Off we went .....and turned right at the gate (luckily the rally guys turned left!)
Hopefully we would rejoin our beloved card who if you remember from yesterday had left us with a new friend!!
So off to start our day . N12 track which should have had us by the famous Timbuktu 52 days sign ......but we couldn't find it .........typical we travel 3000 miles and miss it ........never mind!
N12 fast gravel track but so straight with the odd deviation ( very boring ) but needed to do if we wanted to go to Tata without roads !
However who should we bump into at midday but a checkpoint for rallye Libya (not planned we promise ) .So we watch a few bikes,quads cars and predators come in (see photos ). Justin was worried that the longer we stayed there that the rally would come flying passed us later on, but Ian assured Justin that's this was not going to happen!!!
After an hour we head off in a different direction to the rallye boys (and girls ).But......5 minutes later a quick glance in the mirrors and we can see a BIG TRAIL OF DUST coming quickly behind us . A quick decision was made ......get off the narrow track !!! Good deciscion !A quick Mitsubishi flew past chucking stones at us !!! We decided to retreat even further up the hill !!!!!
Out with the stove and on with our curry and shepherds pie for lunch ......Very English ! But to add to the atmosphere ,on with our Shemagh's (head gear) and sit on our stools watching the rally boys come by at high speeds ......Great .....what a way to spend a Lunch Hour !!! And all was good until Ian heard a rattle snake and went all observant, now Justin was tempted to explore this over lunch, but waited until Ian went for a walk, then Ian did the whole snake thing and shed another skin, sorry Ian!!
After lunch we continued for some mine numbing miles on a variety of track, road and a little sand before arriving at Ta Ta and a 3 star hotel (when it was built 40 years ago) but we love it!
Unfortunately this is as far south as we are able to go due to time constraints and not wanting to spend the next 7 days doing 500 a day on a motorway. We have also decide that an adventure is not the miles travelled but the people you meet, the places you see and the experience you have. And we can honestly say that we have experienced some of the best and hardest things in our lives on this trip, which is not over yet!!!
Today we have covered 265 km, 111 km off road in a cool 28 degrees!
+ photo of beards after 17 days!!
The card has decide to return to us after an eventfully day with the rally pilot!!! She is now sleeping in Ian's bed, but she is so tiered she could not remove even remove her helmet!!
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