Day 81, 8466 km, Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso

Shortly after hitting the hay last night (Saturday) in my wild camping spot, I became aware of a growing crackling noise, orange glow and the smell of smoke. Realising that there was a bushfire raging a few hundred meters to my west I eventually decided to stay put and set my alarm for every hour or so to monitor its progress. Thankfully by morning it had all but died out and sparked into action, I hit the road to Ouagadougou at the crack of dawn. Along the way, I almost got hit by Francis a local PE teacher who then insisted on buying me a surprisingly tasty bowl of BBQd liver and a coke for lunch. Buoyed by such generosity, I made Ouagadougou in no time only to discover Helen is actually arriving Tuesday night! At least that gives me time to overcome my biggest challenge yet – buying her a Christmas present!