africa twin ;) after a few weeks on the road it'll look trashy enough!

>>1177673

Lol... well i have .... 0 years experience overlanding on a motorcycle, and i'm still alive in africa. Sure, i may not be as experienced or prepared as others, but all you really need is common sense and time. You gotta get that experience somehow.

Eeeh. Any bike will be able to do almost any job to be honest. You may not be able to go everywhere you want, you may struggle more, be more uncomfortable, take more time, but in the end it'll get you there. I've seen crazy overlanders doing round the world on shitty old 125 cc's. Just ask yourself what it is you want, and find the bike that fills your criteria.

Lol..... i left with basically zero knowledge of motorcycle maintenance. Live and learn. Shit happens, watch how someone fixes it, do it yourself when it breaks again next time.

Just..... prepare in avance for the "walls": documents, visas, papers, vaccines... anything that is impossible to do on the road and could put a full stop to your trip. Other than that, go with the flow.

Only other hint would be to discuss your plans in depth with another real overlander, not one of the old snobby farts who haven't been on the road in 30 years but still think they know it all. Too many of those, and all they do is tell you why you can't...

Pic of us getting off a boat that carried our bikes across.

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OP here, big update part 3

>>1177804

Fuck off back to /fit/, I don't need to spend my life calculating the calories in my protein shake. To each their own.

>>1177973

Heh. Don't know it it's the best, was just trying to do something a little different than what's usually on here. Thanks though.

>>1177974

Africa changes very quickly. Food, water and security is perfectly fine as long as you're not a complete retard... as long as the country is at peace. From one moment to the next, conflict can erupt in most countries, and everything is so disorganized that any kind of instability might cut the food supply, or render an entire area unsafe. We were fine so far, because generally speaking West Africa is fairly peaceful at the moment.

People mostly eat fine mostly. If you're not picky, food is extremely cheap (think meal at 20 euro cents), and even if you don't have that, the community will provide. The problem is the uncertainty of the future. When all is well, you eat. Tomorrow someone might decide he doesn't like the government anymore, and your village goes hungry...

>>1178256

Yeah that was me. Althoug Afghanistan was just roughly in the middle, crossed it to go up to central Asia and Mongolia.

Wow. Thanks man. Thought these were more entertaining than inspirational, but I do appreciate that. I'm a shitty storyteller IRL, so I prefer writing them down. Feel free to ask away!

>>1179586

Know your bike and what can go wrong on it, basically the best advice. You don't need to be a mechanic to overland... plenty of those around.

>>1181805

Well... if your only criteria is a nice beach village where you're the only white guy, the options are in the high hundreds. Would need some input to narrow it down. English or French country? What do you want to do?

Pic of Kenya, when I went out in the bush.

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>>1182991

Watch out. A lot of countries got wise about people driving down old cars and selling them for profit. You have a lot of regulations and red tape now to prevent it (custom duties for one)..... I'd get as much info on it as i could before.

I met people doing it, but usually they've been doing it for 20+ years already, and have the local contacts to pass through.

You can turn a profit doing it though. Definitely. Not able to give you definite prices though I can tell you there's a market for good european cars.

>>1183475

Both are perfectly fine and easy to find, although if you're running diesel, better to get some spare filters as most diesel down here is crap and made for chinese trucks.

>>1186430

Corruption is rampant and omnipresent. End of story. People don't see it as such though. Corruption down here means "embezzlement". The small bribes you give to get your shit done easily are viewed as just small gifts you offer someone rendering you a service.

Of course you can negotiate the price to bribe someone.

Basically it all depends on the situation. Do you need to bribe to get out of trouble? Because you need to speed up something? Because you need to get something to which you're not entitled?

Basically just straight up offer.

Need my residency permit done to not get another visa, but haven't been here for three months (minimum required), negotiate small price to pay with some officer from internal secuity service to fudge my entry day into the country.

Need a real driver's licence, but fuck taking the exam? Small bribe to some dude who owns driving schools. Got it done.

