Hello everyone! This is Connor, the PR director for COW. Over the past few months, I have talked with Keegan and Tate via satellite phone about their travels, experiences, physical and financial speed bumps. Earlier today, I received a phone call from the boys about such things.
Last night they were driving along a main road through Mali and decided to pull off to find an open area to campout. At the end of a windy road they reached a house. Through the most basic of communication, hand gestures and gift-offerings, they were able to camp on the land of an African family. The family was very hospitable and in return, the guys let the family—consisting of a man, two wives, and twelve children—watch the Pixar movie Cars. They were enthralled for hours!
In the morning, they got to experience fresh-from-the-cow milk and some dish consisting of spices and dirt. Very funny, I know. After the meal, Keegan, Tate and Luke (the newest member of the COW herd) took off. This capped their stay in what I believe Keegan called Polygamy Hill; I couldn’t be certain.
They reached the border of Mali and Burkina Faso. Once again, bribes ensued and after four “visa checks” they entered the new country.
Somewhere along the way, during a drive through treacherous potholes, the COW car’s muffler shot off. While fixing the car, an indigenous woman, who was only partially clothed, came up to inspect the boys and their work. Naturally, Keegan handed her a candy bar, which she enjoyed until the boys were done with the car maintenance and continued on their journey.
To date, the COW team has driven over 1000 miles in the Samurai across western Africa. They are roughing it in a place where the majority of Americans, or the world population, have not and will never visit. They are dirty—no showers for about six days now—and are losing track of time (during our phone call, they thought it was Saturday…I corrected them and gave them an update on the NFL). However, our charitable cause and their journey will continue on. We send our warmest wishes to all those involved in COW and have supported us, and more importantly the travelers, over the months. Keeping checking the website and blog for future updates. Thanks!
Connor Deeks, PR director
Wednesday, January 27, 2010
112 degrees and our car breaks down
Africa rally blog
Burkina Faso – On Jan 24th we left our campsite Polygamy Point (We stayed with a farmer, his two wives, seven children and livestock) and headed south towards Burkina Faso. The road if you could call it that was extremely treacherous, by far the worse that we have seen so far. Large pot holes were so frequent that at times the road ceased to exist and we resorted to drive on the side embankment of the road. It was a very long, bumpy, hot ride with the temp reaching well over 100 degrees, more than once I truly thought we were going to crash. We jammed to our ipod and drove for a good 5 hours dodging, weaving, and plowing over dirt, asphalt, and rocks to the Burkina Faso border. Compared to the Mali border this one was a breeze, it was pretty much just five stops along a mile of road where they just checked, double checked, triple checked and rechecked all of our paperwork looking for any small flaw that could result in the need for a bribe. While Tate dealt with the border guards I entertained the local kids and myself by dancing to several tracks off the Ipod, the song “millions of peaches” was a big hit.
We successfully crossed the border and headed towards Bobo-Diuolasso, which is a city famous for its drums and butterfly masks. Despite being the third poorest country on the planet, the poverty we saw in Burkina seemed no more then its Saharan neighbors. According to Lonley Planet over 80% of the country’s population live on less then than 2 dollars a day. Once in Burkina the roads actually got surprisingly better, I think it must be because there are so few cars on the road. We were cruising along at the rip roaring top speed of about 60 mph, when all of a sudden there was a loud bang followed by scraping metal and the roar of our usually quiet Sami……. our entire exhaust system was dragging along behind us. We had not passed another living soul in miles and the nearest town was a good 100 miles away. By now the sun was at its hottest and the thermometer read 112 degrees. We quickly got to work repairing the broken exhaust under the baking sun. Then seemingly appearing out of thin air a half naked mentally handicap girl showed up. I am dead serious. It was almost like out of a strange horror movie, she walked up to us sat down in the grass and just stared at us the entire time we repaired our exhaust system. We had no clue where this girl came from or what she wanted so we gave her some candy and hoped for the best. It only took about a few feet of wire (unknowingly donated by RK farms) to repair exhaust and we were back on the road, the girl was still sitting and eating candy when we left.
