Scoots 2013. The road to Bansang

[Paula aka Mrs Humbug]

Dick Head Of the day Award

There is another Andrew on the trip and he has been awarded this prestigous prize for his actions at the border crossing from Western Sahara (Morocco) into Mauritania.

They had all sucessfully negotiated the land mine filled 'No Man's Land' and had almost crossed into Mauritania, when Andrew discovered that he had lost his jacket containing all his papers, money, phone etc.

It had been on his bike when he entered No Man's Land. It had clearly fallen off his bike on the way through. Everyone else had taken the same line but Andrew had gone a slightly different line, which is why nobody else saw said jacket detach itself from the bike.

Anyway - Steve - volunteered to go back with him and look for the missing item which by now could have been squirrelled away by some unscrupulous person who realised the value of the pocket contents. They did find the jacket on the ground all in tact and successfully negotiated their way back through the land mines.

Disaster overted.

Chris has since nominated Andrew for the aforesaid award and this has been unanimously agreed by the rest of the group.

Additional information - this is the one and the same person who held them all up in Madrid - remember that story from way back?!

Paula

 

[Paula aka Mrs Humbug]

Mauritania to Senegal

Firstly I must apologise for loosing a day - did anybody actually spot the error?!

On Wednesday 6 November I said

"Today - Tuesday 5 November - day 18 - they crossed the border into Senegal."

On Tuesday 5 November they were actually still riding through Mauritania.

They did arrive at the Zebrabar on Wednesday and stayed for two nights - today is Friday the 8th and they will be making their way towards Diourbel where they will wild camp. Per my reckoning they should arrive at the hospital on Sunday.

Sadly I have not much of an update as to their wherabouts tonight as I have no calls or texts from Andy, due to his deceased SIM card. I did, however, get an e-mail from St Louis attaching some photos. He is very very tired and feels quite isolated as it only appears to be him who is tired. The rest of the group are showing no signs of fatigue at all - whatever they are taking I would like some.

Andy has stayed in a little bungalow at The Zebrabar as he - as you know from my previous posts - struggles with the tiny tent.
Personally, I cannot see a problem in taking advantage of a comfortable bed when it is available, but others clearly do not feel the same. He has had to contend with sarcastic comments throughout the trip and especially at the Zebrabar.

Dennis told us in a meeting a while ago that there is nothing like sleeping under the stars on the beach; and why would anyone want to waste money on a room?

I find it ironic that this very same man hired a room at the Zebrabar last year for three nights......

I get the feeling that Andy just wants it all to be over and be back home again. I feel very sad about that, as I very much wanted him to have a fantastic trip. He has enjoyed the riding, he has enjoyed the scenery and the people met on route, however, the penny pinching to the nth degree, the sarcastic digs, the expectation that you do not need to eat or sleep very much at all, etc etc has all been a total nightmare.

I just wish I had not encouraged him to do it - we should have listened to our heads at those early meetings instead of our hearts.

I just hope that when he gets to the hospital he will not have the same views of it as two of the girls who went on the trip last year. I hope he thinks that giving little Chubby to the Bansang Hospital will be worth the pain.

But so be it - we must put it all down to experience - abeit a bad one.

Here are the pictures he sent from St Louis - they appear to be his journey through Mauritania and entry into Senegal - I guess the uniformed man in the photo is the Border Guard who gave Andy lunch.

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[Deleted account 211025001]

.....................

I get the feeling that Andy just wants it all to be over and be back home again. I feel very sad about that, as I very much wanted him to have a fantastic trip. He has enjoyed the riding, he has enjoyed the scenery and the people met on route, however, the penny pinching to the nth degree, the sarcastic digs, the expectation that you do not need to eat or sleep very much at all etc etc has all been a total nightmare.

I just wish I had not encouraged him to do it - we should have listened to our heads at those early meetings instead of our hearts.

I just hope that when he gets to the hospital he will not have the same views of it as two of the girls who went on the trip last year. I hope he thinks that giving little Chubby to the Bansang Hospital will be worth the pain.

....................

Mmmmmmm........................don't feel down about stuff like that!

I did (part of) the Callums Road trip a couple of years ago; a group of people that didn't know each other and then had to put up with each other through some testing times (to put it mildly). At times I wanted to kill certain people and I'm sure the feeling was quite mutual...............BUT.............it was an experience that I will take to the grave with me. I'm immensely proud of what we did, it has given me some amazing memories and given me a different outlook on life that I feel has been all for the good!

Your lad has done more than most peeps will do in their life time and you've supported him in doing that - nobody said it would be easy and it's more of an achievement for that!

