The Trans - happy new year!

So - News Years eve was surprisingly good fun! We parked in a quarry after a super long day of driving.  We drove and drove on a shitty little road then we got a puncture in one of the tires so the driver had to sort that out. So we camped a bit later than planned - but we had lots of space and lots to drink to it was ok!

Oh we had to cross a ferry at one point too during the drive. That was interesting. Putting out big truck on the river on a shoddy Malian ferry. We survived and I have a few pictures.

Hmmmm...what else?! It hasn't been that eventful lately - we've just been driving lots. So New Years day we didn't leave until noon so everyone could recover a bit...and about an hour down the road there was a bit of accessible river and we were actually allowed to go swimming!! It was really nice. Actually - it was kinda muddy and hard to get to and super cold but it was great to swim and pretend it was making me cleaner (I don't even remember my last shower - although I did celebrate and shaved my legs New Years morning)! But a swim after drinking is always refreshing and then we had a lovely drive as the road got nicer and we sat up at the top of the truck where they can open the top and we had some vino and some laughs as we waved at the locals! Its nice because people seem to be getting along a lot more. I could use a little more Jacquie time) one of the girls even wanted to have a leg shaving party when I told her I was going to do that. I had to tell her no - I prefer to shave alone :P.

But its really nice having my own tent. I can sit in there alone and if I put it far enough from the truck no one comes to visit! Last night we had another really nice camping spot and I set up both my mozzie net and my tent. I have a pop-up mozzie net I bought in Noukachott. Its like a pop-up tent made of just netting. So I slept in the last night so I could look up at the stars and then had my main tent setup in front of it so I couldn't see the truck and they couldn't see me and I could hide there in the morning (I really struggle with all the people in the mornings...I can't even go to breakfast anymore). But we camped with some rock cliffs and lots of small tree cover. Mali is the prettiest country we've gone through so far. There are lots of trees and then savannah and cliffs and rivers - lots of stunning scenery basically. I'm enjoying it!! Especially the last few days because we've had to drive so slow because we were on really bad roads. So there was more time to look around. We are back on a paved road now and speeding along so its super cold and windy and everyone is just sleeping with their ipods playing...boring!!

Oh - but I forgot to finish- I slept in my pop-up mozzie net last night but I didn't really get to appreciate it because it was quite cold. So all I could do was cuddle under all my blankets so I wouldn't shiver. So I couldn't look up at the stars...so I might wait before setting that up again. We are going to an actual campsite tonight. Just outside the city (I can't say where because its too dangerous - we might get kidnapped :P). Apparently its really nice and they have bacon in the morning! I miss bacon!! Its also really close (like 2km) from town, so easily walkable. My book says this is a really terrible dirty city and hotels are expensive, so I probably won't actually stay in town. We are planning to be here 3-4 nights (depending on how long it takes the others to get their Nigerian visas) so I'm probably just going to set my tent(s) up and hopefully my hammock and I can just relax. The most important factor will be the showers...if they have crappy showers I might just go spend a night in town!! Its super super dusty here. I am actually getting a sore throat from breathing in all the dust all the time. And its now a red colored dust so everything really looks dirty!

I think that's about it. I should have wifi at the campsite too so I'll try to upload the pictures from the last few days too!!