NIGER

Heading out of Mali, the group travelled east across Niger and the edge of the Saharan desert to get to their southerly route. Throughout Mali and Niger, Graham's truck was plagued with problems in the front suspension. There was a problem that caused the shocks to keep breaking, eventually leading to a makeshift repair by a local welder.

Chad

Their route took them for a brief drive through the southwest corner of Chad. This route around the edge of Lake Chad allowed them to get to the country of Cameroon, while avoiding the less safe country of Nigeria.

Cameroon

Heading south into Cameroon, the group began its journey through central Africa. They left the desert land behind and entered the lush jungle.

Gabon

Gabon is located in the heart of central Africa, flush with dense jungle, rich natural resources and diverse fauna. Recently, Gabon made the revolutionary move to set aside 10% of its country as national park land in order to preserve it for the future. The Africa Overland route went straight through the heart of Gabon, where they were able to witness first hand this beauty. While there, they joined up with another group of overlanders, with whom they intended to travel for the remainder of their trip.

Congo

The Democratic Republic of the Congo had only recently recovered from a long and violent civil war. During this time, the flow of tourists had been virtually shut off to this country. The Africa Overland group was in fact the first tourists to cross from Gabon to the Congo in many years. This made for a bit of a complication in that the border officials required various bits of paperwork and letters, dragging the border crossing out a number of days.