Packed up and away at 9.30am, heading for the Gambia border. The roads were absolutely terrible so we only managed 20-30kph. Stopped for coffee at 12.00 noon thinking it would be another two hours to the border. When we set off the road had been resurfaced all the way to the border, so we made it by 1.15pm. Formalities were straightforward as we were expected. Tor and Ulrick got another ticking off for not having a visa. They just looked blank and explained it must be ok as they had been let in! A $5 tip seemed to cover it and they were let out of the country wirhout further ado.
Then the fun started. To get to Banjul we had to go first to Barra, then take a ferry over to Banjul, and finally drive to the Safari Garden which was journey's end. At the first police check we were all in trouble for not having the car stamped into our passports. No one had told the police that they weren't stamped in because they would be sold and would not be leaving with us. We got this sorted only to then be met by loads of bumsters in Banjul Challenge T-shirts, all wanting to guide us to the ferry and sort out our tickets. We had been warned about them, so trusting no-one we drove straight to the ferry. There we learned we couldn't buy tickets for the cars to go on the ferry, so after much confusion we went back to a ticket office where we bought tickets at €5 per car and driver. We had changed Euros into Dalassi and offerred these to pay. They wouldn't take their own currency, demanding Euros as they wanted foreign exchange. John eventually found a €50 note, but they then had no change. We hung about whilst they sent someone for change, then set off back to the ferry. Here we had to buy tickets for the passengers, which cost just 10 Dalassi, and we were then put on the ferry in front of all the other waiting cars. Reaching the other side we were met by Yvonne from the Safari Garden and escorted to the hotel. We were so relieved to spot a face we recognised from the launch party. We had a beer and a bite to eat then headed off to our hotel at about 8.30pm to meet the family, who had just flown in. 135km today and a grand total of 6,820km or 4,228 miles. Would we do it again? Absolutely YES. It was a brilliant trip.