. Once we were back on the road it was smooth sailing to Bobo where we stopped for a short pit-stop that eventually led to Tate and I purchasing extremely loud bongo drums. We left Bobo as the sun was setting and headed out into the bush to make our camp under the light of the moon. After clearing a few bushes out of the way and narrowly avoiding stepping on a snake we made a nice camp fire and broke out our new drums. We had not been playing for more then 10 min when a few local people came up to our campsite after hearing the drums. They joined us and we danced with a group of about 7 locals to the beat of our new drum. It was a long and adventurous day.
Thanks again to all of our sponsors, sushi at Aomatsu sounds amazing right now!!
Burkina Faso – On Jan 24th we left our campsite Polygamy Point (We stayed with a farmer, his two wives, seven children and livestock) and headed south towards Burkina Faso. The road if you could call it that was extremely treacherous, by far the worse that we have seen so far. Large pot holes were so frequent that at times the road ceased to exist and we resorted to drive on the side embankment of the road. It was a very long, bumpy, hot ride with the temp reaching well over 100 degrees, more than once I truly thought we were going to crash. We jammed to our ipod and drove for a good 5 hours dodging, weaving, and plowing over dirt, asphalt, and rocks to the Burkina Faso border. Compared to the Mali border this one was a breeze, it was pretty much just five stops along a mile of road where they just checked, double checked, triple checked and rechecked all of our paperwork looking for any small flaw that could result in the need for a bribe. While Tate dealt with the border guards I entertained the local kids and myself by dancing to several tracks off the Ipod, the song “millions of peaches” was a big hit.
We successfully crossed the border and headed towards Bobo-Diuolasso, which is a city famous for its drums and butterfly masks. Despite being the third poorest country on the planet, the poverty we saw in Burkina seemed no more then its Saharan neighbors. According to Lonley Planet over 80% of the country’s population live on less then than 2 dollars a day. Once in Burkina the roads actually got surprisingly better, I think it must be because there are so few cars on the road. We were cruising along at the rip roaring top speed of about 60 mph, when all of a sudden there was a loud bang followed by scraping metal and the roar of our usually quiet Sami……. our entire exhaust system was dragging along behind us. We had not passed another living soul in miles and the nearest town was a good 100 miles away. By now the sun was at its hottest and the thermometer read 112 degrees. We quickly got to work repairing the broken exhaust under the baking sun. Then seemingly appearing out of thin air a half naked mentally handicap girl showed up. I am dead serious. It was almost like out of a strange horror movie, she walked up to us sat down in the grass and just stared at us the entire time we repaired our exhaust system. We had no clue where this girl came from or what she wanted so we gave her some candy and hoped for the best. It only took about a few feet of wire (unknowingly donated by RK farms) to repair exhaust and we were back on the road, the girl was still sitting and eating candy when we left.
. Once we were back on the road it was smooth sailing to Bobo where we stopped for a short pit-stop that eventually led to Tate and I purchasing extremely loud bongo drums. We left Bobo as the sun was setting and headed out into the bush to make our camp under the light of the moon. After clearing a few bushes out of the way and narrowly avoiding stepping on a snake we made a nice camp fire and broke out our new drums. We had not been playing for more then 10 min when a few local people came up to our campsite after hearing the drums. They joined us and we danced with a group of about 7 locals to the beat of our new drum. It was a long and adventurous day.
Thanks again to all of our sponsors, sushi at Aomatsu sounds amazing right now!!
Saturday, January 23, 2010
Made it to Mali
After countless hours and a handfull of bribes we finally got our car cleared through customs. I could not believe how corrupt many of the officials in senegal were. Within the first two days of clearing our car through customs we have been pulled over 5 times. Luckily our paper work has been in order and we have been able to get away with small bribes. Tate got out of speeding ticket by giving the officer a headlamp and stick of gum.
After leaving Dakar we stopped by the Niokola koba Wildlife Refuge and were able to see everything from Monkeys to Crocadiles to Gazelles living in the wild! although no lions or giraffes yet ): but we still have a ways to go! After that short stop we were back on the road heading east!
