Across The Sahara on a Bicycle

Across The Sahara on a Bicycle

Between the things we get

And the things we celebrate

Flows a desert

                           Lest we forget. #SaharaQuartet

Background: My Africa

My first exposure to the real Africa in 2005 after climbing Kilimanjaro. Scanned from slide.

On top of Kilimanjaro in 2005 with a copy of Tathyakendra magazine. Scanned from slide

I first visited Africa (Tanzania to be specific) in 2005. I hiked Kilimanjaro and came back home. It was just a tourist thing I did. But in spite of being wrapped up in an itinerary and a travel package of all things touristy; something very curious happened. I got even more inquisitive about Africa. I wanted to go back to Africa. Not as a tourist, but as a drifting wanderer, living an ever curious life.

But for that I had to wait a good seven years. In 2011, while I was exploring the barriers of the Nanda Devi Sanctuary in the Indian Himalaya; I realised that one of my Himalayan heroes H.W.Tilman had actually cycled from Kampala to Cameroon, along the Equator in an old bicycle in the early 1930s. Reading that line was exciting enough to ignite my imagination. I wanted to do something similar. The opportunity to touch that dream arrived next year. Here is link to my 2012 Trans Africa cycling trip:

2012 Trans Africa Cycling 

A photo from my 2012 cycling trip from Kenya to Namibia. I took this photo when I was passing through the Namib Desert on the Trans-Kalahari highway

In 2012, I set out from Nanyuki, Kenya to Walvis Bay, Namibia; covering 5000kms, across 5 countries (Kenya, Tanzania, Malawi, Zambia, and Namibia) in 69 days. This trip changed my approach towards life and I fell in love with Africa. To me, since then, the real Africa has been its people. Today, getting to know them better, or even just hanging out with them makes me feel alive.

Since then, I went back two more times to Africa. In 2015, I followed a fictional character Sankar ( Sankar was a young Bengali lad who had set out on a path of adventure in the Bengali classic novel Chander Pahar written by Bibhuti Bhushan Bandyopadhyay in 1937) along the Uganda Railway trails, its abandoned train stations and ended up climbing in the Rwenzori mountains in the border of Democratic Republic of Congo and Uganda. In 2016, along with a climber friend (Martin Boner) I tried to climb the north face of Batian by its standard route and together we almost succeeded in our first big wall climbing effort.

The north face of Batian, Mt Kenya

After all these interactions I had with Africa, there was always one thing in common as an outcome. Each time I came back home with a renewed sense of curiosity and longing to go back to Africa and absorb its intense human vibration and spirit a little bit more. Its daily struggle, resilience, music, colours, sights and smells of its markets; everything fascinated me. Africa reinstated my faith in being positive towards life and helped me keep moving no matter what came my way.

Based on my 2012 journey I wrote a book Otoeb Africa (Therefore Africa). It is in Bengali. So far it has sold nearly 3000 copies. The book was published by Uttar Publications an organ of Uttarbanga Sangbad

But so far my experience of Africa was limited to 6 countries only and those 6 countries are located in the east, central and southern part of this huge continent. The vast expanses of the West and North Africa were still unknown to me. An opportunity came in February-March 2017. It felt like that it might be possible for me to go back to my dear Africa once again.  And this time I chose to explore the north and north western side. I chose to cycle through the Sahara desert starting from Morocco and finishing in Senegal. That is how the plan of cycling through the Sahara was conceived and soon I started planning. 

The Plan

In 2016, during my back to back mountaineering trips, across the Indian Himalaya and Central Asia ( with my dear friend Jake Preston); I realized it is about time for me to go back to Africa. Since I had no work in the first part of 2017, I started planning my dates around February and March. Since my school days I was always deeply fascinated by the Sahara desert (almost the same fascination I have for the Himalaya) and many a times dreamt of crossing it with a caravan of camels. As I grew older, the reality of being born in a third world country (with medieval socio-economical and national priorities) sunk in and I started to modify my dreams according to my abilities and thus succeeded so far in not letting them go entirely in vain. But that is another story.

