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Mali

What a pleasure to be in Mali . We bought some music tapes at the first town we came to and cruised down the road listening to the sounds that became the blues, the hot African sun beating down, and kids waving to us as we roared by.

On the road in Mali

Only one significant breakdown which could have been catastrophic if we hadn't caught it in time, a split water hose meant we had nothing in our radiator and late at night we stumbled from village to village drawing up water from local wells to fill the expansion tank. The muddy water has now probably caked the inside of the engine with a thin film of terracotta but none the less the engine escaped unscathed. A replacement hose cost 30pence when we eventually found one that fit.

Not having a temperature gauge (one of the numerous essential items that doesn't work in our truck) is a bit of a problem but we've developed a 6th sense for feeling if the engine is overheating and the if the gear selector gets too hot to touch then its time to take a pause.

The drivers side wheel arch is now so rusted out that it has dropped down onto the tyre and makes a unnerving humm at speed. There's no sign it's effecting the tyre rubber, and amazingly 2nd gear has started working again, for the first time since Cherbourg . It's nice to be able to pull away in second but I get the feeling this could be the beginning of the end for the ford gearbox. Every successful gear change is a small victory over the forces of decay.

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The Expedition set off from the UK on the 26th of November and arrived in Timbuktu on the 26th of December 2007.

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