If people are giving you shit for no reason than wanting money though, stand your ground. I hear horror stories of overlanders unable to confront officials who slowly lose hundreds, even thousands of euros by slowly giving in to each demand.

Pic of my first ever real driver's licence. ABCDE. I can drive anything from tricycles to 18wheelers legally now.

Let's meet up. I'm in Dar Es Salaam for two months. Will start riding around the region myself late Jan

OP here

>>1187209

Sure thing. Where are you planning on going?

>>1187209
What bike you getting?

>>1186827
OP is a total qtπ :3

bamp

OP here, small update:

>>1187419

Why thank you ^^

So in about 5-7 days I will be leaving for Mali, doing a round trip for roughly 10 days. Abidjan to Bamako and back, going through different routes.

Two reasons, first to visit friends in Bamako, and also to test drive the bike before leaving Ivory Coast for good.

>>1188799
You're living my dream, have fun and be careful! Godspeed OP!

Bump to save

Don't mind me, just bumping the thread.

OP u there?

>>1191771

I am, yeah :)

Just got my Mali visa today, bike should be done this week. Planning on leaving this weekend, and be back in Abidjan for Christmas.

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>>1191777

Forgot pic.....

>>1191779
I'm a fellow traveller, currently in SE Asia, but one day I'm gonna travel in Africa too. So just wanted to ask for advice, how best to do things and stuff like that?

>>1177709
nice pants. are those the tactical 511?

>>1191979
Read the old archives thread, there's a lot of info there

How's the money situation for you, OP? Are you working, have any passive income like a rental, or are you living off your savings?

Going anywhere outside of tourist parts in SA and along the Med in Africa seems like something only non white people could do.

>>1192450
Well OP is white, or so he claims

>>1181489
Why are those people so tiny

>>1192046
How do I do that? I never used archive and I can't seem to enter any thread.

>>1192558
Op is definitely non-white looking person, perhaps some Algerian heritage? It is very good for Africa, it prevents most of the "there is a white man, lets scam him" situations.

OP: Your AT fuel pump will quit at some time. Have some fine grain sandpaper with you, you just have to sand the electric "heads" inside the pump once you have removed and opened it. Should it happen that you don't have anything at all to clean it, you can bypass the pump and drive half tanks with gravity fed fuel.

I learned these lessons in Mongolia 2010, when our groups only AT broke down. Luckily we met some Poles driving their ATs and got this tip from them. My V-Stronk didn't suffer any issues.

>>1191779
funny how the Mali visa is all in French without any local languages anywhere around

>>1191779
also.
>Un people. Un but. Une foi

I wonder what that goal (but) is. Like, is it supposed to be obvious? And the faith - which one? Those fuckers never stopped sucking the metropolian rod I suppose

>>1193517
>And the faith - which one?
Islam

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>>1193487
OP only looks non-white. Many locals did mistake him for a Maghreb denizen - didn't change the bribe or scam attempts one bit though.

Pic is school building in Gbarnga that was incinerated by rebels during the Liberian civil war.

>>1194164
hey op, I'm in Gambia now with a tuk tuk and some madrasses. me and a friend cheer it.
how fast do you travel?

Merry Christmas OP, you back in Abidjan yet?

Bamp

>>1175414
Im black so I gotta bump this.

OP confirmed kidnapped in Mali

no update for more than three weeks... OP, I hope you are okay.

Hope OP is doing alright, loved reading this so far. Be safe /trv/eler

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>>1198340
>>1199623
>>1199779
May OP forever rest in peace

RIP OP.

Sheesh, it is Africa. OP is probably just stuck in the mud. /trv/ is a super slow board, especially when in Africa. This thread was started back in October.

if singles op is alive and well
if digits he was kidnapped by a tribe of hot chicks who think he is god
also bump

Calm your tits everyone, OP is fine, spoke to him yesterday. He should be on the road soon, as his bike's almost done. Unfortunately, Ivory Coast is also experiencing a bit of a rebellion as we speak, so things are uncertain. I'll let him post the rest.

