4x4 Expedition, West Africa+Chad+Central African Republic

[Xenobian]

Last year I did another 4x4 overland expedition across West and Central Africa in the Toyota Landcruiser (HJZ76). We shipped into Dakar, drove across Senegal, Mali and Niger into Chad. The main focus of the expedition was northern Chad (the Sahara desert and the Tibesti mountains deep within), a lot of rock crawling. We spent 6 weeks in northern Chad all in, and a further 2 in the south. The second main goal of the trip was to get into the Central African Republic from southern Chad. A very little visited part of the world, but immensely fascinating. I'll upload a few more pictures soon.



Driving across the Tibesti Mountains near Zouar, northern Chad.



Dramatic gorges in the Tibesti Mountains



Sandy roads on the route to Lake Chad, coming from the border with Niger



Lake Chad



Daily life along the shores of Lake Chad



Taking a boat out onto Lake Chad to visit some of the islands. It took many hours of negotiating with the local police to be able to do this. They were worried about Boko Haram kidnapers hiding on the islands, having fled from Nigeria. An unfounded fear, especially having recently visited from the Nigerian side, too.

[blueST]

Wonderful, this is my dream. I’ve ventured as fas as Morocco twice, but it’s impossible to get any further in the max leave my boss allows. Maybe when I retire.

Edited by blueST on Monday 14th February 20:41

[Xenobian]

Near the police station in Bardai, northern Chad.



People crossing the desert



Illegal gold miners near the Miski gold mine in Chad. Rather sensibly in a Toyota...



The buyers of the aforementioned gold, in Faya, northern Chad



Roundabout on the road into Faya



Old French colonial fort in Zouar, northern Chad. The military also sensibly utilise Toyotas.

[Xenobian]

blueST said:

Wonderful, this me dream. I’ve ventured as fas as Morocco twice, but it’s impossible to get further in max leave my boss allows. Maybe when I retire.

Truly excellent journey, all of Africa is really... Morocco has some great drives, and so close to the UK relatively speaking. I'm surprised more people don't drive there. There are some fly-in options for Chad, with local operators dealing with the hassle of vehicles there (it is not at all as straightforward as Morocco when going with your own), but for many I can see this takes away some of the romance of the journey. The desert is just a really great experience.