…looking at the map

We stayed on the west side of Africa as we headed south to Cape Town.

We really enjoyed Morocco's cheap and easy travelling and often throughout the trip, when times were hard, we jokingly asked each other why we ever decided to come further than Agadir. Morocco has all the landscapes you could want, from mountains, desert and shore. The people are friendly and their distinctive Magreb culture is proudly on show for all to see.

Mauritania was a treat as we crossed the desert along a route that was challenging and new to both of us. It gave us 4 days totally removed from civilisation, camping in the desert.

We spent almost 2 months relaxing in Senegal and making a film in The Gambia and we were in Mali for New Years Eve and the amazing Festival du Desert near Timbuktu. The other highlight in Mali was the Dogon Region, a stunning series of villages frozen in time and tradition.

We left the dry desert climate behind as we headed south towards the sweaty tropics and the coast again at Accra, Ghana's capital where we stayed for 7 weeks visiting with Esther's family. The tropical humidity stuck with us all around the Gulf of Guinea, and through the Central African countries.

Despite scare stories, we crossed Nigeria without incident, though we had to deal with more than 80 roadblocks. The people were friendly animated and very politically aware compared to some of their neighbours.

In Cameroon we were again treated to fantastic village hospitality, meeting the chiefs of the villages who invited us to swim in the refreshing mountain rivers of the forest. From there on though the roads started to deteriorate, and would get progressively worse until Namibia.

DRC was an eye opening place, so trapped in the cycle of corruption that nothing should work and yet things do somehow continue to function in a way. Whether you are navigating the boggy roads or the corridors of power, it is anarchy and we learnt to roll with its punches.

The final unexpected highlight was Angola. An African nation potentially on the brink of greatness, though not, as it turned out, in the World Cup. We found people with a vibrancy and energy, and even though we'd seen that in other central African countries, in Angola it was well directed by a strong sense of integration and community. Great post war changes are being achieved but the cost of living was as expensive as the diesel was cheap, and the roads were the worst we saw in all of Africa, but altogether it was easily one of our favourite countries and we'd both like to go back.

Finally we discovered a more developed Africa in the shape of Namibia and South Africa (and a brief short cut taken across Botswana). Great roads, easy camping and beautiful country to see but overall the lack of adventure and challenge left us missing the rigours of Central Africa.