African Mopeds

We did it ! We rode from French Alps to Dakar in Senegal with our mopeds ! And I can tell you arriving here wasn't an easy job. The border between Mauritania and Senegal on a local ferry crossing a river was sooooo nerve-racking. We had to deal with kids begging for money, adults being too curious and looking much too interested by our mopeds and above all civil servants like policers and customs officers trying to extort as much money as possible from us. Wow, that was an original welcome in Senegal ! Africa is indeed a continent that you have to earn. Here, we were delighted to plunge ourselves in the local atmosphere : bright colors, spicy odors, sunny days, lively streets, cheerful voices, smiling kids, warm weather etc. It is all so typical and good. But let's be honest, there's one snag : we, "toubabs" (white people in the local language), are constantly sought and even plagued for money or by sellers who would sell us anything possible from the kitschest souvenir to a cocaine dose. Some even tried and sometimes succeeded in stealing us. That's not the best way to discover a place, is it ? On the other hand, to be fair with Senegalese, their country became very touristic in the last few years and we understand it's not easy for them to remain still with all these currency entering. What's more, tourists, most of them being French, don't always behave reasonably and some of them treat local people badly acting like colonists, which is really a shame. In total, it took us 7'500 kilometers and 78 days to have our crazy dream finally come true ! It's just impossible to sum up our adventure but we can say that we'll keep undying memories of our adventure. We're not about to forget the stressful border between Mauritania and Senegal, the hours spent in the middle of the desert, the great meals shared with Moroccan families, the partying week-end in Barcelona, the beautiful French sceneries... Another moral of our story is that travelling with a moped is really great as it gives you a feeling of liberty. Our trip was just wonderful. When will be your turn for such an unbelievable experience ? Dakar, 28th of July