>>1202892
Weres the proofs

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>>1202892

>>1202892
Did he make it to Mali?

>>1203101
Yes. Also, Ivory Coast rebellion calmed down due to what is basically mass scale bribing.

>>1203557
Is there any way we can help OP with a gofundme or something?

>>1181883
How much to live in Dakar for a month with a cost-effective but still nice airbnb rental?

Absolutely fucking badass.

[spoiler]Ok.[/spoiler]

>>1204712
What? How does the **spoiler** work?

Bump here.

Op messaged me. Been having some issues, he'll make a longass big update before the weekend.

>>1204999
Looking forward to that

>>1204999
Checked, kek wills it

>>1203686
What do you mean?

I remember you OP, damn good threads.

OP probably went back to Gambia and is living now the Warlord live

>>1204999
is op kill?

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Waiting for OP

OP here with big new year's update... finally.


Yeah, so sorry guys. The last month or so has been kind of hellish on this end, with:
- Malaria (twice)
- Typhus (hidden by the Malaria at first, so undetected)
- Massive social unrest here in the IC that is verging on all out civil war at the moment.

But here I am again :)

Let me start off by answering all the old posts before continuing my story.


>>1191979

Well, that depends on what you mean by "things and stuff like that". To be honest it all depends on how you want to travel. For just general overlanding, you have countless blogs all over, as usually overlanders tend to be very proud of what they're doing and can't shut up about it. If you want to go a bit outside the beaten path and do some seriously stupid things, then you're a bit on your own. But if you have specific questions, feel freee to ask.

>>1192002

Yes they are. Lol, never thought I'd answer fashion questions. A store near me in France had a sale on old versions of 5.11 wear.

>>1192415

Not good at all, but I'll get back to that in a later post... No passive income at the moment, but desperately trying to find some at this stage.

>>1192450

It's really not. As I say often, you need two things. Understanding of your surroundings, and confidence in what you do. A lot of your interactions in Africa will be purely based on the image people perceive of you. Send off the rich white lost tourist that can't say no vibe, and you will end up somewhere in your underwear. Otherwise you're fine.

>>1192558

I am white. Ethnicity is 50% true french (generations and generations), 25% british canadian, 25% Hungarian.

I do look very tan, when there is sun, and I do grow out a beard eeasily, so there is that. People always take me for an Iraniuan, Turk, Lebanese...

>>1205952
>kind of hellish
Hope you are recuperating well anon. Thanks for your posts.

>>1193487

No Algerian heritage ;)

Definitelyh some scam situations, but once you know how to recognize them it's fine. Humor and confidence aree your best weapons here. Be firm, and humorous, and everyone will be your friend.

About the fuel pump... Yeah that was one of the first spare parts I grabbed up. I have a brand new spare fuel pump with me in case of trouble, and sandpaper.

Nice! It's rare to read a story where the AT is the mechanical failure.

Also carrying clutch disks, and a few other odds and ends as spare parts.

Thanks!

>>1193516

French is official language in most Western African countries, as each ethnic group will have their own language that noone else understands. French (and English in ex British colonies) are the unifying and official languages.

>>1193517

The Goal is the same as all western African nations... The fabled Graal of "Emergence". Literally the same in English. The idea by which corrupt politicians here do whatever the hell they want under the guise of bringing the country out of the developping stage. Really meaningless, but spouted at every occasion.

Faith, Mali is mostly muslim. Conservative in the North, hence Al Quaeda presence and civil war, and the French military operation. More liberal in the south.

>>1195172

Slowly at the moment. I'm half stuck in Ivory Coast due to uncertain security situation, financial troubles and waiting on spare parts shhipment.

>>1195574

Thanks! You too! And yes I am.

>>1198340

No such luck ;)

>>1202037

Check'd

>>1203101

I did, going back soon.

>>1203557

Sparked way the fuck back up. Daily shootings all over and mutinies.

>>1203686

Lol. Will go back to that later.