The Trans Sahara roads. The Green ones are only open ones today. The red ones are closed. Image courtesy:  Chris Scott
source: https://adventure-motorcycling.com/about-chris-scott/ 

After some homework on the region and its geo-politics I realized the only sensible and safe route to travel alone on a bicycle through the Sahara would be the Morocco-Western Sahara-Mauritania route. The facts of Algeria-Mali-Niger-Libya with their ongoing engagement with terrorism were convincing enough for me to stay away from their roads.

Topographical elements of the Sahara. Courtesy: Wikipedia

After a few rounds of Google searches I came across several reports of successful passages by western cyclists of this particular route. Out of which I focussed on the reports by Jean Baptist (JB crossed this segment on his long bike trip from Europe to the cape in 2013. Here is his website: www.freewheely.com) and a Danish group of 4 cyclists (Ride to Education 2015: www.ridetoeducation.com). I found both of their websites very useful in terms of information and started working out on an itinerary based on their reports. 

Another very interesting thing happened as I scrutinized their reports. I realized it is possible to cycle this distance through the Sahara (approximately 2085 kilometres) without carrying any tent, sleeping mat and cooking utensils. I realized that it is possible to reach from one human post/settlement to the next in a day. The longest distance between two such posts is something like 160km and thus I formulated my own itinerary with an average of 90-100km per day riding. This enabled me to travel extremely lightweight. I did not even need a front pannier.  Jean Baptist’s report gave me confidence that if I carry 4-5 litres of water during the ride each day, I should be alright. In the end this formula worked fine.

In 2017, as you can see I travelled extremely lightweight considering a 2000km journey along a particularly empty stretch of landmass.  

Preparation and Fund

I of course could not fund the trip myself. The cost of flights, visas, travelling through 4 countries( in effect 3, as Morocco is still occupying and controlling the territory of Western Sahara) for over 40 days, bicycle, gear, food etc was beyond my limited resources . And of course original and unique adventures do not get any sponsorship or funding in India. Most of the government grants go to fund Mt Everest and other 8000m aspirants who eventually queue up in a Kathmandu travel agency. It is around this time I met Agnidip through a common friend Suman. From Agnidip I heard about the concept of crowd funding and how he has just started his own crowd funding portal Beeyodo. This was interesting.

Soon, with help from Agnidip and Sumanta of team Beeyodo my project was up and running in the www.beeyodo.com site.  All I had to do was to reach out to my friends and contacts and let them know of my plans. Upamanyu and my dear friend Jake were very first two people who contributed to my campaign and slowly more backers started to pitch in. In fact I could buy my bike and the flights with the help of the crowd funded money. That is no mean achievement and for that I am grateful to all my backers and Beeyodo. Two of my backers/friends (PM and RR) contributed significant amounts and preferred to remain anonymous.  I feel that is so awesome of them. However, I am in debt to each and every one of the backers. 

But even after the crowd funding campaign there remained a good amount of shortage in the required fund. I then approached Sri Sabyasachi Talukdar, Editor and CEO of Uttarbanga Sangbad (www.uttarbangasambad.in) daily newspaper for help. Over the last decade Uttarbanga Sangbad and I have developed a tradition of partnership in adventure trips and that gives me an added confidence to consider myself as one of the family. In spite of the post-demonetisation state of the industry, my proposal was not turned down. I received a vital grant from Uttarbanga Sangbad. This became a crucial break.

I also received last minute help in the forms of money from Dr. Rupak Bhattacharya, Dr. Sujay Mukherjee, Dr. Rathin Mukherjee, Dr. Biswarup Lahiri, Dr. Lina Chatterjee, Uddalak Gupta, Summiters Mountaineering Club and Sri Arindam Mukherjee.

Overall, I received all the help from people who sympathised with me and my project. This is a kind of support only friendship and fellowship can deliver and for this I will be ever grateful.   

But in spite of all the above support and backing I still had a deficit from the total budget. This I paid from my savings.

