At the early stages of planning my trip I looked into the possibility of flying me and my bike back from The Gambia. I work for an airline and The Gambia is one of the destinations that we fly to. I reckoned it would be a simple matter to load the bike into the cargo hold of one of the company's aircraft in Banjul to save me having to ride all the way home. (Mmmm, ever the optimist!)
Early enquiries revealed that, despite a motorcycle being classified as "Dangerous Goods", it is perfectly feasible to carry a motorbike in the cargo hold of a passenger aircraft, subject to certain requirements. Approval in principal was given by the powers to be at work, and I so I set about tracking down cargo handling agents in The Gambia and UK and sorting out customs clearance etc.
All this took a great deal of time and effort. Simply finding the right person to speak to in Banjul was an experience in patience! Finally I had tracked down all the organisations I needed, and they all agreed to their part in the operation. At last all the pieces of the jigsaw were in place.
Final approval from HQ was a different matter.
Unfortunately, three weeks before departure I was told that yet more paperwork was required in order to approve the carriage of my bike. I was asked to obtain a copy of the training course syllabus that the cargo handling agents in Banjul had taken that allowed them to ship Dangerous Goods! Anyone who has had dealing with parts of Africa will realise that I had about as much chance of obtaining this as I had of winning Miss World!
Initial phone calls to Africa proved fruitless and stress levels were reaching for the stratosphere.
At this point in time my bike had no panniers and no long range fuel tank, and now my original plan had been well and truly torpedoed.
Time was not on my side. Choices:
1. Just cancel the whole trip......No way!
2. Freight the bike from Banjul with another carrier........Not enough time.
3. Ride to Banjul, fly back, and then arrange for the bike to be freighted back.......This breaks rule number 1: Never be separated from your kit!
4. Ride to Banjul and go back later to sort out freighting of bike....This also breaks rule number 1!
5. Ride to Banjul and then ride back again......This seemed to be the only option worth considering.
It's a long way, but I knew it would be possible. A quick redraft of the itinerary showed that it was feasible to do it in just 10 days more than I had originally planned for the one way trip. It would also mean that I did not have to rely on help from any other organisation, I would be totally responsible for the success (or failure) of the trip.
The decision was easy to make, I would ride there and back. As I made the decision I felt a weight lift off my shoulders, I felt back in control.
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