My African Adventure

[KBScobravert]

We were flying across the desert in ours too. A lot of the sand, as you can imagine, is very soft and easy to get stuck in, but this thing powered just fine through it. I can see now why they are so expensive and why these folks use them for this mission here....and you can put gun mounts on them lol

Got to cruise the Chianti Mntns in this last weekend. Thing hauls ass and is rugged as hell. Very stable too!





David

[HarrisonTX]

Pretty amazing stuff

[blandnuts]

I'm guessing the carvings are fairly old? I didn't read any, "I was here" markings....

[KBScobravert]

I'm guessing the carvings are fairly old? I didn't read any, "I was here" markings....

I have no idea how old. This is a rock outcrop in the middle of no where and there are no villages for tens of miles to the south and nothing north of us for besides a huge uranium mine for a couple hundred miles. It isn't like folks go touring around up here. It is pretty remote. They only other sign of human life we see out here are shell casings and a little bit of range dunnage from US guys using the desert as a firing range.

[GhostTX]

Don't worry about it. Polaris is good enough, not that I am going to go buy one right now anyways.

MRZR

http://military.polaris.com/

[KBScobravert]

MRZR
http://military.polaris.com/

Yep, that is them. We have 2 and 4 seaters but they are all gas, no diesels.

[KBScobravert]

Walked back from chow. 30 minutes later I hear wind whipping around and snell dirt in the air. Step outside to this shit.

[Gtracer]

well that one "drawing" looks like a giraffe...seeing as that desert has been barren for a looong time, I would say those might be from a time where there was more vegetation in the area.

But just a guess, interesting to say the least

[Grimpala]

Those seats look about as comfortable as a buck board wagon on 635.

[KBScobravert]

Those seats look about as comfortable as a buck board wagon on 635.

Not bad at all. We had it up to 50mph surfing some dunes not even 20 minutes ago.

[KBScobravert]

Hopefully by this time next week I'm in Dakar, Senegal by the beach "working".

[cobrajet69]

Where's beach pic?



David

[KBScobravert]

Where's beach pic?



David

Not much beach work this trip so far. Been here since Monday and been pretty busy with getting visas, doing assessments, fighting traffic and seeing the city. Hell, I haven't even taken a nap since I got here.

Today was a blast. I hit a few of the tourist points. I'll type it up here first and then put in pics from my phone in an edit.

African Renaissance Monument. Just a stones throw from my balcony. From wiki

The African Renaissance Monument (French: Le Monument de la Renaissance Africaine) is a 49 meter tall bronze statue located on top of one of the twin hills known as Collines des Mamelles, outside Dakar, Senegal. Built overlooking the Atlantic Ocean in the Ouakam suburb, the statue was designed by the Senegalese architect Pierre Goudiaby after an idea presented by president Abdoulaye Wade and built by Mansudae Overseas Projects, a company from North Korea. Site preparation on top of the 100-meter high hill began in 2006, and construction of the bronze statue began 3 April 2008. Originally scheduled for completion in December 2009, delays stretched into early 2010, and the formal dedication occurred on 4 April 2010, Senegal's "National Day", commemorating the 50th anniversary of the country's independence from France. It is the tallest statue in Africa.

Very impressive piece. The child's hand is pointing directly to the Statue of Liberty.









I kept expecting one of these to move.

[KBScobravert]

Next stop was the lighthouse. This is a functioning lighthouse. The guide/light operator was phenomenal. It is one of two international lighthouses on Africa. The other is at the southern tip. Stolen from the internets

1864. Active; focal plane 120 m (394 ft); white flash every 5 s. 16 m (52 ft) cylindrical masonry tower with lantern and gallery, attached to the front of a 2-story keeper's house. 2nd order Fresnel lens in use. This is one of the world's great lighthouses, guiding ships around the western tip of Africa. Its light has a range listed at 57 km (almost 36 mi).

This one little light is all that lights the sky for the ships.




Runs like a finely tuned Swiss clock


The point on the far left is the westernmost land mass on the continent.

[KBScobravert]

Then I hit Goree Island or otherwise referred to as Slaver's Island. For 300 years the House of Slaves on the island was a functioning port on the western most point of Africa for selling slaves. I got a guide that was born and raised on the island. His insight of the history was amazing. The island reminds me a lot of Jamaca and the Caribbean...well, it is because of the millions of Africans that were sold to those islands.

***island pics***




The slave master lived at the top of these stairs.


Then underneath the stairs, he kept the trouble makers.


Slaves were kept 15 to a room for 3 months only let out once a day to use the bathroom, eat and bath in the ocean, in chains the whole time.


The 3 months simulated the journey across the oceans. If they couldn't survive the 3 months in these small rooms, they weren't fit to sell anyways because they feared them to die on the boats. Sadly put, bad for business.

Slaves were required to weigh 120lbs at a minimum. Those that didn't were force fed and kept in even smaller rooms until they met the weight.


If these two houses look like ships, well that is the point. Again, they used the houses shape to simulate how many would fit on the ship and forced some slaves to live in them for 3 months also. We didn't go inside but I think "house" is a bit of a misnomer for how they were housed and treated.




Door of No Return...this was the last portal that slaves would pass through before stepping on to the slaver's ship.


Then back in the 1990's, the locals built this door way to symbolize Africa's effort to welcome back the blacks of the world who were sold away.


These kids were swimming in the bay to greet the ferry. People were tossing coins into the water and these two would dive down to get them. Little champs.
***gonna have to load the video later***