No regrets

Have a look HERE if you're bored

Andres

 

[Paula aka Mrs Humbug]

Hi Andres

Thanks for the encouraging words - at the moment, sitting here at Andy's computer I am just thinkng of how much the trip has cost us (we could have had a really nice 6 weeks touring on our GS for the equivalent) and it is 4 weeks (including Sam's 21st and my birthday) out of our lives together.

I really hope that when he comes home next week he will be able to focus in on the good bits rather than the bad and see it as an achievement. Sadly, I think that, at the moment, because everyone else is showing no signs of tiredness or discontent, Andy feels that he is the weak link.

 

[Deleted account 211025001]

Money is there for spending Paula What ever you do don't think about the cost -I'v never dared work out what my trip cost ( 5 weeks unpaid leave from work as well as the 'actual' cost). At the end of the day you can't quantify the cost versus the 'life experience'............... Once the dust has settled Andy (and you) will have gone through something that can be nothing other than a positive life affirming experience........................................even if it's never to do something like that again

Andres

 

[Fanum]

Hi Andres

Thanks for the encouraging words - at the moment, sitting here at Andy's computer I am just thinkng of how much the trip has cost us (we could have had a really nice 6 weeks touring on our GS for the equivalent) and it is 4 weeks (including Sam's 21st and my birthday) out of our lives together.

I really hope that when he comes home next week he will be able to focus in on the good bits rather than the bad and see it as an achievement. Sadly, I think that, at the moment, because everyone else is showing no signs of tiredness or discontent, Andy feels that he is the weak link.

Three and a half grand each, roughly, I reckon that first trip cost us individually (We made sure that every personal cost was born by us rather than the money donated in suport).....not to mention lost jobs



It's really hard to get a perspective until it's all done and over....and I can't imagine how hard it must be as the recipient of all the woes and gripes from Andy, because you are the only outlet he's using at the moment.

After the first Scoots trip, and the book that Dennis published so we could raise the money to finish the secondary target that we picked up while we were in Bansang, (the building of the perimeter wall around the hospital) ...I picked up a nickname here that only a few people know the origin of.......I'm going to tell you now, because it might help (and I've long been past caring too much about what people think about me )

The nickname was 'POLO'.

Do a search for it here, and you'll find it referred to a good few times.....

It stands for "Page one, line one" (he's a cnut), and it's a reference to the way that Dennis described me in the scoots book.....he wrote a daily diary, and because I was driving the project forwards on the road and the way that it didn't (in that first year) suit what his aspirations/imagination of how the trip would be (EG actually riding down the Eastern Shara classic off-road piste), I was, Page one line one, a cnut.

In that first draught of the book, I was the villain from POLO to the last page, last line.......we still got 13 scoots and nearly a quarter of a million quids worth of drugs and kit to the hospital though, even if we didn't do the really exciting off road bit through the 300 miles of old classic eastern piste Sahara crossing


Dennis came over to my end of the country to show me the first draught of the book, and we met up at the Ace cafe so I could read it through while we ate.

I have to say, I nearly punched him out right then on the spot, the way he portrayed me........it really was that close


After a bit of a chat, we agreed that his subjective point of view diary detailing his feelings day to day, especially when the decision had to be made NOT to go down the off-road route because we had all those drugs and defibrillator etc on board a sick truck that would definitely not have made it, was probably a bit severe and he cut it back a bit.....

Still though, if you read the original Scoots in the Sahara book, I come over as a right domineering twat......That book still hurts when I see it, but I know the real story



The next year, Dennis lead the trip......

Afterwards, he came to meet me and apologised unreservedly for the tone of the book....he hadn't realised (he said) the full weight of responsibility of the whole trip, or the seriousness of the situation we were going in to, and what decisions had to be made to make that happen.

I was lucky on the first trip......I had Paul (Oblertone) and Ian (MrIfan) amongst others who backed me on the decision not to go across the hard core part of the Sahara crossing (I'd done it the year before in a Land rover and even then we got stuck twice, so I knew it would totally kill the Mercedes van with all the med supplies on board)


So.....we got to the hospital, after some bloody hard decisions and some real pissed off feelings from Dennis....we saw the state of the place, we worked there, did what we could, burnt a mountain down with flares and generally got gawped at (LOOK AT THE FUNNY WHITE PEOPLE....SEE WHAT THEY'RE DOING NOW!!)