We are currently in Bamako, Mali and have spent the last three nights camping out in the bush which has been remarkably beautiful. Although our diet has been kinda lame, pretty much cliff bars all day and then cambells soup for dinner, and everyonce in while we mix in some top ramen and malaria pills. The roads over here have been ok by african standards. Huge potholes up to 2+ feet deep dot the road and make for some dangerous driving conditions, sometimes they are unavoidable and if it was not for our awesome tires donated by Millars Hi-Way tires we definitely would of had more then a few blowouts. Despite the treqcherous roads, the hundred degree weather and the corrupt police our journey so far has been nice. We have been stopping along the way and handing out candy and some cloting to kids. It is amazing how happy these kids are just for a stick of gum. Wherever we go kids and adults both wave and cheer us on as we drive by.
After leaving Dakar we stopped by the Niokola koba Wildlife Refuge and were able to see everything from Monkeys to Crocadiles to Gazelles living in the wild! although no lions or giraffes yet ): but we still have a ways to go! After that short stop we were back on the road heading east!
We are currently in Bamako, Mali and have spent the last three nights camping out in the bush which has been remarkably beautiful. Although our diet has been kinda lame, pretty much cliff bars all day and then cambells soup for dinner, and everyonce in while we mix in some top ramen and malaria pills. The roads over here have been ok by african standards. Huge potholes up to 2+ feet deep dot the road and make for some dangerous driving conditions, sometimes they are unavoidable and if it was not for our awesome tires donated by Millars Hi-Way tires we definitely would of had more then a few blowouts. Despite the treqcherous roads, the hundred degree weather and the corrupt police our journey so far has been nice. We have been stopping along the way and handing out candy and some cloting to kids. It is amazing how happy these kids are just for a stick of gum. Wherever we go kids and adults both wave and cheer us on as we drive by.
Sunday, January 17, 2010
Dakar so Far
Dakar has been full of ups and downs since our last post. Mostly our time has been spent filling out paper work and last minute visa applications. We have had the pleasure of meeting some fantastic people as well as some not so fantastic people. Our guide Tasmil turned out to be a major headache, everywhere we went with him turned out to be more expensive and more time consuming then we planned. Finally we asked him to stop following us and sure enough life got easier. Except we almost got arrested at our hotel, because they said our online payment was not valid. I argued for a good 4 hours and showed them all the paper work but they would not accept the online payment. Long story short we ended up paying twice and now I have to go back in and argue my case again.... it is a huge headache and waste of time.
Today however was an great day. We started our day early and went to church with our friend from Liberia. Church in Africa was a new expierence for us all, it is much more energitic and loud then church back home. It also lasted close to 4 hours which was unexpected, but they made us feel very welcome and I learned a few new dance moves. After church we went out to Isle de Gorre which used to be a major slave trading post. The island itself was beatiful which contrasted against the horrible conditions of the slave houses which sent millions of slaves all around the world. Seeing where the slaves were held and the conditions they endured was a sobering expierence. We ended our day exploring the rest of the island and riding ship back to dakar as then sun set out over the ocean.
Today however was an great day. We started our day early and went to church with our friend from Liberia. Church in Africa was a new expierence for us all, it is much more energitic and loud then church back home. It also lasted close to 4 hours which was unexpected, but they made us feel very welcome and I learned a few new dance moves. After church we went out to Isle de Gorre which used to be a major slave trading post. The island itself was beatiful which contrasted against the horrible conditions of the slave houses which sent millions of slaves all around the world. Seeing where the slaves were held and the conditions they endured was a sobering expierence. We ended our day exploring the rest of the island and riding ship back to dakar as then sun set out over the ocean.
Thursday, January 14, 2010
Through the Desert into the Tropics
I don't know what to say about Dakar, it is a place unlike any other that I have been. I can't understand a single word of the local language, the public transportation system is very bad, and the people are extremely welcoming and friendly.