>>1204671

It all depends on your style of living. Airbbnb will be more expensive than finding local things, since internet=rich tourists though.

If you want to stay a full month, don't go the airbnb or hotel route, just rent a place. You'll cut down massively on expenses.

>>1204683

Thanks :p

Op here still.

Okay now that I have answered most posts, here goes with the storytelling.

So yeah, I had to do a brief hospital tour (public hospital horror in IC) due to a Malaria that I didn't cure in time, injections daily and so with high fever. Couple weeks later got it again, probably due to the original one not getting cured well enough.

In the meantimee I developped Typhus as well. It was hidden by the malariia at first, so went for a month or so before getting treated. Developped from typhoid fever to fully blown Typhus. Bad shit, no pun intended ;)

Now my health is fine, but the country is descending into massive social unrest. All government workers have been on strike for a month now, the government is not giving in. Daily protests, students are marching. (Here in IC, uni students have been the shock troops of the civil wars in the capital in the past). Places getting forcibly closed, schools shut down, etc.

At the same time, mutinies among the ex rebel part of the army (a bunch of illiterate savage northern mercenaries paid to fight to oust the last president) started happening, wanting a ton of money. The government paid quickly, fearing an escalation of tensions, but that caused even more problems. All the rest of the military now want their money too... It's a shithole.

Major French companies are pulling out their expats and closing down offices temporarily, and thee French and US embassies have called out for extra vigilance, and warned people that they could take refuge in the embassy compounds should shit hit the fan in the coming days...

So at the moment, we will see what happens.

Op here still.

So after that little update with the situation in IC, here's the update on the bike.

The bike itself is almost done. When it is, I';ll do a compleete runthrough of all the upgrades, changes, and replacemeents that I had done. For now, here is what's left to do:

- Find two new good quality maintenance free batteries (I have a double battery setup to prevent any problems)

- Finding an air filter to use as backup (impossible to find apparently)

- Replacing the entire cycle part of the bike with extra reinforced chain and sprockets to prevent horrible failures.

- Finding a decent center stand adaptable to an Africa Twin to place

- Finding proper new tires (mixed)

- General antirust paint, cleaning out the gas tank of rust, general upkeep

Other than that, I finished the pannier mount, all the additional stuff on the bike.

BUT

We just realized a huge problem. The VIN nuumber that's on the metal of the chassis, doesn't match the VIN on the little Honda panel, or the one used on the papers. Basically I have to spend about 800 more euros to import the bike into IC (it's a ghana registration atm), and redo all papers and licence plates in Ivory Coast, and have a new VIN placed on the bike...

Otherwise Interpol will fuck me over at the first check.

I'll send pics soon, in the beginning of the week. My iphone had kind of a melttdown, and I haven't been able to replace it yet (moneey, still), so can't do pics for now. Trying to find an old seecond hand one, hoping to find it in the early week.

Nice to see you are still alive !
You got lucky to not have paludism earlier in the rainy season i guess

I'd like to second >>1203686 , i can probably spare a few euros for a fellow french

Thanks for updating us OP, was getting a bit worried about you. How was Mali? Do you have any pictures?

>>1205952

Have you me any visibly white travelers?

I wonder how I would fare as a blond haired, blue eyed Slav who can speak passable French.

>>1205974
Op, Honda VIN panel is an aluminium plate attached with two pop rivets. Forgery how-to:

1. Drill the pop rivets and remove the VIN panel
2. Photocopy it, clean it a little, then print it on adhesive film, laminate, whatever
3. Cut a piece of thin aluminium (beer can is a little bit too thin), attach the VIN photocopy film on that, it will look real
4. Get a metal stamping kit. Stamp the *correct* VIN number on the aluminium piece you cut, practice first and make copies of it.
5. Get a pop rivet gun and rivets, reattach the plate, make it dirty matching the other parts of bike
6. For the chassis VIN, use the same method, but cut a larger piece of aluminium and bend/glue it on top of the original chassis VIN so that it covers a larger region. Re-stamp the matching number and you are good to go.

