30-Sep-2007 -- Armin, Babs, and myself left the confluence 12N 10E and went back towards Keffin-Hausa. We took the road to Hadejia, a town known for its wetlands. The Hadejia-Nguru wetlands serve as a refuge for many itinerant birds from Europe. We continued to Malammaduri, it is here that the tarred road terminated for us and we took the sand track to Digimsa. 5 km before Digimsa, Armin had to stop his vehicle. The engine mountings had been broken and the engine had relocated. It was 4 p.m. and 39°C, as we started to make our camp. At first it seemed to be a very nice place, but it was infested with cockleburs. These cocklebur seeds stick to everything and can make camping in this vicinity a misery. At times like this, a roof tent is of advantage and highly appreciated.

This same evening we managed to arrange a tractor for the next morning to tow Armin back to Malammaduri, which promptly arrived the next morning. After a small breakfast we split and we continued to Digimsa and took the track to Matsena and Armin was towed back. The sand track got deeper and deeper. About halfway to Matsena we got as close as 450 meters to the Confluence and parked our vehicle in the shadow of a Baobab tree and walked to the Confluence. It was after 9 a.m. when we reached the Confluence and it was already very hot. We documented the Confluence and strolled back to the vehicle.

On the way back we stopped at some of the villages along the track. The villagers were very curious about us but the language barrier prohibited any conversation. At Malammaduri we met Armin again and understood that the towing of his vehicle went well. He had already organised another vehicle to tow him back to Kano. At this time the brakes in my vehicle virtually did not exist anymore and we took a slow drive back to Kano as well. We all spent the night at Kano and managed to get both vehicles repaired and returned to Abuja the following day.