We Leave Mali and
Head for Niamey, Niger
We arrived in Gao early on Sunday morning and hopped on
another ferry to cross the River Niger for the fifth time! Gao is rather unremarkable as well, except
for the fact that there was very heavy fighting here during the Tuareg
rebellion in the early 1990s. That has
stuck in many people’s minds, so most local men carry guns around which can get
rather disconcerting. We gassed up the
trucks there and boogied on down the road towards the Niger border. Since it was Sunday, some of the checkpoints
were open and some were closed, but for the most part you just drove through
unless someone looking official was blowing a whistle at you. Turns out we ran through a few we were
supposed to stop at, but oh well . . . we’re on a mission . . .
Arrived at the Malian border town to discover that we were
supposed to have stopped at the Douane (Customs) office a mile back and since
we stopped in the center of the road, less than five feet from the barrels
blocking the road, we had committed two infractions and would have to wait
until Monday morning to speak with the head guy at the border so he could
“punish us.” As usual a few CFAs would
“ease our passage” so we bribed them all (the police, the gendarmerie and the
Douane guy) and went on our way.
We crossed into Niger with a few hassles, but without any
real problems. The officials in Niger
so far have been absolutely great.
Conversations have ranged from crime in America to AIDS (SIDA in French)
to John Wayne to what to eat in their country.
Haven’t paid a single bribe yet (unless you count two Bob Marley
t-shirts). The road from the border to
Ayorou was horrible and reminiscent of the road outside Nouakchott,
Mauritania. Without going into huge detail,
here is the list of things now wrong with the trucks:
Mike: Brakes work
after pumping 5-10 times. Engine will
not run below 2500 RPMs and is very difficult to start. Bulkhead is cracked and rear hard top sides
are cracked so that the whole roof sways front to back about two inches. Front axle is bent (probably from jumping
over a foot-tall speed bump because the brakes didn’t work at all). None of the doors close right because the
body has sagged so much and tend to pop open when you go around corners. Tent cover is ripped and the strap that
holds it on is broken. The gas gauge broke yesterday and one of our jerry cans
has a hole in it from where it rubbed against the mount for a month. Also, muffler fell off.
Shane: A couple broken valve stems. Two flat spare tires. Center differential will not lock. Problem with fuel pump that makes the truck very difficult to start. The front tires shake uncontrollably after going over bumps in the corrugated road.
Jim: Engine barely
running at idle. Rear tub is collapsing
and cracking so that you cannot close the rear door at all. Cracked
bulkhead. Exhaust has five tin cans
wrapped around it to cover cracks. The
hard top has shifted back enough so that the windshield is now at a different
angle and you cannot close the front doors.
Starter works when it feels like it.
Al: No exhaust
system from center pipe back. Tub is
sagging and cracking. Roof is sagging
and cracking so that neither front door closes correctly. Battery doesn’t charge correctly. Rear tires hit the top of the wheelwell
after every bump of more than 2 inches in the road. Box on roof cracked open and spilled 90 weight gear oil over the
entire roof and windshield.
These are the problems we’ve noticed over the last couple
days. We’re sorting out the ones we can
here in Niamey, Niger. The thing that
has killed us has been the horribly corrugated roads. They look like corduroy pants laid out sideways. You have to drive relatively fast over them
or else the truck would shudder apart from the vibration. The roads from here on in appear to be a bit
better, but we still have many kilometers to go to get to Abidjan. I’m sure the trucks will get us there, but
who knows what they’re going to look like when they get home . . .
-Paul Shumway