In 2007-08 I did a three week trip in a banger (£155 Skoda Felicia), taking in some of the areas covered here - Morocco, Western Sahara, Mauritania, Senegal and finally The Gambia. Cars were donated to raise money for Gambian causes, and it was an incredible experience. We got to Senegal just when the route recce crews came through for the (eventually cancelled) 2008 Dakar Rally - cancelled because of the murder of french tourists [1], which we were unaware of as we'd set off before it happened. It was part of the rise of Al Qaeda in Africa, and indeed I wouldn't do the same trip again today because of the security problems that are far worse now than they were then. Drove for days in the Sahara, did 100km along the beach in Mauritania, 4400 miles in total in a tired old thing that never said die. I can totally believe it about the roads in places - some of the 'proper' roads we drove on were unbelievably hard going (and I say that as someone whose hobby was gravel rallying in the UK) - one was a 100km stretch of washboarded road to the Senegalese border that put paid to many of the rear dampers in the group due to overheating and eventual expiry.
Africa is a magical place - I've been fortunate enough to go for a reasonable period twice - also worked in Tanzania for three weeks in 2004 - but it's certainly not for the faint hearted; I'd not want to go there without serious mechanical skills as there isn't the level of support that you get in Europe, and the fuel supply is hugely variable; indeed some stations have a reputation for deliberately supplying poor fuel to travellers to allow them to try to buy the vehicle for a low price (this actually happened - dodgy diesel from a barrel, and then 5 minutes later the vendor was saying he'd buy the car off the guys we were with. Needless to say we fixed it). Anyway, the memories will last a lifetime, and perhaps more importantly the lessons learnt there (such as how fortunate I am to have been born by chance into a wealth, stable democracy) have shaped my life ever since.
Africa is a magical place - I've been fortunate enough to go for a reasonable period twice - also worked in Tanzania for three weeks in 2004 - but it's certainly not for the faint hearted; I'd not want to go there without serious mechanical skills as there isn't the level of support that you get in Europe, and the fuel supply is hugely variable; indeed some stations have a reputation for deliberately supplying poor fuel to travellers to allow them to try to buy the vehicle for a low price (this actually happened - dodgy diesel from a barrel, and then 5 minutes later the vendor was saying he'd buy the car off the guys we were with. Needless to say we fixed it). Anyway, the memories will last a lifetime, and perhaps more importantly the lessons learnt there (such as how fortunate I am to have been born by chance into a wealth, stable democracy) have shaped my life ever since.
[1] - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2007_killing_of_French_tourist...