We immediately got down business and after an early breakfast Luke and I made our way to the Mali Embassy to get a Visa for Luke. We had not walked more than 200 feet from our hotel when we met our new friend and guide Tasmil. Tasmil is about a 6'3 28 year old self-proclaimed Rastafarian who knows pretty much everyone and everything in Dakar. Tasmil made helped us with all of our errands and showed us his fathers factory. By factory I mean a small overcrowded room with kids and adults fast at work making traditional African clothing. His other "factory" was a wood shop where they made absolutely stunning statues and masks. From here we walked back to our hotel and on our walk back we were greeted by welcoming shouts and smiles. People would run across the street to shake our hands and introduce themselves. They have this cool handshake where you grasp hands like a normal shake except instead of shaking hands you bring your hand up with the back of your hand to touch each others forehead. It is supposed to be a mutual sign of respect...either that or they were just getting a kick out of messing with some foreigners.
After we finished our errands we headed down to a small reclusive beach that Tasmil showed us. It was awesome to run off some energy and stretch our legs after being cooped up on buses and planes for the past day. Within a few minutes of being on the beach some curious locals came to join us. Eventually one man came down and although he could not speak a word of English, through sign language we realized that he wanted to wrestle. Unfortunately for him he asked Tate to wrestle and got demolished but no matter the outcome he always had a smile on his face. We came to learn he was from the Gambia and supported his wife and two kids by washing cars.
We ended our day by walking out on a long rocky pier to see some fisherman, an ancient cannon that has been around since around the 1600's, and watch the sunset, romantic huh? It was a great way to start our trip through Senegal, and if all goes smoothly we will have our car in the next day or two and we can start driving south! I am off to the port right now, wish me luck.
We immediately got down business and after an early breakfast Luke and I made our way to the Mali Embassy to get a Visa for Luke. We had not walked more than 200 feet from our hotel when we met our new friend and guide Tasmil. Tasmil is about a 6'3 28 year old self-proclaimed Rastafarian who knows pretty much everyone and everything in Dakar. Tasmil made helped us with all of our errands and showed us his fathers factory. By factory I mean a small overcrowded room with kids and adults fast at work making traditional African clothing. His other "factory" was a wood shop where they made absolutely stunning statues and masks. From here we walked back to our hotel and on our walk back we were greeted by welcoming shouts and smiles. People would run across the street to shake our hands and introduce themselves. They have this cool handshake where you grasp hands like a normal shake except instead of shaking hands you bring your hand up with the back of your hand to touch each others forehead. It is supposed to be a mutual sign of respect...either that or they were just getting a kick out of messing with some foreigners.
After we finished our errands we headed down to a small reclusive beach that Tasmil showed us. It was awesome to run off some energy and stretch our legs after being cooped up on buses and planes for the past day. Within a few minutes of being on the beach some curious locals came to join us. Eventually one man came down and although he could not speak a word of English, through sign language we realized that he wanted to wrestle. Unfortunately for him he asked Tate to wrestle and got demolished but no matter the outcome he always had a smile on his face. We came to learn he was from the Gambia and supported his wife and two kids by washing cars.
We ended our day by walking out on a long rocky pier to see some fisherman, an ancient cannon that has been around since around the 1600's, and watch the sunset, romantic huh? It was a great way to start our trip through Senegal, and if all goes smoothly we will have our car in the next day or two and we can start driving south! I am off to the port right now, wish me luck.
Wednesday, January 13, 2010
Sahara to Senega
After a very uncomfortable 4 hour bus ride from beautiful and relaxing Essaouira to the busy and bustling Marrakech we took off for the Sahara! In route to the Sahara we stopped by a few of Morocco's other attractions including Ouarzazate which is a small town where many films including parts of Gladiator, Lawrence of Arabia and Star Wars were filmed! We also stopped by Atlas studios and the Todra Gorge which were almost as impressive as the Sahara itself! Before to long we were on the edge of the massive Sahara Desert! This was literally the end of the road, we got out of the car and aboard our new form of transportation... CAMELS! Keegan and I had been looking forward to riding Camels through the Sahara since we first heard we were going to have the opportunity! Before we had even started we had both named our Camels and were arguing who's was faster (Mine was named Humphry for obvious reasons and Keegans was named Kane because its black curly hair closely resembled Kane Bickfords ) However after about 20 minutes the novelty started to ware off and we began to realize we were just on over sized uncomfortable llamas... The Sahara desert is truly amazing! We rode until just before sunset when we came upon a set of Berber tents (Berber's are the native people to the region) which is where we stayed for the night. We climbed to the top of the tallest dune around and watched the sunset with rolling dunes of sand as far as you could see in every direction! As famous as the Sahara is for how hot it is, it should be equally famous for how cold it gets at night! Especially this time of year! Luckily the Berber people where used to this and once inside the tents it wasn't to bad. We woke up before first light at 530am to grab a quick bite for breakfast and it was back on the Camels. We rode at a bit quicker of a pace to get out of the desert before the Saharan Sun was in full force, eventually the edge of the desert came into view and to be honest I wasn't disappointed to see it! I got enough of the desert in 2 days, I cant imagine how people can choose to live there!
