On a wintry Friday of January 2, 2015, while families were still in the New Year celebration mood, a couple dared the cold, left the comfort of their heated apartment and set out for a journey across Africa.
Guided by the passion to explore the world in their own way and without strict itinerary, Marc Lotz and Els Lotz Lefevre left Maastricht in South of Holland on a 45-year old Mercedes 710 truck, redesigned and fitted with moderate necessities-a kitchenette, three small bed spaces, convenience, grocery store, bicycles, among others. Interestingly, Bixx, their dog, was also with them on the journey, barking along when necessary.
From Maastricht, their starting point, the 105 litres of gasoline in their Mercedes 710 truck barely finished by the time they got to Belgium. But the flexibility of the journey allows them to drop off in some towns to check on their friends, refill their 120-litre water tank, refuel, get grocery for the journey ahead, maybe sleep over or stay around for some days before moving.
After a couple of checks on friends, they proceeded to France and after some days they left for Spain, their last point of call in Europe. They journeyed to Southern Spain to the Port of Ceuta; the Spanish entry and exit to Europe heavily guarded because it borders North Africa.
As they expected, the journey across Europe was easy, but to Africa may not be that easy, the security around the port makes it obvious. First, they were confronted with the challenge of crossing the Mercedes truck on a big ferry to Morocco, and later, the issue of visa.
It took some hours and negotiations, but they were finally ferried across to Morocco after a 14-kilometer ride on water.
In Morocco, they were faced with language challenge and had to learn modest Arabic-Salaam alycum, Hamdulleh! “I am learning the local language because it is fun. It opens doors, even to houses without any doors, like nomad tents”, Marc said.
“As we are about to enter our fourth week in Morocco, we have already had the time to get an idea of this beautifully surprising country. We were not sure at first whether we were hating or loving it. Maybe the bad weather in the northern part, or the hassling locals trying to squeeze some money out of us just for pointing out the direction they wanted us to follow, maybe it is the lack of love for animals that we are not used to (lonely donkeys all over the place, throwing stones at stray dogs…) – or maybe it was just us, longing so hard to find alcohol). Anyway, we have since then traveled on and have enjoyed (almost) every bit of it. We see the fertile and green areas, producing amazing oranges, pumpkins, peas, zucchini, tomatoes, and many tasty fruits and vegetables”, Els said.
With an eventful stay in Morocco for weeks, they left for Mauritania. While one may wonder how the couple found their way in the limitless desert, Marc said the Garmin, which they use for route tracking was the magic, while the old but strong Mercedes truck kept rolling freely on the desert sand dunes. “If anyone would ask me for trip advice, I would almost tell them to stay away from Marrakesh and enjoy Taroudant instead. Locals in Taroudant are hospitable and not so oppressing as in Marrakesh”, Els said.
Few days from the South border of Morocco, the couple and Bixx were at the Mauritanian border where they had their passports stamped by the Gendarmerie, who also wanted to check their belongings for hidden alcohol or drugs. But one spectacular experience for them on that stretch was the crossing of ‘No Man’s Land’, a three-kilometer strip of land between Morocco and Mauritania, full of dumped cars.
They continued their journey from the border to the south until Nouakchott, Mauritanian capital, where they stayed a whole week, waiting till May 1, 2015 when Senegal would abolish paying visas.
“As we were approaching the borders of Senegal, we had to decide which country we were going to cross next: Mali or Guinea? The situation in Mali is unstable at the moment as we all know, but the problem is that the embassies in Guinea ask all Dutch and Belgian citizens ‘to immediately leave the country because of hostilities against white people’… So we chose Mali”, Els said.
While in Mali, they slept in ‘Sleeping Camel’ in the capital for almost a week, a time enough to do some grocery shopping and arrange visas for Burkina Faso. They were later joined in the Sleeping Camel by Susan and Urs from Zürich, who were heading north after seven months in Africa.
They visited Sindou Peaks and the Kou Forest before leaving for Ouagadougou for visas to Ghana.
For the couple, there are many good stories about Burkina Faso. The green went greener, the red ground was more reddish, and there was just more of everything including water and rain.
It was until they got to Accra in Ghana that it dawn on them that they have covered 3,257 Kilometers from Morocco. Movement from Accra was smooth until the border between Ghana and Republic of Togo at Aflao.
They could not get Nigerian visas in Ghana as they were advised to get to neighboring countries to Nigeria. On getting to Republic of Togo, they were joined by Marjolijn Polman and Nick Lubout, a couple on a separate tour of the world. Now four, visa and invitation letters were issues for them.
At Cotonou in Benin Republic, the four paid $88 each for Nigerian visas and additional 30,000 cefa each for administrative charges, though without receipt. Yet, it was a letter of invitation from Ikechi Uko, a Nigerian travel expert; that allowed them into the Nigeria.
They arrived in Lagos on July 12, 2015 and were warmly received at Avenue Suite, Victoria Island where they parked they truck. It was at the hotel they granted this interview to three travel journalists organised by Ikechi Uko. Uko also arranged for their visits to Anambra and Cross River states on their way to Cameroon. Later they left the hotel to BusinessDay in Apapa where they parked for a while and later to Shoprite to enable them beat the traffic to the Chadian Embassy in Apapa to obtain visas for Marjolijn Polman and Nick Lubout who will be parting ways with them in Cameroon. While in Lagos, they obtained Cameroon visa at $120 each. The team has since left Lagos, and will be heading to Cameroon after their scheduled visits or may decide to leave without them as their journey route is very flexible. From Cameroon, they will head to Gabon, Angola, down to South Africa and start heading up from there to Mozambique, Tanzania and to North Africa and back to Europe. Though, they hope to finish the journey in a year’s time, Marc said they are not in a haste, and having spent seven months already, they may be spending over a year on the trip.
However, you can follow actions of the remaining trip on lotzofmiles.com.
OBINNA EMELIKE
