Heduš (named according to the travel portal The Silk Path) alias Toyota Land cruiser with a two-man crew has started the world tour again. This time it is Africa – part 1, South America from south to north – part 2, through Panama etc. to the USA – part 3, through Mongolia and Vladivostok back home – part 4.

Here we are, Africa.We have set off. Through Europe to Maroco. We had come over from Spanish Algercias to Marocan Tanger. We didnｴt stay very long in this part of Maroco and we went to the capital city Rabat. We had to carry out the visas to Mauretania and Mali there. It didnｴt took much time and we found both embassies on the same street. We got our visas after 4 hours. We had spent this time sightseeing and tasting local Marocan cuisine. The friendly natives recommended us meal called Tadzin ( stewed meat, potatoes, pepper, carrot altogether in a clay conical pot). We liked it, we were very hungry.

Rabat isnｴt as interesting as Marrakech, but people here are very kind and friendly. We visited the centre of Rabat, a market, old mosque. We admired Arabic architectural style. We got our visas and set off again. We were going to the east through the town of Azrou, Er-Rachidia towards the area of large Egr-Schebi dune. The journey across the high Atlas was fantastic. The mountain passes (around 2000 m above sea level) are situated in deep cedar forests. You can meet only shepherds here. We enjoyed the mild mountain climate and we wanted rather to stay. Especially after we made friends with a local shepherd whom we gave a few tiny presents. Staying overnight is safe and without troubles here. The local people use hitchiking for transfer from one village to another and the drivers are used to them. They give them a lift very often. I recommend Maroco to hitchhikers who would like to visit this country.

We left the mountain pass and entered the dry and hot Sahara desert. The asphalt road finished and changed into pista. The outer thermometer read 49ｰC in the shade, unbelievable. We reached the longest dune of the world, it is 35 km long. First we planned to climb the dune but we changed our mind. We had a better plan. We visited a local tea room in a small village. The air was much colder in the tea room and we felt more comfortable there. (Tourists visit this place mostly in winter because of the temperature here. ) We left the dune area and drove to the south, to the Valey of the Draa river. We were excited, we hoped it would be colder weather there. The valey of the river was green and it was a large oasis in those droughty mountains. For tourists- I recommend a camp at the water cascades. They are 10 km far from the main road (I can send more details).

We were moving south through the towns of Ouarzazate and Taroudant towards Tiznit where we turned to the Atlantic ocean towards the area of Sidi-Ifni. We wanted to spend there a few days swimming and relaxing. Polluted beaches and strong wind shortened our stay. We decided to left the coast and set off. We were going through west Sahara to Mauretania.
It was 1400 km to Al-Gargara, where there were the frontiers between Maroco and Mauretania. It was a long journey and I can say only this: -sandy dunes, neverending desert, wild cliffs, polluted beaches with plastic bottles ( also on places miles away from any civilization) I am not a keen ecologist but in my opinion it is really alarming situation if you can see such a mess (plastics, torn fishnets and old barrels that came from South America) on the wild beaches. We should think about it, shouldnｴt we? If people doesnｴt stop polluting our nature, we wonｴt find anywhere without plastic waste.

We reached the Mauretania frontier, where we left Maroco and we kept going next boring road across the desert to Nouakchott – the capital city, a dirty and dusty town with very bad traffic.

We have turned to the east and we travelled through the whole Mauretania to the town of Ayoun Atrous. We could see the poverty of people everywhere. In the area of Kiffa town we experienced a strong sandstorm followed by a downpour that changed the desert into a large pool. We were held back by frequent police road checks. The police demanded a document called Fisch (a document with personal and vehicle data ) We have handed out 40 pieces (in total) of this document. Mauretania is reputedly dangerous. Last year a few travellers were kidnapped by Al-kaida, they demanded ransom. We were lucky, everything went perfect, without any troubles. The local people were very friendly and they helped us when we had a problem with a flat tyre. ( Al-kaida boys had holidays )

When we reached Mali frontier we could see the difference everywhere, the background, nature, green grass and trees, economical situation of the country, the roads were in a very good condition. Donkeys didnｴt eat paper as they did in Mauretania. They were eating green grass here. It was just like entering a green paradise. We had to pay a road toll but it was a small amount of money. We were steering towards the capital city Bamako. We spent a night in a catholic mission in the village of Kolokani. Although the mission was closed the staff was very friendly to us. They allowed us to enter the school yard. They were all Muslims, no Catholics here. It was interesting for us. There are a lot of schools in Mali. They were built with EU cooperation. However most of them are empty and they are dilapidating. Children are rather tending cattle. It is a pitty but on the other hand I understand them. The adults work on their fields and their children have to help, so they tend cattle. The life is very difficult here.Young children work instead of playing or going to school. We saw two boys herding cows, they couldnｴt have been seven years old.

We reached Bamako and looked for Burkina Faso embassy to get the visa again.

In most parts of west Africa you can speak French, it is not easy with English here. There was a French speaking lady on the embassy so we had a hard time with filling in a form.
At the end after two hours we got our visas and we left the town to camp somewhere in the forest. Mostly we stay in the bush overnight, I think it is safer.

We were impressed by Mali and its lovely nature and beautiful forests. We were slowly reaching the frontier with Burkina Faso. The frontiers were without any problems again. We arrived to the town of Bobo Dioulasso, where there is the oldest most world well-known mosque in Africa. We went sightseeing but there was nothing interesting except of the mosque. We continued through the national park Deux Bale to Ouagadougou (the capital city). We were passing forests which had been cut off because of agriculture. There were just rest of forests, small fields and African villages. During the daytime these villages are empty, because the locals work on the fields. When the night comes the streets are full of life. It means the people are sitting or lying along the main road. After hard work they are resting and relaxing next to the fire.

There are a few national parks in Burkina Faso but there is a lack of wildlife. I think that most wild animals here around Mali and Burkina Faso has been shot and eaten by local people. The only wild animal we saw was a runaway donkey. So there is no reason to be afraid of lion visitors. (I hope )

If you would like to hitchhike from the Czech Republic to this part of Africa I can assure you there is no reason to be worried. You can travel trouble free up to Nigeria. You can stay overnight anywhere you want and hitchhike without any fears or problems. We will inform you about the situation in other countries later. We are planning to travel through Ghana and further to the south. So we have to go through the visa anabasis again. We will spend 3 days in the bush, 15 km far from the capital city, where we are camping and we are waiting for our visas till Monday. It is Saturday today, we were in the town to buy some drinking water, to refill supply water for washing and we got some fresh baguettes. Here we are back in our camp. We are alone here. Only a few shepherds have come to see us.

We are sending other information from Nigeria.