This is a guest post from client (now friend) and author Derek Pugh

Suddenly, out of left field, came the call to join Scoot West Africa on a Carnival trip from Senegal to Guinea Bissau. “There’s a scooter trip to West Afr…” started my mate on the phone one day. “I’ll be there” I said. “When?”

So, I soon found myself astride the 107cc Chinese-made KTM scooter favoured on these West African expeditions. Despite its diminutive size, this remarkable machine coped with everything thrown at it over the next 16 days – long stretches of dirt road, hippopotamus-sized potholes in the once-sealed highways, and areas of deep sand (err, not true – these are not sand bikes, but we all got through).

There were 14 of us on this trip, Antipodeans, Europeans, and North Americans, plus a Brazilian trumpet player and a German born-again twitcher whose personal epiphany arrived on a birdwatching trip through the mangroves. We were led by Matt and Phil, two long-term African expats, and Boubacar, a Malian mechanic who managed the machines and was unbeatable in the ‘make a hippo noise competition.’ The journey travelled from Senegal, through The Gambia (with its highly entertaining river crossing), and into Guinea Bissau in time for the annual carnival where the drums, the energy of the dancers, and the joy of Carnival infused everybody with a feeling that life was there to be lived, and where better than on a Guinea Bissau street dancing with ten thousand oiled and costumed Africans…?

The ultimate destination for the trip lay off the coast of GB. We spent three days on the Bijagos Islands, touring local villages and enjoying their take on Carnival. A group of us chartered a boat to Orango Island to observe its distinctive wildlife, which proved to be a highlight of the trip for me. Who knew there is a sub-species of hippopotamus living on an isolated island off West Africa? Well, about 140 of them survive there in fine comfort. They are saltwater adapted and are said to regularly swim in the surf. We found a pod of about 15 of them lazing in a freshwater lagoon, grunting, and flicking their ears as they impassively watched us hiding in the bushes about ten metres away. We were lucky – some visitors never get to see them as close as we did.

The long ride back to Senegal meant negotiating the potholed road back to the border. Some of the potholes were big enough to hold their own ecosystem. I wondered whether we’d meet previous Scoot clients emerging from them after being lost in their depths for months. Back in Senegal, we left the bikes in Ziguinchor and caught the overnight ferry back to Dakar, and the group then broke up – some returning home, others to continue their travels.

We had learned a lot and had experienced three West African countries in a way few ever have, under Scoot West Africa’s impeccable organization. Our hosts, Matt and Phil, were remarkable in their local knowledge, contacts, skills in getting large groups across borders, and memorable in their generosity and obvious regard for West African people and their culture. I doff my helmet in respect and recommend the journey to anyone capable of sitting astride a motor scooter. We were certainly living our best lives for those two weeks.

Derek Pugh
Australia, March 2026