23 September - Nouakchott to St. Louis Senegal and the infamous Rosso border post

We were on the road by 9:30, all gassed up and ready for our day. The total mileage is 180, but with a border crossing at Rosso at mile 110. The Rosso border post is notorious among travelers for being difficult and potentially rife with corruption. We were anticipating difficulty but optimistic.

About 5 miles from the border we were promptly intercepted by a guy on a scooter. He escorted us through two police checkpoints, and I quickly recognized what was going on. When we arrived at the Rosso border, he waved us off the road and there were people flagging us to stop on the right. They were not official and we were not near the border gate yet, so I blew past them and went to the police gate another quarter mile ahead.

The officer and many plainclothes guys seemed surprised that we were at this point. I stopped right before the gate, but everyone was waving us to go back. Even a police officer waved me back. But after a little bit of questions and hand waving, they waved us forward. Hmmmm…..that’s curious. We were approached by a nice guy who was well dressed who helped us in and then directed us to the immigration office. I asked him if he was an officer and if I could see his identification and he said yes of course. I never got any identification. I told him that’s great that he’s an officer so I don’t have to pay him.

Here began the parade. There are multiple buildings that are poorly identified, which you must visit for various reasons. First the police looked over our passports, then directed us to immigration, which is across the lot. I was told by our fixer (the nice guy leading us around) that we would have to pay the police at immigration. Once in the immigration office the police officer processed our papers and directly said to us “you do not have to pay me”. Hmmm....more confusion.

Next to the customs office, which went pretty smooth and there was a fee there which was expected. We were then directed to go pay the “community tax” or “bac” at a separate location. We walked across the lot and took care of that and received a receipt for it. Next is the insurance for Senegal. You guessed it, another person at another office. Keep in mind these “offices” are run down buildings that don’t look official in any way except for the police in uniforms.

To add to the confusion, we were paying out money at multiple places and sometimes we were short. We would have to go to another place to change money and come back. Another annoyance I had was that our fixer kept paying our fees and saying “you can pay me back later”. To which I always responded no, but he had already done it. So throughout the process it was a bit confusing to keep up with what you owed the fixer and the change rate on the cash you had in your pocket when paying someone in non-local cash. By now we have three currencies on hand: Euros, Dirhams, and Ouiguiya. If you’re confused now, then just imagine being there. Oh yes, it was about 90 degrees and 90% humidity and we were wearing our motorcycle gear!

After we were all paid up with exit papers in hand, we walked back to our bikes. Here it comes, the fixer is asking for money. I told him I was not paying him because I didn’t want his help to begin with, and also because he told me he was an officer. There’s no reason for me to pay an officer. He was disappointed and argued that I should pay him, but I emphasized that he lied to me about being an officer and he never showed me his identification. There was also another guy loitering with us in the parking area whom I had been talking to casually who also ended up asking me for money. “No!” again I replied. “Why should I pay you? Just because we conversed with each other?”

We’re already tired and this is getting ridiculous, and remember it’s only the Mauritania exit side. We still have to board the ferry across the river to Senegal and do it again at the entry post.

The ferry, fully loaded with camels, arrives and we are entertained by the stampede off the boat and up the ramp.

We wait a bit longer for the ferry to refuel and for the operators to eat lunch. Once ready, cars begin to board. The boat could only park so close to the ramp, so there was a gap of deep water you must drive through, up to 18 inches deep. One Mercedes car drove down the ramp and stalled in the water. It caused a hold-up and we watched 8 people push the car in reverse up the ramp to get it out of the way. 

Once all was clear, a few vehicles and one large semi-truck loaded onto the boat, and tha'ts about all the boat can carry. We waved on last. Mark goes first, then me after. A fun splash through the water and we’re on the boat. No big deal. Just mind the deck as it’s covered in wet camel poop!