Dennis is a bloody good man who has his heart in totally the right place......he's driven by this project and I'm really glad he is......Andy might well come back from this first trip with a very positive view of the riding and the end result, but with the negative feelings that are understandable if he hasn't been in the shoes that had to drive it all.....so don't automatically judge too harshly based on dispirited reports from the field

This is all (in a fairly fuzzy and poorly expressed way) what I was alluding to when I said the rip would change Andy.....it will, but it will only be on the second trip when he takes you along as well and bears the weight of the decisions that have to be made to accomplish the mission.












Of course, it could just be that Dennis is being a bit of a twat and needs a good slapping, but if that's the case, anyone who has ridden across the Sahara on a C90 should be able to decide that and administer it for themselves


Paula.......don't get down about it, your man will be fine.......Ping me if you like

b

 

[JohnnyBoxer]

Paula & Andy

If it's any consolation I would have opted for a room at any point I could, on the trip & I would have made sure I was properly fed & watered when the opportunity arose

No shame in that at all

I'm beginning to see the reason I don't attend these Pre trip meetings with a view to doing something like this Scooters trip, not for me - but hats off to those that do for a great cause

 

[Crapaud]

I can echo everything that Bill and Andres say above. I remember when I first did this trip in 2005 in the Plymouth Banjul Banger Rally. The road Book / Guide told us when entering the Sahara to "leave your egos behind in Morroco". It is stressful and a completely alien environment.

My observations from your posts:
1. I might be wrong but compared to some previous trips it does sound like some of the bikes have not been prepared or serviced well enough before hand. I know some of the previous bikes were very well prepared and survived the journey well. Not much point in donating a bike that will fall to bits when it is first used.

2. Can't understand why the others would refuse offer of food from the border guards? Best part of the trips for me was interacting with the locals. One guide in Mauritania not only insisted that I shared dinner with him but was equally insistent that I could avail myself of the services of one of his wives. I of course declined the use of his wife partly because I had my son with me and parted as I did not want to catch aids. However, I did thank him (and her) for the kind offer.

3. I don't believe for one minute that the other riders are not equally knackered. It is just a macho thing to pretend to take it all in your stride. I bet when they get to the end of the trip they will sleep like babies for days.

4. Personalities/friendships will be tested to breaking point. I was taken aside by John/Paintman and told off that my blog was not well received as I had been taking the piss out of the others ("Sid, everyone here thinks you are a total bastard!" were his exact words). I had meant it in a fun way but due to the stress they had taken it the wrong way. In Dakhla, I nearly split and rode off on my own as the little subgroups had become nasty and it reminded me of the kids in Lord of the Flies. As Andres says above, at the time, many wanted to kill each other (with me at the top of the kill list but after the event people like John/Paintman and Andres/Outtomunch have become lifelong friends.


5. It IS worth it although you will have doubts about how it could have been better etc. Unlike many others though you have actually done something to help those less fortunate rather than just argue about it on an internet forum. When you see the conditions in the Basang hospital you are unlikely to complain about your local NHS again.

Give them all our best regards and tell them all to be proud and enjoy every second of it.

Hope this helps

Sid

 

[Paula aka Mrs Humbug]

Thank you all

Thank you so much for all your supportive words - it does help. I do feel at times that I am here getting on with life in my safe little bubble and Andy is struggling - not so much physically but mentally - and I cannot help him.

I am very disappointed that the others are not making any attempt to stand up to Dennis - it was very much that at the meetings. Dennis does have his heart inthe right place - there is no doubt about that - but he is very strong minded and always right. However, he is not God.

He is fortunate to be able to survive on very little sleep, very little food, ride for days without getting off the bike and seemedly suffer no aches and pains as a consequence. He is very lucky and blessed. Secretly, I am sure he sleeps on a bed of nails at home!

We did buy Dennis's book and I started to read it after Andy had gone - thinking maybe I would get a better understanding of the journey. I read 5 pages and was so appalled by the continual criticism of everyone else - especially Bill - I put it down and have read no more.

Yes, I hope Andy sees it as an achievement -and I hope he feels he has done some good for those less fortunate. I really do believe that he will not, however, become one of Dennis' "best friends"!!!!!

Hopefully when he gets a new Sim in The Gambia he will be able to call me and I will have something to share with you all about the journey of the last few days - I would guess that this should be the most interesting bit of the trip - through Senegal and into The Gambia.

 

[Ogmios]

As another previous trip Scooteristi i can only nod and agree with all that Outtomunch, Fanum and Crapaud have said.

Paula,
I really feel for Andy.
My feelings about the trip / denis are very similar to his.
You should talk to Linda (Mrs Og) - She was subjected to me and my moans / as you are for Andy! You should compare notes!

denis.... well, we're not on each others Christmas list, put it that way.