All this will take only few hours and cost definitely less than $800. Non-bike wise border guards will not discover this unless there is some specialist there. Should that happen, I don't think it would be nothing that a small bribe wouldn't fix.

>>1206615
>photocopy
>printing on adhesive
>metal stamping kit
>in the ivory coast
neat idea but that's like telling someone on the ISS who craves for a snicker's bar to go to a gas station

>>1206683
OP's near Abidjan. If it weren't for the rebellion - I don't quite know how profoundly it affects life compared to when I was there with him - you'd find all the required items without too much trouble.

>>1206683
>Abidjan is toolless and professionless village

Google is your friend. It is a city of two million people and it has all tools and services needed. Africa is not a space station, you can get your snickers bar and other things there.

>>1206912
>meant five million people. oh well.

bämp

Much love OP, also willing to chuck 10 bucks your way, though I can't imagine that'd make a huge difference.

Bumpsave

Glad to see you're doing alright OP. Do you have any pictures from Mali? I would definitely send a few euros if you needed it.

Bump

Good luck OP, post moar pics.

>>1175414
What's up, OP?

Missed your other thread. Congrats bro, looks and sounds like a phenomenal trip.

What is your budget for a trip like this?

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>>1213341
Not OP, but I'm the other dude from the first thread. Spent about €4000-5000 during the three months I was in Africa, I'd say. This includes a motorbike - paid about €900 for mine.

Nice thread OP

mmm nah i dont believe the bullshit story
also
>casually mentioning how 3 months of your entire trip was a hell hole
i doubt your trip was much longer than 3 months you just were a boring faggot who did nothing the entire trip

also
>buying a cheap vehicle and expecting it to last
>especially a motorcycle

nah, youre full of shit

>>1213590
Read the old threads

>>1213590
How fucking new are you? Thanks for alerting everyone to the fact but.

>>1213590
Go back to where you came from, thanks.

>>1213590
(you)

bump

>>1213590

0/10

u alive OP?

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>>1218259
OP was alive and well this weekend. Supposedly - finally - got going again, together with a dude from Argentine who did the exact same route from Mauretania to Ivory Coast so far. Don't know if they headed for Mali or Ghana.

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Hey guys. OP here. Sorry for the slow updates, but as I was stuck in abidjan, there wasn't much to say.... endless days of mechanical work, girls, drinking, and beach escapades.

Anyways i'm on the road again! New bike finished minus a couple of small changes I want to do along the way.

I'm in Bouaké inn northern Ivory Coast, heading west towards Odiénné before entering Mali.

I will give a long update shortly with answers to all the previous messages, but for now.... a well deserved sleep!

>>1218859
Dayumn, you really went all out on the Twin.

>>1218859
Thank god you're alive.

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>>1219282

After 5 months, I better ;) didn't waste time, just wanted to get it right this time.

Made it to Mali yesterday evening!

Internet is expensive/really sucks here, so will wait for some wifi before answering the long posts.

Currently in Sikasso. Will head north to Mopti if the situation seems secure enough before going to Bamako.

Will update as I travel :) much more frequently now that i'm on the road.

>>1219823
What's the plan? One country at a time or just wandering around?

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>>1220509

Just one country at a time, visitin. All of it. We went through Djenné to visit the famous great mosque, then headed north to Mopti, the Venice of Mali... Absolutely beautiful up here and not a single tourist...

>>1220829
Goddammit, too bad I missed out on that - really wanted to see Mali. But hey, I'm in Siberia now. If I hadn't planned this trip, I might've come back for a month or so.

>>12x20829
Anon from Venice, Italy here: why is it called the Venice of Mali? Does it have canals?

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>>1220832
Yes, it's a main delta of the huge Niger river, it spreads everywhere here, both naturally and for irrigation. It's dey season now so the water level is less high, but still breathtaking.

To my belgian friend: my whatsapp is out of commission for some reason on my malian SIM.... i'll get it checked out when I'm in Bamako! How's Siberia?

Very cool OP, I am jealous as fuck.