We cross and unload in the same fashion as we loaded without any issue. We parked the bikes and walk to immigration. We get our stamp and then walk over to customs. Now we’ve got a different fixer guy who has been hanging with us since the other side. He rode over on the boat with us and helped us find our way through the Senegal entry area. Customs processed our bikes and we received our “Passavant” which is the customs declaration for the bike. During the customs process, another fixer joined in to “help” us. I realized later that when we were done, two people expected payment. I did not pay one guy, and the other guy I foolishly paid. He was witholding our papers and we were desperate to leave; I didnt want to, but at the end of such an exhausting process I didn't have any better ideas. Next time I will avoid this situation.

We were ready to get out of this congestion. The street near the port was elbow-to-elbow with people and animals. We get on the bikes and head down the road. Within less than one mile there is a police stop, which checks your customs form and gives you another stamp, for a fee of course. One last payment and we’re finally on the road.

I was mentally and physically tired, and our destination (Saint-Louis) was 60 miles away. We needed to make tracks to minimize the time we get caught in the dark. Luckily it was a nice highway with minimal interruptions, so we made it to Saint-Louis without stopping. I was processing all that just happened in my head and also a little angry at the guy who we last paid. I told myself we did okay, and let it go. 

By the time we reached Saint-Louis it was dark, and the city streets were bustling with all the hazards that you don’t want to negotiate in the dark: goats, donkey wagons with no lights, pedestrians, dogs, cats, potholes, slippery liquids on the road, construction detours, two bridge crossings, stalled vehicles, and unpaved roads. It was a challenge, and it reminded us why we avoid driving in the dark.

Our hotel was a beach resort on the outermost of 2 islands that are part of the city, reachable by two bridge crossings and located at the end of an unpaved road. Slow and steady, we made it. We were greeted by a nice place and nice people with comfortable rooms (with air conditioning!). The hotel restaurant was still open, so we dumped our luggage and went to the restaurant  to decompress and eat. Additionally they had a bar! This was another pleasant surprise because alcohol was forbidden in both Mauritania and Morocco, so we had not had a drink in a while. It was well deserved and we were happy to sit down and process the crazy day we just had.

24 September - Saint Louis Senegal

We planned to stay for two nights. The next day Mark and I ran errands in town on the bikes. We had to run to the bank and I needed to go to the phone store to get a SIM card.

We got to see in the daylight what we had ridden through in the dark of night. It was a bustling fishing village and the inland waterway was lined with colorfully painted 40-foot long fishing boats. My video camera malfunctioned so I didn’t get any footage. The streets were just as busy as the night before with young men rolling up fishing nets, goats, donkeys, and people selling all types of goods. (And all the smells you would expect from a fishing village in the summer!)

We spent the rest of the day back at the hotel. It was so hot and humid that it was irresistible to stay in our rooms and relax. I went for a quick swim in the pool and we had a nice dinner at the hotel restaurant.

25 September - Dakar Senegal

We got up and had breakfast, then hit the road for Dakar. It was an easy ride of 180 miles to the city most notably punctuated by many toll booths on the highway as we got closer to the city. Dakar is the capital of Senegal located on a peninsula, with only a couple highways leading in. The traffic was horrendous and it was hot. We meandered our way into the city and found our hotel off the main street a couple blocks down the sandy and unpaved side streets.

It was a 4 story block within the densely packed buildings, with a courtyard and a bar. It’s run by a nice French guy and we conversed with him through our translator (phone app) about how he got here and about motorcycles. He has owned a few cruisers in the past but none now.

We took a walk just a couple blocks away to a nice italian grill with brick oven pizza. We sat outdoors under the fans in the enclosed patio and listened to the busy evening streets around us full of people and what sounded like cars and motorcycles revving their engines for fun.

We had initially parked our bikes in the alley way next to the hotel, but after we returned from dinner the security guard outside recommended we hide the bikes due to theft risk. My bike was small enough to fit through the gate into the courtyard (after removing one side bag). Mark was allowed to roll his bike through the side door into the lounge of the hotel bar! It was a sight to see. With bikes all safe, we settled in for the night.