The Route

I originally intended to start cycling from Rabat, Morocco. But I received the first set of blows in the forms of visa. Yes, being an Indian citizen I needed visas for my route except in Senegal. Morocco issued me a visa with wrong dates (leaving me with too little time to cover the distance from Rabat to the border) and after making me wait in Rabat for 4 days, Mauritania also put wrong dates in their visa stamp. My Morocco visa expiry date was on 15 March and the Mauritania one on 25 March. This meant I literally had just 10 days to traverse Mauritania. But first I had to reach Guerguerat, the border of Morocco and Mauritania by 15 March.  Anyway, these visa complications forced me to cut short my riding days and hence I had no choice but to start riding from Guelmim, the gateway of Sahara. I reached Guelmim by an overnight bus (CTM) from Casablanca on the morning of 26 February. On the very next day I started cycling.  I had exactly 17 days to cover 1300kms to the border before my Moroccan visa expired and then another 10 days to cover Mauritania. It became a race.   

Below is my detailed itinerary with distances and night halt places. May be someone will find this useful in future.

In Morocco and Western Sahara the desert often came to meet the Atlantic Ocean. It broke the rider's monotony

The Journey

20 February: Fly Kolkata-Doha-Casablanca, hotel

21 February: Train to Rabat, apply for Mauritania visa, hotel  

22 and 23 February: Waiting for visa, hotel

24 February: I receive Mauritania visa with wrong dates, Train to Casablanca the same evening, hotel

25 February: Overnight bus to Guelmim from Casablanca

26 February: Reach Guelmim in the morning, Reassemble bike, hotel

The Ride (Read in detail)

27 February: Start cycling. Reach Tan Tan, 130 kms, hotel

28 February: Reach Tan Tan Plage/El Outia, 25 kms, hotel

1 March: Reach Akhfenir, 90 kms, hotel

2 March: Reach Tarfaya, 110kms, hotel

3 March: Reach Laayoune, 100kms, hotel

4 March: Rest day at Laayoune

5 March: Reach Boujdour, 190kms, hotel

6 March: Rest day at Boujdour

7 March: Reach New Cafe (Cafe Amghar), 90km, shop

8 March: Reach Bir Anzarane Commune. 85km cycle+35 km lift offered by police, Stay with Mahfoud

9 March: Reach Dakhla, 120km, hotel

10 March: Rest at Dakhla

11 March: Bus to Imlil, sleep at shop

12 March: Reach cafe, 75km, sleep at shop

13 March: Reach Bir Gandouz, 95km, Hotel Barbas

14 March: Reach Guerguerat, 85km, Hotel

15 March: Cross border, No Man’s Land, Enter Mauritania, Reach Bou Lanouar, 65km, Hotel

16 March: Reach unnamed settlement, 95km, Auberge

17 March: Reach Gare du Nord, 65km, Army camp

18 March: Reach Nouakchott in minivan coming from Nouadhibou with help from Gendarmerie. Hotel. Skipped the distance of 237 kilometers from Gare Du Nord to Nouakchott as I could not bear the hostile, non-cooperating behaviour of the white moors anymore. I intend to write in detail about these experiences later some day. 

19 March: Rest in Nouakchott

20 March: Reach Tiguent, 104 km, Auberge

21 March: Reach National Park House at Diawling, 140km, Auberge, end of desert

22 March: Cross border at Diama, Enter Senegal, Reach St Louis, 45 kms, Hotel

23 March: Rest at St. Louis

24 March: Reach Louga, 75kms, hotel

25 March: Reach Thies, 125km, hotel

26 March: Reach Dakar, 71kms, Hostel, end of cycling

27 March: Rest and Packing at Dakar

28 March: Fly out from Dakar-Abidjan-Nairobi

29 March: Nairobi-Mumbai

30 March: Fly to Kolkata, Home

Read about my journey in a bit more detail 

Total Distance travelled: 2300kms. Total distance cycled:  2015km

Cycling days: 23. Rest Days: 5. Average cycling per day: 87.60 kms

Longest distance cycled in a day: 190km (Laayoune to Boujdour)

The harsh nothingness of the desert taught me a lot

Observations and Comments

·        My journey proves that it is possible to cross the Sahara by its western edges in a bicycle without having to camp or cook. It is possible to reach a human post, be it a village, a manned mobile tower, a police post, a shop in the middle of nowhere or a town with all the modern amenities. Please also note that I carried bivuac arrangements for accidents and emergencies. Never needed to use that for once this trip. That is luck.

