Acknowledgements
This trip would be impossible without the kindness of strangers, and already I owe a debt of thanks to some hundreds of souls who have helped me find the way, given advice, got me out of trouble, invited me into their homes and spent time to make me welcome in their country. To all of you; merci, gracias, obrigado, shuhkrahn, jërëjëf, fiangor, inicheh, a jaaraama, i ning bara, neekay and ta very much.
A very special thanks go to;
U.K.
London - Paul for keeping me online.
- Phil and Danielle for keeping me supplied.
U.S.A
San Diego - Hattie for the bits and bobs.
CANADA
Montreal - Joery for being a role model.
FRANCE
Angers - Fabrice and Sylvain for showing me another way to do this.
Soisy - William and Sandrine for the invitation.
Villiers le Bade - Paul and Lyliane for the usual
Mausanne - Patrick and Rita for being Patrick and Rita
Mons - My mum for fattening me up for the next stage.
SPAIN
Barcelona - David, Sonya and Tony for their help and guidance.
Logrono - Luiz for introducing me to pinchos.
Triacastele - Inigo, Itziber and Itziber 2 for the company
MOROCCO
Douar Ait Arfa Laanoucer - Lhoucim, Rekia, Mimoune, Moulouda and Mohamed; for their hospitality, for our first lessons in dinner etiquette and for showing us what a Berber wedding really looks like.
Boulemane - Said, Aicha and Zineb for taking us in out of the cold.
Rich - Abdellah, Mohamed, Fatima, Soad, Nejha, Fatima Zahra, Rachid, Abdou alali for their friendship and hospitality.
- Mustapha for feeding us at a table, with forks.
Ifri - Lhoucin, Said, Mustapha, Omar, Fatima, Caihou for showing us the Gorges de Ziz and looking after one sick Englishman.
Midelt - Younes for showing us around his city and up his mountain.
Takhiamt - Hmad and family for their hospitality and for enough dates to keep us going for months.
Tamaarkit - Moulay Driss and the staff and students of Secteur Scolaire Elmaarka
Merzouga - Idir for keeping us alive and on track through the desert.
Oumjrane - Lahcou for being a good samaritan, without whom we'd still be trying to get that damn tyre off.
Douar Tassaouante - Mohamed and the staff and students of the Ecole Centrale Tassaouante
Douar Kourkouda - Mohamed and family for their hospitality
Tafinegoult - Ahmed, Latifa, Habiba, Hind, Bédia, Amel and Abdelmoumin for their generosity and hospitality, and for the best olive oil in the world.
Casablanca - Mar for putting up with 2 Frenchies and a Brit, for the bacon and for being rather lovely.
Douar Ain Madiouer - Abdeljabar and family, for their hospitality and for showing us his donkey..
Douar Ain Lamdiouer - Omar, Loucin, Radiza for letting us stay.
Temsia - Abdelaziz, Fatna, Mustapha, Mounir and Samira for taking us in.
Tarfaya - Kamal, Khadija, Bouchra, Abdullah, Farah for their hospitality, and Hajar for the endless entertainment.
Laayoune - Mourad, Toufah, Asma, Mohamed for their hospitality and a real washing machine.
Imliti - Achar for letting us stay in his power station.
Douar Ait Youl - Brahim and workmates for their hospitality and cigarettes.
MAURITANIA
Nouadhibou - Ana for a friendly face in a strange town, and Javier for not selling Betsy when he had the chance.
Atar - Justus & Cora for helping me get out of Atar
- Achibou & Ravia for getting my junk safely to Nouakchott
Terjit - Karine & Bah for their hospitality
The Mauritanian Sahara - To everyone on the new route who helped, guided, sheltered, fed, watered and got me unlost in the desert, especially the guys at the Nouadhibou offices, PK54, Boulenoir, and the Chinese, Egyptian and Tunisian base stations. Cheers lads!
Nouakchott - Nuria and Rafa for taking me in, and Margarita for keeping me up all night. And to the entire Spanish community in Mauritania, hasta luego chicos.
SENEGAL
St.Louis - Babacar for getting us into and out of trouble.
Popomguine - Fatouma and Grotti for the coffee in the morning.
Ndiongolor - Etienne, A62Fssatoe and Fatu for the domoda.
Kaolack - Amidou, Fatou, Boundao, Rama, Moha and Aliou for their friendship and hospitality, and Nide for the ice.
Ndiaffat - Go, Nafi, Aisha, Amifal, Amadou and Ismael for insisting I stay.
Passi - Muhammed, Abdulai, Usman, Fatu and Kumba for the welcome delay.
THE GAMBIA
Banjul - Sue for the kindness and coffee and a place to stay.
Kaur Touray Kunda - Moriba for not really arresting us.
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