29th November 1985 : Lost Among Geological Fascinations
Long day with two forced stops due to Bob’s being very sick with terrible stomach pain. At one stop, the rest of us enjoyed a great game of Frisbees, trying to throw through a rolling car tyre.
Let me introduce myself so you're not embarking on this nostalgic journey with a total stranger.
I'm Melanie Ball, a university science degree drop-out, widely published travel writer (an accidental career borne of my African journey), author of three bushwalking guidebooks (Top Walks in Victoria, Top Walks in Tasmania & Top Walks in Australia), and hat decorator under the name Appliquez Moi. (That's me with the sun-bleached hair and west African fabric sarong. I don't know the baby chimp's name because we weren't formally introduced.)
From infancy my parents read to me and my sisters — C.S. Lewis’s Narnia series on long drives to Queensland for summer holidays, Paddington Bear in bed with Mum on Sunday mornings— and encouraged us to read to escape, to learn, to laugh. No book was off limits and all three of us are life-long voracious readers.
Two very different books profoundly influenced the teenaged me: Wilbur Smith’s When The Lion Feeds, the first of his multiple adventure novels set (mostly) in colonial southern Africa, and Jane Goodall’s In The Shadow of Man, detailing her ground-breaking study of wild chimpanzees in Tanzania. (Jane Goodall's recent death, in her sleep, aged 91, while on a talking tour, made me sad but also made me re-examine, remember and celebrate the extraordinary life and works of the woman who David Attenborough called "the conscience of conservation".) Together and separately, those two books ignited in me a romantic fascination for Africa and determination to go there, a dream that I finally realised at the age of 26, when I joined an Exodus Expeditions London to Johannesburg overland adventure. I had reached London by overlanding with Exodus from Kathmandu to London (11 weeks of ups - close encounters with rhinoceroses in Nepal, sunrise on the Taj Mahal, the wonders of Istanbul - and lows - five weeks of Delhi Belly that, surprisingly but thankfully, left me with an iron gut), and explored Egypt for several weeks, but my 17 months away from home were predominantly about finally experiencing the extraordinary continent that is Africa.
When my passport (containing multiple visas) was stolen from my daypack on the London Tube the day before the tour departed, my dream was all but dashed. But the passport was newly issued in London and, faced with my near-hysterics, the efficient and compassionate Australian Embassy staff issued me a new passport in one hour!
And so, the adventure of my life began.
P.S. I have edited excerpts for poor grammar and to protect the innocent and the guilty.
P.P.S. Most photos in this blog are scans of prints - and I didn't take many before reaching Morocco.
28th November 1985 : Camel Capers
We drove to La Source early for water but got only three jerry cans into the truck before they turned off the taps. So we returned to the egg army base to fill up.
27th November 1985 : Camel Ride Ructions
We had to get everything we needed for the morning off the truck before Kel and Ben headed off into the distance with the first instalment of camel riders, leaving nine of us to look after camp. We were sitting soaking up the sun when Abdullah the moped man wheeled up and told us he had 18 camels on the way. We explained that we had booked and wanted two times nine shifts, one morning and one afternoon, and he said, "Okay," and rode away again. The first instalment of riders then returned from La Source saying a man was coming with 18 camels and we all had to go together. Confusion reigned as we worked out who would stay behind to look after the site and all our gear. The camels then arrived - 10 of them, so we were back to two shifts!
26th November 1985 : News From Home
Drove back into town to check visas and post: 150 French francs for our Mali visas, which is US$10 cheaper than we were quoted before.
25th November 1985 : Hoggar Highlights
Woke at 5.15am to Vicki banging fry pan with spoon while still in bed. No sudden burst of activity, bodies emerging slowly from tents. Finally, everyone was aboard the truck and we started rumbling up the hill in the dark. We piled out of the back into a freezing wind and continued briskly on foot up the hill trying to get warm.
24th November 1985 : From the Flats to the Mountains
The wind picked up in the early morning, whistling through the truck and down into my sleeping bag. Had to snuggle down and wrap the hood tight around my nose. Delicious warming porridge for breakfast.
23rd November 1985 : On The Road to Nowhere
It was absolutely freezing in the truck, even with both sides up this morning, when we continued on the drum-marked route; spent first two hours wrapped in Nikki’s blanket with head buried-so I saw nothing.
22nd November 1985 : Fantastical Desert
Spectacular scenery early on, with huge sand dunes on one side of the road and sand-drifted mountains on the other; shrubs with spiky thorns, and a hazy sky with the sun hiding behind clouds; no breeze.
21st November 1985 : Flat As
Continued south through vast expanse of gravel and sand with nothing between us and the horizon in any direction. On the road most of the way, here under good repair.
20th November 1985 : Cinematic Sahara Dunes at Last
Well, we’re in the desert so we started the day pushing the truck out of soft sand using the sand mats - need to practise because there's going to be lots more to come.
19th November 1985 : Into the Desert
Skipped breakfast. Wrote a letter and then sat with Jim while he tried to fix my camera lens (doing weird things). Ended up leaving him to it.
18th November 1985 : Cold Chips and Communal Wine
Cold chattering bodies round the fire at breakfast time. Truck obviously the best and warmest place to be last night.