After leaving the Sahara we started heading south towards Senegal! At about 3am after a very sketchy landing we stepped out of the Dakar Airport and into a completely different world! So far everywhere we have gone we have been able to find someone we can communicate with, either with their broken English or my broken Spanish but not here! The good news is so far the people here have been very friendly and with our random vocabulary of French and a lot of pointing and smiling we were able to get a shuttle to our Hotel. Our Hotel is by far the nicest we have stayed in yet! 3 nights at the Novotel Hotel was very generously donated by Pico and has given us a safe place to stay in Dakar while we try to get out car through customs and figure out a few final details! Hopefully we will be able to get our car through customs quickly and start heading East towards Cameroon!
Wednesday, January 6, 2010
Southern Morocco
Jan 3rd. With our new Moroccan friends Tate and I were able to see a part of Morocco that few travelers ever experience. We were able to glimpse Morocco as a local, getting a inside look, feel, and taste of Morocco. We rented motorbikes and visited the Atlas mountains which overlook all of Marrakesh and the surrounding villages. Driving motorbikes in morocco is a crazy experience that involves dodging oncoming cars, trucks, humans, and the occasional donkey carriage or stray camel. After about an hour of dodging and weaving we made it to the beginning of the mountains.
The lifestyles in the mountains were much different from the cities. Some of the people that live in these mountains are actually remnants of the indigenous Moroccan population known as Berbers. People up here make their living through various trades from creating pottery to small scale farming. We actually saw a lot of the goods that they sell in the larger towns and cities being made up in these hills. As the day came to the end we filled up on tangine (Moroccan dish) and we raced down the mountain to meet a 5:00 pm deadline on the return of our motorbikes. Tate rode on the back and snapped pictures as we sped down this old windy mountain road at 70 kmh Looking back it was not the smartest thing we have done, but probably one of the most fun!
Now we are in Essaouira which is a small town on the coast of Morocco. We took a 4 hour bus ride that was scheduled to leave Marrakesh at 10:30 but did not take off until about 11:45 but that is the way most of the public transportation around here works. Essaouira is a beautiful town probably my favorite place I have been to so far. The whole town is painted blue and white and since the Medina walls actually border the sea the whole town has that fresh salty feel about it. The people here are extremely friendly as well, not has pushy as the city folk of Marrakesh.
We move on to the Sahara desert from here and then down to Dakar, Senegal to pick up our car. I will be so relieved to finally get our car back, it was way back in October that we dropped off our car with the very incompetent shipping company Schumacher Cargo Logistics and now half way across the world we will finally have it back again!! Hopefully everything works and has not been stolen.... ha I am sure it will all be fine.
Hope everyone is doing well we are always thinking of you guys.
