An Capall Mór
(Translation from Irish: The Big Horse)

BMW R1100GS

Motorbikes are often compared to horses, with most commonly Ducatis, Aprilias, and such getting the nickname 'Italian Stallion'.
The simple reference is speed.

For us, the image the BMW gives is that of a big working horse. A shire horse maybe, (although we don't know the Irish for 'shire').
Not super-fast but big, powerful, steady, load-carrying and comfortable.
And reliable we hope...!

Maybe, An Camall (Camel) may have been more appropriate for our trip but the GS is much too thirsty for that synonym!!
So, the trip………...

Africa 2010.
The basic plan is as follows;

January 6th; the bike, heavy with all our gear and; us, heavy after processing a few Christmas boxes of Cadbury's Roses; we depart Ireland via Rosslare.

January 6th - 13th; mostly motorway riding through the UK, France and Spain calling in on friends and relatives on the way.

January 13th-ish; we will cross the Mediterranean into Ceuta which is on the African continent but is actually Spanish territory.

From here we have a basic route planned but really, the exact path and exact dates are open to the whims of the trip.

South, East, North, South and West.

We've roughly planned a trip as follows:

Morocco.
This will be a zig-zag route from inland to coastal destinations. Fez, Rabat, Casablanca and Marrakech are all planned, working South

Westen Sahara.
We will be skirting the edge of the Saharan sand dunes, following the coast almost due South.

Mauritania.
Still Southbound through Nouakchott and plan to leave at Barrage de Diama (Diama dam)

Senegal.
This is the only country we will visit twice. We will follow the route South to Dakar and from there carry on South The Gambian border.

The Gambia is completely surrounded by Senegal and the Atlantic and is split by The Gambia river.
We cross the river into Banjul, the apparently relaxed capital city.
As far as Banjul, our trip will have been generally heading South.
In Banjul, we will turn left at the post office and start heading East and inland.
We will follow the Gambia river and cross back into Senegal.

Senegal again.
Staying Eastbound we cross the border at Nayé.

Mali.
Mali makes up for being land-locked by enclosing the mighty Niger river.
From Bamako, we will follow the river North through Mopti as far as Timbuktu.
With our toes at the bottom edge of the Sahara, from Timbuktu we will retrace our tracks due South.

Burkina Faso.
Ougadougou is our favourite name for a capital city and at the centre of the second land-locked country, it will form a good stopping point.

Benin.
We will travel the length of Benin South to the Atlantic again where will finish in 'The Gentle City' of Porto-Nova.
From here we turn West and follow the coast into Togo.

Togo is the smallest country of our trip and with some short inland return trips we will follow the coast West through Lomé to the border.

Ghana.
All going well, An Capall will have made it this far.
The first English-speaking country since the UK; this should hopefully make it easier to organise crating and shipping the bike to London from the capital, Accra.

UK.
Back in Europe probably with mixed feelings, the M4 West-bound will be the last leg of our trip.

Ireland - April 2010.
That's a lot of mileage for three months!


Tóg é bog é