Linda was actually supposed to be the one going when i ended up doing it, but She was at the time a Carer for an elderly couple and wouldn't leave them alone for the time needed to do the trip.
I initially thought anyone wanting to do this was totally insane! But went from that to being a keen convert to the cause.
While i would do it again, tomorrow, with no hesitation and as much enthusiasm as before - It is Lindas turn and while i have no idea how we'll do it - We Will Do It! - somehow it must get done, despite the cost and hassle.

Now being totally blunt and selfish;
"Life Changing" is an over used term - but doing the Scoots Trip IS life changing and is of immeasurable benefit to those that partake - never mind the obvious benefit to the Hospital.
Only 4 weeks, only 4000 miles, only a blip in our Western world lives - but (and this has been repeated often, but is so true)
You Will Never Be The Same Again. In a good way - a way that cant be replicated by anything else

~~~
Marc

 

[Deleted account 231002001]

Paula & Andy

If it's any consolation I would have opted for a room at any point I could, on the trip & I would have made sure I was properly fed & watered when the opportunity arose

No shame in that at all

I'm beginning to see the reason I don't attend these Pre trip meetings with a view to doing something like this Scooters trip, not for me - but hats off to those that do for a great cause

What he said Paula.

Give them all our best regards and tell them all to be proud and enjoy every second of it.

Sid

.. and him too.

 

[Paula aka Mrs Humbug]

Nearly there - they are at Eddy's Place

Just had a very quick call from Andy on a Gambia SIM. Sadly after about 3 minutes we were cut off – I have tried to call back but no luck.

I did manage to ascertain that they are now in The Gambia at Farrefeni staying at Eddy’s Place.

Last night they camped in a field and their “bed mates” were a swarm of locust – each about 4” long and they were everywhere. These insects can devour, within a day, food that would feed thousands of people and hundreds of livestock, however, I do not believe they are a threat to humans. Just not the companions you would choose to have in your tent! EEK!

Today they have covered about 150 miles – rough roads, very very dusty and the scenery mainly bushland.

They are now one days ride from Bansang.

Today has not been without incident. Andy had a flat front tyre and so stopped – Joe is just in front and the truck behind so they too stopped. As has happened quite a few times now the others were way off in the distance – not checking their mirrors to ensure they have a bike behind them. It therefore took a while before they realised that they had lost two bikes and the truck.

Meanwhile Joe is trying to replace Andy’s front wheel. They are unable to find a wheel to fit as Little Chubby is too new for the wheels on board. It is very hot and just the effort of unloading the wheels is quite debilitating. The heat/fatigue and probable lack of food caused Joe to actually pass out. Jill is a Nurse – but it took a while for her to get back. However, I believe she ensured Joe was OK and the trip continued. The puncture was caused by a thorn in the inner tube and was duly repaired.

I hope that Andy can sort out the Gambia SIM card as I am very interested to know how his opinion of the hospital. Also he has loads of photos to e-mail me.

Watch this space!

 

[Paula aka Mrs Humbug]

Hey - we got photos!

I have just checked my in box and, lo and Behold, there is an e-mail with some more photos attached. There is no message or title and so I guess that the internet is not brilliant. They had no electricity until 6pm!

I am assuming that these follow on from the last ones and relate to the journey through Senegal

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And not a sunset in sight!

 

[Paula aka Mrs Humbug]

One Ted down and three to go

Andy did say that he had given one of his Teds away to a little girl who was absolutely beautiful and I think this may be her. I have zoomed in on the photo and, although it is difficult to see - I think that is a Ted's head in the top of her bag.

Andy also said that the girl's family tried to sell her to him.........................

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[Ash]

xxx

 

[Deleted account 231002001]

Andy's photographs are an amazing record of his journey through Africa. I could look at photos like this for ages, they make you feel so many different emotions. Beautiful people, wonderful scenery and wildlife, horrible poverty that makes you so thankful for what we have, and yet the people always look so happy. I will go there one day.

 

[Paula aka Mrs Humbug]

Little Chubby and the others

Just wanted to make a response to the following comment several posts ago:

I might be wrong but compared to some previous trips it does sound like some of the bikes have not been prepared or serviced well enough before hand. I know some of the previous bikes were very well prepared and survived the journey well. Not much point in donating a bike that will fall to bits when it is first used.

The bikes were all prepared very thoroughly - I cannot speak for Peter's as his did not survive the trip to Portsmouth! According to Dennis, it was the fact that the bike had NOT been prepared properly that it failed but I guess we will not really know for certain. confused

Both Steve and Chris put a lot of time, effort and money into their bikes - they both had problems with them in the UK and so both had total engine rebuilds. Sadly though those engines never had chance to be run in.

