With my smashed tablet, I failed to get a GPX track log for today. I'll do my best to re-create from pictures.
Up at 7am after sleeping with Joseph, the streets are quiet in the morning.
We left at 9am, and reached the border just 20 minutes later. Meanwhile, the support crew was arranging a tow to bring the van to the border and another tow inside Senegal to drag the van to Tambacounda. We were still waiting to exit Guinea at 12:20pm. Everybody stops to pray for an hour at 3pm. Then we advance 30 km into Senegal where the final Senegal entry step goes relatively quickly and smoothly. Senegal is efficient. Then the van is towed in at 5pm and we change tow vehicles and push on toward Tambacounda, 105 km to go. In that 30 km between the Guinea exit and the Senegal entry , Niokolo Koba National Park is on our right. On that ride, I very briefly saw two large babboons near the side of the road. Turns out that would be the only classic African wildlife I would see on this trip.
We roll into Tambacounda at 5pm. I found an ATM a few blocks away and got 375,000 ($609 worth) of XOF West African Francs for me, Dan and Ahmed. This would pay for hotels and gas for Senegal and part of Côte d'Ivoire, though I would need to find another ATM in Côte d'Ivoire. My Wise card worked in Senegal, but it did not work in Côte d'Ivoire. There I used my Wells Fargo debit card. When traveling to strange places, it really pays to carry several different cards.
We finally had the whole group together at a reasonable hour and had dinner as a team at 9:30pm.
Day 8, Koundara to Tambacounda