Whatshot
Adventures with Kingsley Holgate - Afrika Outside Edge 7
Adventures with Kingsley Holgate - Afrika Outside Edge 7
Date: 2017-06-02
In our Land Rovers we have continued to take on the bite size challenges of Africa's outside edge. In Mauritania, whilst we are there, a family of four adventurers was gunned down in cold blood, leading to the cancellation of the Dakar rally.
The Moroccan Algeria border was closed even to a camel. We backtracked to Tangier, then by ferry over the Straights of Gibraltar to Algeciras in Spain and then in a race against time, dash up the Spanish coast to grab the night ferry back across the Mediterranean to Oran in Algeria.
With security on board it was back to the other side of the frontier - all this effort and all this time, a detour by land and sea of close to 1500 kms for the sake of getting around a 100 metre wide border post.
That is the nature of travelling Africa's outside edge and when we get to Mama Afrika's northernmost point in Tunisia. I add this scribbled dispatch to the Outside Edge journal.
"Today is a great yardstick for the expedition - we've reached the most Northerly tip of the African continent. Danie Meyer, the South African ambassador to Tunisia and a group of VIP's are here to meet us. Imagine the scene, the expedition team, worn out and rag tag from the tense journey across Algeriaand the Tunisians all dressed in suites as they endorse the Peace and Goodwill scroll."
Country 25 on the Outside Edge - Alas, the socialist People's Libyan Arab Great Jamahiriya prove difficult for us independent travellers, and it is a huge rigmarole to get in. A massive billboard of Colonel Mu'ammar Gaddafi welcome us to the Jamahiriya State of the Masses, of Libya. Theo, our embassy man, explains that it is has been a stroke of luck. 'Someone who plays tennis with a relative of Gaddafi had heard of your predicament and the right word was whispered into an official ear.' Alhumdillah! We are through!
Our fascinating Land Rover journey down the coast of Libya takes us through the capital Tripoli and on to the Roman city of Leptis Magna, the richest and most magnificent of all the ancient Roman cities in Africa. Will keep you posted.