Today's entry will not be scintillating reading and is mainly for my own interest so that when I am older and grayer I will be able to look back and read about what I was doing on New Year's Eve 2016. Here is the preamble:
Paul's enforced delay spent en route in Casablanca has been a bonus for us as we have both been able to catch up on a lot of the things we intended to do in preparation for the trip before leaving home. It had been my plan to clean, tidy and load the Enterprise before we left for the week's balloon event in Egypt on 6th December. However, unforeseen mechanical problems and incorrect deliveries of parts meant that Chris was working on the vehicle right up until the last moment. The next plan was to do the cleaning and loading when we returned from a very interesting time in Egypt on 14th December BUT our 3 days at home were reduced to 2 when Chris was summoned to the Nigerian High Commission in London for an interview prior to being granted a visa. Virtually throwing everything on board (and forgetting a few things) we left home in the early hours of 16th and parked on the outskirts of London while Chris spent the day trying to teach Nigerians how to queue. With the Nigerian visas in 'the bag' our passports were then off to get visas for Guinea and were then to be sent by DHL to Bristol for Paul to bring out to Mauritania (you may have guessed we have 2 sets of passports!) All did not go smoothly as the passports were posted to us back in Derbyshire contrary to our instructions. We are very very lucky to have such good friends at home who retrieved our passports from the post lady and sent them by Special Delivery to Paul, along with a few other items of mail which had gone astray in the meantime.
From London we drove to Dover to catch an 8pm ferry to Dunquerque and then onwards to our house in France for a couple of days to see Paul and Elaine and discuss final arrangements for Africa. I fell asleep in the Enterprise before boarding the ferry and did not 'come to' until we were nearly to Orleans, suffering from a fever. I did manage to do the driving for the final 5 hours and we arrived in glorious sunshine on the afternoon of Saturday, 17th. On Sunday I cooked a roast beef lunch and the 4 of us sat on our terrace to eat in the sun. Later that day Chris and I both succumbed to a recurring chest infection but managed to complete most of the jobs we hoped to before leaving the following day. All packed up again and the French house closed up for a few months, we drove to Toulouse in light rain to obtain our visas for Cote d'Ivoire. We had been very fortunate in making email contact with Chloe who spoke to M.Cazoux at the Ivorian Embassy and persuaded him to grant us our visas as 'French residents'. After picking these up at 5.00pm, I went back to sleep and Chris drove overnight into Spain over the snowy Pyrenees, buying cheap diesel in Andorra without me being aware of this. I believe he did grab a few hours sleep en route and he managed to drive all the way to the south to arrive with our eldest son and family at 6.30pm.
In spite of being diagnosed by a local doctor as having bronchitis, and Chris following suit, we had a lovely Christmas with our 2 Spanish grand-daughters. With thanks again to Chloe, who was driving to Africa a couple of days ahead of us, we learned of the Motril - Tangier Med ferry and were able to prolong our stay with the family instead of having to drive the extra distance to Algeciras.
Back to the Auberge Menata: yesterday I think I was still suffering from the tail end of the virus, and probably dehydration. After organising to have some laundry done here I returned to my doormouse like state and slept until the evening. Chris joined some new friends from Germany and Italy and went out to eat while I began to re-organise the contents of the Enterprise. Today has been spent sorting and cleaning - just as well that I had not had time before because I forget how much of the Sahara sand ends up in the rear of the vehicle, especially the kitchen area and the bathroom. Now all spick and span before the next onslaught. It's no good being houseproud in Africa but I do try and keep things as tidy as I can as it makes for easier living and travelling.
Chris has been grovelling about in the sand under the Enterprise all day fixing 'things'. He is now exhausted and having had a shower has fallen into a deep sleep. I am expecting him to take me partying this evening in town! If Paul does not arrive too too late at his nearby hotel we hope to welcome him with a New Year's drink. An early start is intended for the morning, and although he doesn't know it yet, we have sourced a local patisserie for sticky buns which opens at 5am.
