This was one of our most adventurous crossings. We began at the Cape of Good Hope and set our line north toward Europe. The route followed West Africa by design, a choice made after assessing conditions in the Horn and deciding against an eastern approach. The decision proved right. It gave the journey a rare mix of desert, rainforest, coast, and city, with border work that stayed smooth and safe.
We left Cape Town and moved through Stellenbosch to the Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park, entered Botswana for days in the Kalahari and the Okavango, then crossed Namibia from the east to the coast. From there we drove the Atlantic edge and its dune systems toward Angola, where the sands continued and camping became part of the rhythm. Farther north the dunes gave way to rainforest and river country before the road stepped through the Congos, Gabon, Cameroon, and Nigeria, then Benin, Togo, Ghana, and onward to Sierra Leone and Senegal. The final arc ran through Mauritania and Morocco and closed on the European mainland for the return to Amsterdam.
West Africa surprised us with variety and welcome. It was less travelled, with long sections where we saw no other visitors. Overnight options proved better than expected along the coast, and we adjusted inland when needed. It felt honest and rewarding, with the road doing the work and the landscapes changing by the day.
Preparation sat in the background. We monitored conditions with reliable local contacts and chose border posts known for clarity. An advance car ran a day ahead to prepare crossings, while a sweep team followed with tools, spares, and calm.
It was the longest World Challenge to date. We planned for roughly forty days and about twenty five countries, with careful attention to borders and sensible stage lengths. It felt large yet composed, a clean close to years of continental chapters.