Once notorious for a civil war that went on for 11 years from 1996 to 2002 and for the blood diamonds financing it, Sierra Leone today is famous for its diverse nature from savannah to rainforests and for the white sand beaches around the capital, Freetown. 50000 yearly visitors (just for comparison, my home city Vienna has more than 17 million) still mean that you will hardly find tourists, unless you arrive with 550 Budapest-Bamako participants.
I have never been that far south in Africa, there will be two new countries added to my bucket list this year, Guinea and Sierra Leone. Really looking forward to it!
It is still summer in Vienna, and I am not in Africa mood. Haven’t prepared anything for the trip yet. The car has been sitting since February. Time to start it up again. Time to dig up the packing list, check the spare parts and tools box which I dumped into the basement after my return in 2018 and which is still full of Saharan sand from the last trip. Preparing for the Budapest-Bamako is a winter time activity, something for dark and cold December evenings. Nothing for September.
For the first time in history, Team Desert Patrol will consist of 3 people: Laci, my teammate of 2018, Lackó, his son in law, and myself. And no, we are not planning to go with the BMW below. although that is a great car, too (the below picture was taken at the finish line of a 24h autocross race where we finished in 10th).
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