#2: [03-Feb-08]

31-Jan-2008 -- This is the second of a series of 83 confluence visits during our voyage from Nigeria to Europe and back to Nigeria around the entire African continent.

Continued from 11N 5E.

We are travelling from Gaya to Dosso. While driving we found out that we will bypass the confluence 13N 3E en route from Dosso to Niamey. We decided to give it a try and entered the data onto our GPS.

A couple of km before Birnin Gaouré we were 10.3 km from the Confluence. We tried several times to find a suitable path leading from the main road in the direction of the Confluence, but all our efforts came to an end after a couple of kilometres. We were already nearly 13 km away and the distance to our goal increased steadily. We more or less gave up the idea to find this Confluence this time around, when we found another path and gave it the last try.

After two kilometres we faced the same as before: the path faded away. However we continued for a short while and found a track. This track was in really bad condition but it was leading in the desired direction. We followed this track and got onto a plateau. On top of the plateau the condition of the track got better and was still leading in the desired direction.

2.7 km from the Confluence the track ended and we where surrounded by two-meter high bush. We tried for a couple of 100 meters more and stopped. I got onto the roof of the vehicle and searched the area with the binoculars for a possible track. I could not find any track or any signs of a settlement. In the meantime Babs was scouting the area by foot and discovered a track a hundred meters away. We made it to this path and continued and got a couple of hundred meters closer to the Confluence, found another path, changed direction, got a further couple of hundred meter close. This zigzag course carried on all the way to the Confluence. The last 60 meters we walked. We made the required pictures and started our way back.

We stopped at a water well next to a settlement; it took our fullest concentration to find our way back to the main road. We continued our journey to Kouré where we spent the night and visited the giraffes the next morning. These are West Africa's last remaining giraffes and it was a true experience.

Continued at 14N 2E.