Paul's enforced delay spent en route in Casablanca has been a bonus for us as we have both been able to catch up on a lot of the things we intended to do in preparation for the trip before leaving home. It had been my plan to clean, tidy and load the Enterprise before we left for the week's balloon event in Egypt on 6th December. However, unforeseen mechanical problems and incorrect deliveries of parts meant that Chris was working on the vehicle right up until the last moment. The next plan was to do the cleaning and loading when we returned from a very interesting time in Egypt on 14th December BUT our 3 days at home were reduced to 2 when Chris was summoned to the Nigerian High Commission in London for an interview prior to being granted a visa. Virtually throwing everything on board (and forgetting a few things) we left home in the early hours of 16th and parked on the outskirts of London while Chris spent the day trying to teach Nigerians how to queue. With the Nigerian visas in 'the bag' our passports were then off to get visas for Guinea and were then to be sent by DHL to Bristol for Paul to bring out to Mauritania (you may have guessed we have 2 sets of passports!) All did not go smoothly as the passports were posted to us back in Derbyshire contrary to our instructions. We are very very lucky to have such good friends at home who retrieved our passports from the post lady and sent them by Special Delivery to Paul, along with a few other items of mail which had gone astray in the meantime.
From London we drove to Dover to catch an 8pm ferry to Dunquerque and then onwards to our house in France for a couple of days to see Paul and Elaine and discuss final arrangements for Africa. I fell asleep in the Enterprise before boarding the ferry and did not 'come to' until we were nearly to Orleans, suffering from a fever. I did manage to do the driving for the final 5 hours and we arrived in glorious sunshine on the afternoon of Saturday, 17th. On Sunday I cooked a roast beef lunch and the 4 of us sat on our terrace to eat in the sun. Later that day Chris and I both succumbed to a recurring chest infection but managed to complete most of the jobs we hoped to before leaving the following day. All packed up again and the French house closed up for a few months, we drove to Toulouse in light rain to obtain our visas for Cote d'Ivoire. We had been very fortunate in making email contact with Chloe who spoke to M.Cazoux at the Ivorian Embassy and persuaded him to grant us our visas as 'French residents'. After picking these up at 5.00pm, I went back to sleep and Chris drove overnight into Spain over the snowy Pyrenees, buying cheap diesel in Andorra without me being aware of this. I believe he did grab a few hours sleep en route and he managed to drive all the way to the south to arrive with our eldest son and family at 6.30pm.
In spite of being diagnosed by a local doctor as having bronchitis, and Chris following suit, we had a lovely Christmas with our 2 Spanish grand-daughters. With thanks again to Chloe, who was driving to Africa a couple of days ahead of us, we learned of the Motril - Tangier Med ferry and were able to prolong our stay with the family instead of having to drive the extra distance to Algeciras.
Back to the Auberge Menata: yesterday I think I was still suffering from the tail end of the virus, and probably dehydration. After organising to have some laundry done here I returned to my doormouse like state and slept until the evening. Chris joined some new friends from Germany and Italy and went out to eat while I began to re-organise the contents of the Enterprise. Today has been spent sorting and cleaning - just as well that I had not had time before because I forget how much of the Sahara sand ends up in the rear of the vehicle, especially the kitchen area and the bathroom. Now all spick and span before the next onslaught. It's no good being houseproud in Africa but I do try and keep things as tidy as I can as it makes for easier living and travelling.
Chris has been grovelling about in the sand under the Enterprise all day fixing 'things'. He is now exhausted and having had a shower has fallen into a deep sleep. I am expecting him to take me partying this evening in town! If Paul does not arrive too too late at his nearby hotel we hope to welcome him with a New Year's drink. An early start is intended for the morning, and although he doesn't know it yet, we have sourced a local patisserie for sticky buns which opens at 5am.
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