Car desert tour: exhausted at the finish
Created: 06/08/2022, 11:00 am
By: Christiane Mühlbauer
Finally at the destination in Guinea-Bissau: Felix Mayr (right) with fellow travelers Claudia Hipp and guide Momo.
© private
After almost four weeks of driving around, Felix Mayr reached his destination in Guinea-Bissau in West Africa at the end of May.
The last stages were pretty tough again.
Now he's back home.
Benediktbeuern – Driving to the west coast of Africa: Felix Mayr (41) from Benediktbeuern and four other adventurous people started this tour, organized by a special tour operator, at the beginning of May (we reported).
They wanted to cover the 5,000-kilometer route in around four weeks.
It all worked out in terms of timing, but things didn't go as well as we had hoped, reports Mayr after his return.
The last stages were also a strain.
Guide Momo helped with the onward journey
As recently reported, the group had to pause for a few days in Nouakchott, the capital of Mauritania, because a car needed major repairs.
They then hired a guide for the onward journey to their destination, the capital Bissau in Guinea-Bissau.
The man named Momo should help them on the route and, above all, solve the language difficulties at checkpoints and border crossings.
Because, contrary to what was planned, the group could not use the shortest route directly because a border crossing was closed.
"Supposedly because of Corona," reports Mayr.
So they had to drive a bit via Mali.
Because a fellow passenger's car had problems, she stayed behind on the way and was later picked up by Momo to take a different route, reports Mayr.
The others then drove a “damn hard track” with sand and rock.
In Mali they had problems with the customs officers.
"We wouldn't have made it without Momo and his persuasion skills," reports Mayr.
In addition, high visa fees were required.
"One official had a great hatred of Europeans," said Mayr.
Their mobile phones were taken away for no reason, which is one of the reasons why they stayed in their cars in front of the police station.
Each tour participant sat at the wheel of their own jeep.
This picture was taken during a stopover on a relatively good road on the edge of the desert.
© Mayr
Difficult slopes
But everything went well - after a night in Mali they drove to Senegal.
"The police accompanied us with pickups with machine guns," says Mayr.
We then continued through Senegal to our destination, the capital of Guinea-Bissau.
It took them two days to cover the 600 kilometers and Mayr doesn't have good memories of the track.
Because they couldn't take a ferry, they had to take a detour, a long route with deep dips.
"My car really suffered a lot over the last 100 kilometers," reports the man from Benediktbeurer.
However, he is glad not to have suffered a broken axle when he once overlooked a depression.
In the end, the exhaust pipe fell off and the shock absorber broke.
"So unfortunately I wasn't able to sell the car well in Bissau."
For Mayr it was the second tour
Mayr had undertaken such a tour thirteen years ago, but with friends and with Mali as the destination.
Compared to back then, "it was now crasser and harder than expected," says Benediktbeurer.
Both personally and with the vehicles, one went to the limits.
The many breakdowns and sometimes a bad mood in the group did the rest.
"I think each of us imagined it differently."
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Nevertheless: "When you do a tour like this, you can see how good things are for us here in Germany," says the 41-year-old.
The charity items he had with him were all given away.
"People were very happy: about the clothes, school supplies and medication." And he himself is grateful for the beautiful moments of hospitality that he experienced in Morocco, for example.
Mayr flew back to Munich shortly before Pentecost with only a rucksack and a photo bag.
Would he do such a tour a third time?
"If so, then on your own and with friends."
Felix Mayr also reports on the tour on his blog: www.felixmayr.com.
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