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| Family camping & homeschooling adventure in Africa. Sahara Desert crossing with children in Jeep & tent trailer. Travel in Morocco, Algeria, Niger, Nigeria, Ghana, & west coast. Exploring, safari, backcountry,
backroads, overlanders.
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The Blickley Family's
African Camping
(Page
two) |
| Ghardaia is the largest town between Algiers, Algeria and
Katsuna, Nigeria. We had been thinking that no one could live in such a barren area except the nomads when we crested a hill and saw Ghardaia in its green glory, along a river flood plain. A real oasis in the desert! A town about the size of Sparta, Michigan. |
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| South of this metropolis in the Sahara the road became even more desolate without a trace of life except for a few goats and their herders searching out the rare clumps of dried grass. A sign before the village of El Golea states, "All those traveling south must register with the police before proceeding. This is for your personal safety, Failure to do so will be punished to the fullest extent of the law." The streets of El Golea were dry and dusty and few people moved about in the heat. We checked with the police who informed us that the sign was out of date and no registration was necessary at that point. On our way south from El Golea we were stopped by travelers heading north who told us if we went the way we plannd we would die in the desert. Not a good way to begin our crossing!
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We reached In Salah from El Golea on a one lane asphalt road. There is very little traffic but it is necessary to drive with two wheels off the road when you encounter any on-coming vehicles. The sand blows much like a light snow in Michigan, in wispy patterns and swirls across and along the edge of the road. In Salah is a small desert town situated forty miles north of the end of the blacktop. Normally travelers buy gasoline for the next five hundred miles here and visit one of the two local ovens for a last bit of fresh bread. We spent almost all of our money for gasoline here. There was no bank available after Ghardaia until
Tamanrasset, but since we had a sufficient food supply for this part of the trip, we felt equipped to register with the police and proceed. |
The first twenty miles off the asphalt were very bad. The Algerian government was extending the blacktop and along their work area there was no replacement trail to travel on. Each traveler had to find their own way along the edge of the road construction "cross country". Keeping track of the main trail blocked off in preparation for paving became an art of navigation. We only got stuck once in this stretch and after thirty minutes of shoveling and then with some help from the friendly Algerian road crew we were on our way.
The trail scross the Saharah has severe corrugations as large as speed bumps placed in a continuous sequence one after the other. The land surrounding the trail is barren from In Salah to Tamanrasset, and covered with rock out-croppings. Through the mountain passes and in the big boulder fields it was necessary to use the main trail going up, over, and down each corrugation while knowing that each stress lowers the chance of completing the journey intact. Lightly loaded Land Rovers and Volkswagen vans generally speed along riding the tops of the bumps. Shock absorbers can rarely stand the strain. Other problems are obvious given the many car bodies abandoned along the trail. In some volcanic rock and sand areas, parallel trails are available and using these we sometimes attained the speed of 15 mph. In the first three days we averaged 12-15 mph. using the parallel tracks as much as possible and also by making our own trails cross country.
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One evening Bill noticed that the left brake line on the trailer had broken off and the seal on the front axle of the jeep was leaking. He made repairs but didn't notice that the trailer axle was bent slightly. The next morning we heard a loud thud and LaVerne saw the trailer wheel roll past us. We were 250 miles south of In Salah and 200 miles north of
Tamanrasset! We saw that the wheel had completely broken off the axle and the trailer frame was resting on the ground. There seemed to be nothing that could be done. The situation looked very grim and we thought that perhaps our equipment would join the other abandoned hulks.
After looking the problem over I knew that the axle shaft could never complete the journey into
sub-saharan Africa even if I was able to summon a welding crew to this desolate spot here in the middle of
nowhere. My only hope
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| to install another axle and suspension system under the trailer. The problem now was to locate electricity, a welder, and the necessary parts.
Looking around all we saw were rocks and sand. We needed a miracle badly!! Our water supply would not last long and we were days from a well. We prayed to God for His guidance and recalled the promise in scripture " In all your ways acknowledge Him and He shall direct your paths". Within the next ten minutes an Algerian Government Land Rover approached and the driver asked if we needed help. We showed the man the problem and asked if he knew where we could find some electricity and parts.
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To Africa page three
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