Do you have a gofundme or something like that? I'm not gonna make you rich or nything, but at least I'd like to buy you a beer.

Safe travels!

>>1220842
Thanks for updating OP, great to see that you're back on the road again. Are you planning to go to Timbuktu?

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>>1220854

No, I do not... but it's been mentioned several times in this thread. It might be cool, definitely helpful, but I really don't want to become THAT person you always see spamming travel forums with their website or donation crap.

I chose to do it here especially for the anonymity and so people who would read it would just be the ones who care.

I don't really know yet. I may. I need to think about it :P don't know much about the system.

I'll make a decision when I reply to all the old waiting messages.

>>1220993

Unfortunately not..... Mopti and Dogon country are already way inside the danger zone of jihadi/rebel activity, so Timbuktu is way out of the question for now. It's doable with a small bag and going by public transport discreetly, but not with two shiny bikes... :/

Tonight we camp on the roof of a luxury hotel for 1 euro, in Bandiagara, heading out early tomorrow for two days of sandy pistes in famed Dogon country....

>>1220842
>How's Siberia?
Obscenely warm. Not even freezing here in Irkutsk (which has a surprising amount of cool architecture). But we intend to hit Lake Baikal tomorrow, where temperatures may drop to -20 this week. Should be cool. Then cuddling with seals and ice skating for ten days, expedition style.

Mali looks rad though.

>>1221227
You should post some pictures belgianon

>>1221228
Can't, I'm using my wonky phone that is wholly incapable of such feats. Also I am in Siberia, so I can't access my computer.

Been reading your stuff for what feels like years now.

Questions: Would you be screwed if you did not know how to speak French?

I have done the digital nomad thing in South Africa before, and that barely worked cause shit bandwidth. Have you stumbled across good internet quality somewhere that surprised you?

Have you thought about collecting all of this info for a book later? I work with book promotion. FYI, I think you could do hundreds of sales.

>>1221018
What would yo say about a Telegram Group/Channel?

Its a pretty light Messager App if you dont know
I think it would be easier to update there than here

>>1222653

http://archive.4plebs.org/trv/thread/1132461/#1132461

whats up OP? you in Bamako yet?

Don't you think your bike is drastically overloaded?
Did you really need 2 auxiliary fuel containers for a a bike that already has a 24 litre tank?

>>1224378
im asking because in >>1220829 this picture your rear shock is completely bottomed out.
it will break, and it could break your subframe too.
when on motorcycle, pack as if backpacking/hiking.
they are not designed to carry so much weight.

Hey OP, the question I've been wondering about all this time is how do you stop your bike and equipment from being stolen?

>>1223680
>http://archive.4plebs.org/trv/thread/1132461/#1132461
Yeah, but that is ancient info. I want fresh info, see if there's anything new.

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>>1226307
Still relevant - presumably very little has changed in those few months. Mobile internet was pretty good in
>Senegal
>Ivory Coast
>Ghana
>certain parts of Liberia
>probably Gambia

Didn't use/was shit in
>Sierra Leone
>both Guinees

We didn't use computers, so I have no idea about bandwith. Probably possible without knowing French, but everything's a whole lot easier if you do.

Hey buddy, when you get to Benin, be sure to stop in Grand Popo. There is a dope little beach side hostel bar there called Le Lion Bar. Gildas is the guy running it. He is always rolling up js and playing good music. Enjoy...

ayy op what's up

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Habibi where are you?

captcha: road parts

comon OP you're scaring me

I hope OP did not step on snek

Is OP dead? It wouldn't surprise if some dudes sent after him with that bike and all that swag. Belgian anon can you fill us in on what happened to your friend? Should we like call somebody?

>>1232213
It's not like there's free wifi at every corner in Africa...

>>1232213
As far as I can tell, he's still in Mali, seen that my whatsapp messages aren't coming through. Wouldn't worry too much at this point, he generally doesn't frequent /trv/ too much. Also, he has an emergency beacon in case shit really hits the fan.