Another successful season & planning ahead for trips in late 2018-early 2019

Hi everybody,

After leaving the UK in September 2016 for another expedition down to West Africa and back, Aminah is home!

Our last trip of the season arrived into Marrakech at the end of May 2017 after the long journey north through Senegal, Mauritania, Western Sahara and southern Morocco. After a couple of days turnaround in Marrakech, Aminah, Zoe & Jason headed to the Spanish enclave of Ceuta, crossing the Mediterranean to Algeciras where they began the long drive back to the UK via Spain and France.

Rainy season is now well underway in West Africa, a time that makes travelling in the region challenging at best, so time for Aminah to have a well deserved break back home in the UK.

We'd like to say a massive thank you to Zoe and Jason who ran the trips for OWA this season, they both did a truly fantastic job! With trips in West Africa it's so important to have good crew on board, they're an essential part of any overland expedition, and Zoe and Jason's hard work and enthusiasm is highlighted by the overwhelmingly positive feedback we've received from the passengers that travelled with us. Thanks very much indeed Zoe and Jason!

You can read some of the great comments the passengers from this seasons trips wrote about Zoe, Jason and OWA (as well as previous seasons comments) by clicking on the photo below. Thanks so much to all of those who took the time to write such positive feedback for us. Cheers guys!

Dave the Hat headed up to the Drago workshop a few weeks ago to give Aminah some TLC and a good deep clean, as well as a good mechanical inspection. As you can imagine the road conditions take their toll on Aminah and the mud and dust clings to everything, so it takes some time to get her cleaned up properly. After a few long days and nights Hatter parked her up under cover until our next season of trips begin in late 2018/early 2019.

So what's next? Well, over the next few months we'll be jigging things around a little to take into account what has and hasn't worked well on our trips to date. We're going to start the 2018-19 season slightly later in the year, with our Dakar to Freetown trip starting in early November rather than mid-October. Hopefully the extra few weeks will give the roads more of a chance to dry out!

You can see all of the dates for our trips in late 2018/early 2019 here: 

New Dates For Trips In 2018-19 With OWA

If you haven't done so already please send us an Enquiry Form to register your interest in joining our trips in the future.

Remember, you can keep in touch with all the latest happenings at Overlanding West Africa via our social media channels (Facebook, Twitter, You Tube, Pinterest and Google +).

We look forward to hearing from you and hope to see you on board Aminah in 2018-19 for another adventure through magical West Africa!

David Oades (Hatter), Al Goodridge, Jimmy C and Aminah

Below is a wonderful selection of photos that our passengers took over the course of the season. If these don't tempt you to visit the region with us then we don't know what will! Many thanks to Mahesh Patel, Zinzi Speear, Kath Donaldson, Knut Ovrebo, John Stenson, Melanie Smith and Jim Stolk - your photos really do show off what a magical region West Africa is to visit!

Burkina Faso and Ivory Coast Highlights: Kassena Villages, Skilled Artisans, Superb Trekking and Troglodyte Settlements

After crossing the border from Ghana into Burkina Faso we headed to Tiébélé, a Kassena village famous for its decorated mud built houses decorated by women using guinea fowl feathers.

Above is a family compound we visited, and below the campement we stayed at where we were allowed to put our tents on the roofs to take advantage of the breeze!

The dyes used to stain the walls are red, white, black and brown and all made from natural pigments. Each pattern has a meaning, symbolic of articles or creatures important to Kassena life. 

Below are storage utensils we saw within the two-room buildings. 

We also visited a village known for its pottery production where women learn the craft from an early age. However the older lady in centre of the photo below put the younger ladies to shame with the speed of her work! The pots are functional rather than decorative, and are built up by ring upon ring of clay which is then smoothed without the use of a wheel.

A short drive from Tiébélé brought us to the capital, Ouagadougou, where we enjoyed an evening dancing to a band playing Congolese rumba from the 50's and 60's. We were surrounded by immaculately dressed Burkinabes dancing ever so much more stylishly than we were! 

Above is the Grand Mosque in Bobo Dioulasso, our next stop after Ouagadougou where we enjoyed more live music, explored the old town and market and visited its numerous artisans. 

The Domes de Fabedougou rise sharply from the plains below, surrounded by green irrigated fields in the south-western corner of Burkina. The rock formations are easily scrambled up, and virtually deserted save for a few cow herders. We spent an afternoon exploring the area including several hours cooling off at a beautiful set of nearby waterfalls. 

The bush camp we made below the peaks was a real cracker, and such a beautiful spot to enjoy watching the sun set over the imposing peaks.

An early start saw us visit Tengrela. The lake that dominates the village is known for its hippos, though the chap below was the only one we were able to get close to by pirogue. 

Above, Pooley works on his rock star look, and below, Alexi and Jess wear lilies from the lake.

Above is a sacred baobab tree we visited, memorable for its eccentric guardian who communicates with the tree using a bell. He is the 12th guardian of the tree, which is believed to offer protection to the village and its agriculture. On the left, an albino man who gave us a performance on his Balafon. 

The Sindou Peaks are of a similar geology to the Domes de Fabedougou, formed under an ancient sea and since eroded by wind and rain. They are the location of local initiation rituals. 