26 September - Rest day and Guinea Visa in Dakar

We had breakfast at a “Parisian” bakery down the street that was pretty good. I got an omelet, coffee, and juice.

We planned to get the Guinea visa here in Dakar, so we got a taxi at the hotel around 9:00am to drive to the Guinea Embassy, which was a 30 minute drive in the traffic. The taxi was in bad shape with no a/c, so we sat sweating in the dirty car in the bumpter-to-bumper traffic. As I sat there sweating I was thinking there’s got to be a better way. Where's Uber when you need it?!

We walked into the Guinea embassy, and they promptly ushered us into the waiting room. Not more than 10 minutes later we were waved into the back office to process our visas. It was a cramped, but air conditioned office with two desks. The room was so small that when someone else opened the door to come in, it would nearly bump into one of the desks.

The guy at the computer requested our basic information and completed the online visa form for for each of us. Within an hour we were all processed and visas were in hand. We were pleased.

During my time sitting in the office waiting, I found a taxi app (Heetch) that I could use to get a car(like Uber). I ordered a car and it showed up in less than 5 minutes. This time it was a much nicer car with air conditioning. It was a good thing because the traffic going back to the hotel was worse than the ride out. The journey ended up taking longer than expected, so we gave the driver a little more money than the quote, which was inexpensive by our standards.

In the afternoon Mark took his bike to a moto shop for oil change and brake pads. It turned out that the shop had moved to a new location. So he had to make a phone call to get the new location after he had already driven across the city to the old location. He finally arrived to the shop late in the afternoon, so it was a bit late when he arrived back at the hotel. It all worked out and they took care of him.

Ranee and I spent the afternoon walking down to the local shopping mall. I needed to look for a belt because I lost mine somewhere along the way. I didn’t find one, but I did get a better wall charger and some groceries.

We all walked down to another local Italian restaurant for dinner and had some pizza.

27 September - Dakar to Kaolack

The previous day, Mark had some service done, but he didn’t have enough cash to pay them. We had to stop by the moto shop on our way out of town. Luckily it was in the direction of our route, but traffic was bad, so it took a while to get there. We fought through some gridlock among the dozens of other scooters on the road, it was kind of fun to filter around the cars. It’s like urban adventure riding!

We made it to the shop and Mark took care of his business. We looked at the other motorcycles and got a couple stickers, then hit the road.

It was a short 110 mile ride but the exit from Dakar was through the same toll booths that we entered. I think there must have been 5 toll plazas. The stop-and-go every few miles was a bit of a hassle, but it did not amount to much money. (We don't like stopping on the bikes because we are desperate for air-flow to cool ourselves!)

After we were clear of the city it was smooth sailing along the highway to Kaolack. We passed through several small towns. We also got our first glimpses of the sub-saharan savannah. We started to notice many baobab trees along the road which have a distinctive appearance and can grow to be very old.

We rolled into Kaolack all sweaty from the humidity, but in good time, around 2pm. We didn’t have hotel reservations but I had 3 options pinned on the map for us to investigate. The first one looked okay, but they had no availability. So we went down the street to option #2, which was a small gated resort on the river and they had rooms available. It was quite nice, and the A/C in the room worked great! They had a pool, bar, and restaurant on site so we were set. The room cost $44 including breakfast.

28 September - Kaolack to Tambacounda

We’ve decided to avoid Gambia and Guinea-Bissau due to time constraints. The route through each of these would entail 4 additional border crossings and a ferry. As I evaluated the route, it would add a few days of short rides to achieve this, which would set us a little behind.

So we are headed east to go around Gambia now. The ride was nice, mostly through rural areas. At one of our bathroom pit-stops there was a group of young guys and a young boy who was interested in my bike. He walked up ans shook my hand; he was just curious. So I showed him around the bike and let him sit on it. Both us and the other guys loved it and started taking pictures. 

Weather was hot and muggy, but the roads were nice. We arrived at our hotel around 2:00pm, and it happens to be the same hotel brand as the place we stayed last night, so we know what to expect.