Saturday, January 2, 2010
The Real Morocco
We were lucky enough to have yet another fantastic day in Morocco! We started off the day with Keegan, a friend from the hostal named Jack, and I walking out into the square. It wasnt more than 20 feet before I had a giant snake draped across my shoulders, I looked over to see jack as suprised as I was with a small monkey sitting on his! We had Keegan take a few pictures and then for sanitations sake moved on. As exciting as the whole "Medina" was it was not even close to the highlight of the day. At around noon we were walking around in the outskirts of town and came across a dirt soccer (futbol) field. We walked up to the kids playing and were lucky enough to find 3 that spoke SOME enlgish, although they could understand it very well. We became quick friends with Simon , Usef and Hadid. They seemed to be as interested in our cultures and customs as we were of theres! We talked to them for a while and explained to them the Africa Rally and COW. After sitting around with them and talking about everything from religon and politics to who was going to win the Africa Cup (they even let us take their motorbike for a spin) Simon invited us to his house to meet his family and watch the local soccer match. ( Marrakech lost to Casablanca 2-0 ). We quickly accepted and a short cab ride later arrived in Simon`s neighborhood. This was our first expierence of true Africa and to be honest I couldn`t of enjoyed it more. After a quick tour around his neighborhood we went to his house. His entire family are devout muslims and meeting them all was a great expierence! They were the most Hospitible people I have ever met! (maybe second behind the Gregsons :) ) His family welcomed us with tea, cookies and another treat we think were figs. We explained to his family all about COW, the Africa Rally and what we were doing and they were very supportive and interested! We were then given a fully tour of their house from their Prayer room to the bedrooms and it was really amazing! We watched the game and then called it a night, but not before exchanging numbers and making plans for him to show us around tomorrow!
12/30-1/1 Happy New Year
Hello Home,
It is has been awhile since my last blog and I have a lot to share with you all. First and foremost is that we have added a new member to Team COW! That's right a new member, so please everybody give a warm welcome to our new friend Luke Brossete. Luke is a photographer from New Orleans who we crossed paths with in Barcelona. After hearing our story and about COW Luke decided to come along to help document, photograph, and promote Citizen of the World. His photographic talent will be a priceless addition to COW and he is ready for just about anything the world throws his way. In short we are very happy to have Luke with us.
We have also finally made it to Africa. Marrakesh, Morocco to be precise and what a great place this city is. We are staying in a small old Riad just outside a Medina that has a circus like atmosphere. In the center of the Medina there is everything from snake charmers with 4 feet long cobra's and vipers to acrobats dancing around while men beat drums and play a violin like instrument. This all surrounded by street vendors selling every day items from socks to orange juice. In the evening the snake charmers are replaced by makeshift restaurants and smoke fills the Medina air, as thousands of people come dine on delicious street food; from kebabs to sheep heads to snails the night market is a delicious and exciting place to eat. And I haven't even told you about the story tellers that come out at night. They attract crowds of 50 or so people all gathered around to hear ancient stories about.......... well I don't understand a word they say but it is still entertaining to watch. Maybe I should learn some Arabic.
Anyways that should catch you all up on where we are at and what we are doing. I am very excited to be on the road again and have a new member of Citizen of the World.
Hope you all had a great holiday, mine was spent on a boat, train, bus, and plane.
-Keegan
It is has been awhile since my last blog and I have a lot to share with you all. First and foremost is that we have added a new member to Team COW! That's right a new member, so please everybody give a warm welcome to our new friend Luke Brossete. Luke is a photographer from New Orleans who we crossed paths with in Barcelona. After hearing our story and about COW Luke decided to come along to help document, photograph, and promote Citizen of the World. His photographic talent will be a priceless addition to COW and he is ready for just about anything the world throws his way. In short we are very happy to have Luke with us.
We have also finally made it to Africa. Marrakesh, Morocco to be precise and what a great place this city is. We are staying in a small old Riad just outside a Medina that has a circus like atmosphere. In the center of the Medina there is everything from snake charmers with 4 feet long cobra's and vipers to acrobats dancing around while men beat drums and play a violin like instrument. This all surrounded by street vendors selling every day items from socks to orange juice. In the evening the snake charmers are replaced by makeshift restaurants and smoke fills the Medina air, as thousands of people come dine on delicious street food; from kebabs to sheep heads to snails the night market is a delicious and exciting place to eat. And I haven't even told you about the story tellers that come out at night. They attract crowds of 50 or so people all gathered around to hear ancient stories about.......... well I don't understand a word they say but it is still entertaining to watch. Maybe I should learn some Arabic.
Anyways that should catch you all up on where we are at and what we are doing. I am very excited to be on the road again and have a new member of Citizen of the World.
Hope you all had a great holiday, mine was spent on a boat, train, bus, and plane.
-Keegan
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