Below, Pooley continues to work on his rock star look accompanied by Zoe and Nathan.

Above, Jess, Alice, Zoe, Alexi, Nathan, Emila and Al among the Sindou Peaks. 

Below, behind Al, you can see rice cultivation on the surrounding plains.

From Sindou we visited Niansigouni, a troglodyte settlement inhabited from ancient times up until the 1980's. The structures above on the left and right are granaries: enough grain could be stored to last a year when needed in times of tribal war, though all was grown and carried up from the fields below. The image in the centre shows a house depicting weapons which belonged to the chief.

The settlement is perfectly shaded from the sun and protected from the wind and rain, and most importantly cannot be seen from below. Although no longer inhabited, residents of the village below still visit this site for animist rituals.

The structure below, which is situated above the level of the rest of the settlement, was for storing objects of particular value for ritualistic or spiritual reasons. 

A long bumpy drive saw us cross from Burkina Faso to the north of Ivory Coast, and our first stop Korhogo. This lively town is known for its skilled artisans in the surrounding villages. Above a woman spins yarn, and below it's woven into cloth, with the finished product in the picture below that.

These beads are used to make jewellery and are painted with feathers while being spun on a stick.

Below is an example of Korhogo cloth, a print for which the region is well-known.

From Korhogo we head south to the Ivorian capital, Yamoussoukro, and then west into Guinea's Forest region before continuing south into Liberia. There'll be many more great photos coming soon so stay tuned!

Many thanks to passenger Alexi O'Brien for sharing these images with us.

Somba Houses, Trekking, Waterfalls, Wildlife and Dancing in Northern Togo, Benin and Burkina Faso

As our northbound trips start from Accra and we embark upon the long journey up to Tangier, it's time to catch up on the second half of our recent Accra to Ouagadougou trip. 

Having spent 2 weeks slowly exploring Ghana's Volta region and the south of Togo and Benin, after Christmas we had a couple of days driving up to the north of Togo. The grounds of this primary school made for a great bush camp - the children were fascinated as we set up camp for the night!

We had plenty of interesting stops along the way. Above, on the left, Alice is standing in front of the Aledjo Fault, a stunning feature through which the main road passes. On the right, Frank is trying to get through the entrance of a sacred Baobab tree, which has a large cavity inside with room for half a dozen people to stand. It was a bit of a tight squeeze!

Below are weavers at work at a local co-operative. They are weaving long but narrow strips, which are then sewn together to make a range of garments.

The Tamberma Valley World Heritage site is home to the Batammariba people; we spent 2 nights with them in Togo, visiting their fascinating 'Takienta' (mud fortress houses), learning about their beliefs and traditions, and witnessing traditional music and dance ceremonies.

Below, Tracey tries her hand at archery; good job we weren't relying on her to catch our dinner!

As the day cooled off we trekked up to a cave network, formerly inhabited as a retreat in times of tribal war. From here we were treated to some spectacular views of the valley below.

From here a short drive took us across the border to Benin and the Atakora hills, home of the Tammari people. We learnt of their animist traditions, and saw the similarities of their fortress houses with those of their cousins in Togo. Most of these were spread out among their agricultural areas, rather than being grouped into villages.

We trekked to see waterfalls, caves and agricultural lands. Above are giant grain storage jars which are partitioned inside. They are in a cave, near a water source, that was used as a retreat in times of tribal conflict as well as to escape slave raiders. It is believed people could have hidden for up to 6 months inside!

Below, Frank, Tony, Al, Alice, Theo and Tony stand outside a sacred Baobab tree which we visited on another trek.

Millet is a common crop of the area and is made into millet beer. Above, Tony and Sam share a gourd of it, wondering if it might be a little more palatable cold! We watched 2 locals down a gourd, drinking simultaneously from the same vessel, but didn't manage to pull this off ourselves!

Below, Jase climbs up to look inside a grain storage hut on the roof of a house, which is partitioned inside for different crops. A bell on it's rain hat stopped thieves getting inside without waking the household who would sleep nearby. 

Another short drive took us to Pendjari National Park, part of the WAP complex, the largest protected wildlife zone in West Africa. We boarded a couple of 4x4s for a bumpy and dusty day of wildlife viewing.

We were lucky enough to see buffalo, waterbuck, warthog, jackals, crocodiles, many antelope, many birds, and numerous herds of elephants. At our first coffee stop we were treated to a rather special encounter with a group of elephants that wandered right past us. We also visited a hippo pool where we saw many active hippos up close.

Below, Tracey, Janet and Sam were getting as dusty as possible!

From Pendjari we headed across the border to Burkina Faso and after a great bush camp we stopped in Fada where, above, Al is in front of the signs. Here we encountered a major problem...no eggs! Jase and Al were both very concerned about the next few breakfasts!

We then travelled west to Bobo Dioulasso, home to skilled artisans and a great live music scene. Some of the group visited the impressive domes de Fabedougou (above) and nearby waterfalls. Below, a great evening of live music. 

The trip ended all to soon in Ouagadougou, but we'll be back in Burkina Faso very soon to explore further on our current Accra to Freetown trip.