Our little Chubby was completely gone through by Andy and then by a very good motorcycle repair business who did all the work for free. It also has a new barrel and pistons.

As far as I can make out the only things that should have been done but were not -both Andy D and Dennis had chains that had no further adjustment left in them and Andy D had a very worn back tyre.

Other than that I do not think anymore could have been done to prepare the bikes.

That is why I do not understand why so much oil is being used - other than they are simply being pushed too hard day in day out - as you all know these little bikes will take abuse and go on and on but they are not designed to be ridden all day every day flat out.

The bikes that are taking it slower are surviving better. It is just the riders who are not because Dennis gives them a hard time for not keeping up.

Touch wood - and I say this with only one day riding left - other than two bikes using oil they have only encountered punctures and minor problems -they have all done really well.

In fact the entire trip has been totally successful - as I see it - no disasters, no fatal breakdowns and they will be there almost at the expected time.

It is only Andy and possibly Joe who feel that things could have been a whole lot better.

 

[Crapaud]

Paula

Very sorry if my comments about servicing the bikes has been taken the wrong way. I certainly wasn't accusing Andy of not preparing his bike properly. It was just that some of the comments you had made about the other bikes seemed to suggest that some of the bikes had not been prepared adequately for such a journey, in my opinion. Eg a tyre being worn out suggested that it obviously didn't have new tyres before setting off. Similar for chains etc. These are the blindingly obvious things that need to be new so if even such basics as these were overlooked then it suggests that more "hidden" items such as swing arm bearing etc could have been overlooked.

I did say "I might be wrong" but my comments were based on direct experience.

Firstly, I was lucky enough to be able to help prepare a few bikes for one of the previous trips, including Ogmios's one. We completely stripped the bikes down and replaced absolutely everything that needed it with brand new genuine Honda spares. Also many people do not know how much you have to completely clean out the engine when you do an oil change. Some just do a ten minute job of draining old oil and putting in new stuff. The Old Git from Okehampton (AKA Proff ) amazingly had an intricate knowledge of these engines and showed me how to completely clean out all the gauze filters and passage ways in the engines. I've told Dennis I would be happy to help with any preparation for any future trips all free of charge.

Secondly, when we arrived at Bassang Hospital a few years ago, I had a look over the C90s that were there from previous trips and they were in a dreadful state. This tall chap with grease all over his hands told me about the trouble he had trying to maintain the bikes. He told me that he had to rebore the engine but he couldn't get the correct pistons. He had to enlarge the spark plug hole and fit bigger spark plugs as they could only obtain dodgy bad quality spark plugs from Nigeria. He also showed me the over-sized tyres he had bodged to fit on the wheels etc etc. The swinging arm bearings were so knackered that there was as much side to side movement as there was up and down. I told him he must be an excellent mechanic to perform all these bodges to keep the bikes going without the proper spares. He replied that he was not a bike mechanic, he was actually the senior doctor/surgeon at the hospital but he had to learn bike mechanics to enable him to fix the bikes to be able to get out to the villages to his patients.

He told me bluntly that rather than getting a new batch of scooters every other year, what they really needed was adequate spares to keep the existing bikes going. I got a list from him and from the hospital director of all the spares that they needed and passed this to Dennis as soon as I returned. I even offered to buy the spares myself (such as boxes of decent spark plugs) and donate them. I was told that by Dennis that I was wrong (and presumably the hospital staff as well) and they didn't need all that.

Personally I still believe that they need adequate spares rather than more new bikes but that's a completely different story.

Again, sorry if my comments caused offense but that was not my intention. Just stating my opinion based on my own experiences.

 

[Deleted account 231002001]

I commend all those involved in this and previous trips but can I ask a question, what are these scooters used for when they are left in the Gambia and how many do they actually have in use now?
Do they really need them? What sort of mileages do these little bikes cover once they are left there?
With Dennis and others here being so obviously committed to helping the area, hospital and people, is there any other way future efforts could be directed?

 

[(RIP) Proff]

Cheers for the mention Sid....

I've worked on these little engines since 1964,,, Rebuilt 100's
Most common reason for excessive oil consumption is the main centrifugal oil filter gets full of solid crap.
Even regularly serviced ones have had this operation overlooked..

Easiest way is to take off the clutch cover then the centre plate and scrape the shit out..
That should do it ..

You do not have to remove the clutch, do it in situ, should take an hour MAX !!!

I'll try and link a pic in a minute