·         I found mobile signal almost every day. The poorest was north of Nouakchott in Mauritania. It is very easy to get a sim card for your phone at each border post. 

·         The army and police in Morocco and Western Sahara are always extremely helpful when it comes to cyclists.

·         The white moors of Morocco are extreme racists. Most of them refused to talk to me. Kids in villages threw stones at me. That was the precise reason of me skipping 237 kms of riding from Gare du Nord to Nouakchott. Stone throwing continued even south of Nouakchott. The tourist in a rally or caravan of cars in a packaged itinerary will not experience this. 

·         The blacks of Mauritania are normal, kind and helpful people.

·         The road in Morocco and Western Sahara is generally good though not very wide. There is a lot of traffic till Dakhla.

·         The road in Mauritania is bad and full of potholes just as they still practice slavery and throw stones at strangers. 

·         The road in Senegal is generally good, the drivers are sensible and the people are wonderful. Real Africa begins from Senegal. 

·         All along Morocco and Western Sahara it is possible to sleep in mobile towers as they are usually manned. The cafes/restaurants/shops/petrol stations are also possible night halt options. 

·    The Rosso border crossing between Mauritani and Senegal should always be avoided. The Diama crossing is far better. The last 40 kms is piste through the Diawling National Park. It is possible to sleep at the Maison de Parc at Diawling. Border post Diama is just 10 kms from here. 

·         I always carried 4-5 litres of water during my ride. I found that sufficient. In most places I could buy bottled water. In army and police camps it is also possible to refill your bottles.

·         A little bit of French language will help the traveller. I also found a google translate app useful in my phone and downloaded arabic and french words to be used offline. 

·         Wind is almost always very strong. In average it was 30kms/hr when I was there. In 50% of the days I had a side or head wind. It became really strenuous then.

·         Mauritania feels lot more remote and sandy than the rest of the route. I bought a Tuareg scarf in Guelmim and used it as head dress all along the desert. It genuinely protected me from heat and sand.

I used a bicycle made in India and is the cheapest in its kind. It has shown that one does not need a very expensive, imported bike to undertake such a journey. It completed the journey without a single breakdown or puncture. I named my bike 'Sitaharan'. Only a Bengali will understand the reason for this name and its relation with 'Sahara' and therefore I am not elaborating that here. 

Only after entering Senegal I felt the familiar joy of cycling in Africa.

   List of my backers (in no particular order)
Without you this trip simply would not materialise

• Alan Tees
• Andrew Tees
• Athol Jake Preston
• Kris Ooms and Pascal Dognaux
• Martin Mucke
• Arindam Mukherjee
• Dr. Rupak Bhattacharya
• Amrita Dhar
• Uddalak Gupta
• Siddharth Sirohi
• Uttarbanga Sangbad
• Dr. Biswarup Lahiri
• Dr. Rathin Mukherjee
• Dr. Sujay Mukherjee
• Dr. Lina Chatterjee
• Deep Paul
• Rajeev Ranjan
• PM
• Upamanyu Roy
• Subhash Chanda
• Ashish Chanda
• Anjan Rakshit
• Sharmishtha Sarkar
• Arnab Mandal
• Rajsekhar Maity
• Sayantan Dutta
• Sudipto Roy
• Subhrangshu Bhandary
• Debabrata
• Samsiddhi
• Debashish Dey
• Sahana Ghosh
• Priyadarshi Basu
• Mukulika Jana
• Debashree Tagore
• Gogol
• Arindam Palodhi
• Ville Uski
• Sudip Biswas
• Summiters Mountaineering Club, Kolkata

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