The Silk Route Motorcaravan Club.
Bulletin 96 (Part 1 of 2).
June 2002.
Translated by Christine O'Brien.
Edited for
publication by Bill
Peckham.
Uploaded from China by GSM/Iridium phone so no photographs and in
two parts!
Stephen Stewart.
The Champigny Meeting
We were expecting 40-50 people. But there were more friends than expected who came to wish the leavers a good trip. Over 70 people enjoyed a balmy late afternoon on the terrace of the camping site bar (a bit of luck, as it was the only sunny day that week). They also appreciated the 12 bottles of champagne donated by the Club, the 48 bottles of Chinese beer, the Chinese steamed ravioli-type parcels and cabbage salad donated by Mr. Yao. The lady director of the Chinese Tourist Office in France, her partner, Mr. Wang Kingcheng, joint director of the Xinhua press agency, and a journalist from the European edition of the Peking News all did us the honour of attending. And the next morning being Sunday, at 9 o'clock precisely the Bertrands, Cortades, Griffoins and Hervious disappeared towards the A4 in the direction of Germany, the Czech Republic (which they'd already reached by Monday evening), and . To be continued.
Also present were Jacques Clerissi, who should have been going on the trip, and Jacques Henry, who would like to go in 2003.
Lot, Perigord and Pays D'albret
Ask for the programme!
Meet on Friday 20th September 2002, from 17:00 on, at the CC area of Bourdeilles (beside Brantome) in Dordogne. Free parking, water, WC, hall.
The 21st and 22nd, free for visits in the neighborhood.
Monday the 23rd, leave for Puy-lEveque, CC rest area, free, water, WC, emptying.
Tuesday 24th, leave at 08.15 by bus for a guided tour of vineyards, chateaux, cellar, museum, restaurant at midday (30 Euros per person). A particularly attractive day.
Wednesday 25th, Meet at Cahors at 14:00, at the foot of the Pont Valentre for a guided tour of the town. Barge, small train, walk (107 Euros to be divided between the participants + 5 Euros per person), market in the morning. In the evening, parking at the Mont Saint Circ, 7 km to the east (tables, chimney for barbecues).
Thursday 26th, move towards Lot-et-Garonne (precise stopping point later).
Friday 27th, free for visiting, evening stopping point at Nerac.
Saturday 28th, move towards Mezin, visit the town and a pigeon loft [translators note : not sure about this, but it's definitely something to do with pigeons]. A landowner, Mr. Tadieu is making a room available for us and in the evening we will be received at the Town Hall.
Sunday 29th, move to the leisure area at Lislebonne, 45 km south-west of Agen. At 10:00, start of the AGM, drinks, meal, more AGM, parking.
Monday 30th, end of the AGM and moving out.
In order that we can cater for the right numbers, please send back the form as soon as possible. As always, if you cannot for any reason take part in the 'balade' or the AGM, your payment will be reimbursed in its entirety.
Champagne - an appeal for transport. To provide the AGM with bubbly it would be helpful if 3 or 4 kind teams could make a small detour via Leuvrigny. If not, we shall use carriers but they will not be so kind. We can't say now how much the order will be. That will appear with the next bulletin, and the price will be 9.76 Euros a bottle if the transport is under our care, or ? Euros including transport costs.
I Want To Go. I Want To Go. I Want Go.
And we are going, at least I hope so.
It'll be the beginning of January for West Africa, Abidjan, where at the end of February or beginning of March (depending on other travellers) we shall leave the vehicle, either selling it or picking it up a few months later, to carry on travelling or come home, all this depending on a following wind, the age of the captain and what our fellow team members think. For I hope you won't abandon us and that there'll be someone prepared to keep an eye on the preservation of a rare species, in this case mine.
A notice to possible fellow travellers. We spent 7 years on the Ivory Coast and the thought of going back to the little beaches in the north makes me drool.
To meet you and tell you about it we shall be at Sillans-la-Cascade from 10 to 18 September. We'll also be at Cahors and doubtless at the Bourget salon on 2 October.
J. Mahaut.
Postcards from...
Marcel and Madeleine Milliard, Piez-la-Romaine, 24 May. We are back on the road and in the Gorges du Verdon, unluckily in heavy rain.
Jeanne and Lucien Rudolf, Bozburum, 27 May. Beautiful landscapes with unreal colours, but galloping tourism is invading the area with concrete and soulless buildings that spoil the area. Best wishes to all.
Helene and Felix Fenech, Morestel, 25 May. The postcard is a photo of the circus of Archiane, the last site we're visiting at the end of the trip round Vercors. This trip has brought us a lot of powerful and fascinating experiences. Greetings to all.
Regis and Bernadette Hagnere, Inari, Finland, 6 June. Good evening from the midnight sun. Wonderful weather, we hope it'll be the same at the North Cape which we intend to reach on the 8th. Best wishes to all.
Kalahari, Namibia, Botswana, Zimbabwe.
Twenty five days camping, transport by customised lorry.
Our vehicle was a Toyota with the back of the cabin cut off so that the driver and his assistant could talk to the passengers. The 20 travellers sat on two benches running from front to back with an aisle down the middle. The seats were 'firmly' upholstered and the suspension was unquestionably suitable for a truck. Short legs were more comfortable than long ones, except if we wanted to touch knees with our neighbour. And we couldn't bend our legs under the benches as the space was taken up with boxes. Above the roof, in a separate box, were the tents, tables, chairs and travelling bags (1 per person, and no suitcases). Part of the roof opened so we could admire the landscape. There were windows at the sides too.
For meals we had reheated food or barbecues in the open air with a table for preparing the food, a job everybody lent a hand with. The food was simple, good and plentiful, we drank tea. We slept in tents, usually on cultivated land, which seemed surprising as we were out in the bush and there were no people around. Everything was clean. Civic pride seems to be well developed here. The driver-guide took us along roads in good condition to the most interesting sites, animals and views and was happy to stop when we wanted to take photos or for any other reason. When the journey took us to a park we transferred to 4x4s. The commentary was in English and except in specific places we were not allowed to get out of the vehicle for safety reasons.
As far as comfort was concerned, the camping was fine and at 73 I was up to it ; but you do need to be fit. In theory the agency has an upper age limit of 55. I had to sign a piece of paper acquitting the agency of all responsibility.
I am very glad I made this journey. It gave me some idea of what this part of the world is like, the natural life there and the people who live there as well as Black-White relations. We were able to discover Nambia, with its canyons and sand dunes, the Okavango, the parks and animals, the Victoria Falls.
Everything we did could also be done with an ordinary motorcaravan. The roads are good even when they're not surfaced. There are no safety worries and you can buy food everywhere. There are also many places organised for camping even in the middle of the desert.
In places that are difficult to get to you can hire a guide with a 4x4. You'd need 2 months to cover the area properly. You can also hire a 4x4 or a camping car without a driver on the spot. So, if you love nature, go on this journey.
For more information contact : Kibodo-Adventure or Karibu-Safari (the same organisation)
Central reservations, PO Box 35196 Nortway - 4065 Carford Park, 53 Anthony Road - South Africa. Tel. 031 563 9774, Fax 031 563 1957.
Email karibusa@africa.com - www.kibodo.co.za
Robert Van Grevelinghe.