Listen to Africa is a 24,000-kilometre cycling expedition, recording African sounds and voices.
More »
Choosing sound recording equipment for the expedition – six months on After six months on the road, our audio equipment is holding up well. Huw looks at how the kit has performed so far, and why we’ve made some recent additions to our equipment.
Soundscape: Morning by the lagoon 
In this soundscape, recorded just after dawn at Le Thiossane camp near Mbodiene, Senegal, you can hear the insects and birds living around the saltwater lagoon coming to life. We spent a lot of mornings and evenings listening to and watching the life of the lagoon, with the sea crashing in the distance. This was recorded in mono, just before our new mics arrived…
Date and time recorded: 06:24 local time, 4th September 2009
Location: Near Mbodiene, Senegal (view on map)
Equipment: Audio-Technica AT897 via FEL MicBooster MB-1 to Fostex FR2LE
Copyright: Listen to Africa
Subscribe to the podcast »
Soundscape: Drumming rain As we’ve mentioned, it’s rainy season in Senegal. Outside our hut in Le Thiossane, Senegal, was a vase-shaped water collector, covered by a metal plate to keep out the leaves. When the rain fell on the plate, it made a wonderful drumming sound. We recorded this near the start of one lunchtime downpour, moving the microphone closer to the plate during the recording – and you’ll be able to hear the rain getting heavier as the recording goes on.
Date and time recorded: 12:07 local time, 6th September 2009
Location: Near Mbodiene, Senegal (view on map)
Equipment: Audio-Technica AT897 via FEL MicBooster MB-1 to Fostex FR2LE
Copyright: Listen to Africa
Subscribe to the podcast »
Soundscape: A short trip by pirogue 
Pirogues are small, wooden fishing boats common in this part of Africa. We took this pirogue from Fadhiout in Senegal to visit the nearby Ile aux Coquillages, or Island of Shells. As you’ll hear, this pirogue was punted by a wooden pole, although some pirogues are propelled by outboard motors, paddles or sails. The flat-bottomed pirogues are designed to be able to navigate shallow areas like these wetlands; you should also be able to hear the moving sand on the sea bed. Around us, groups of men fished with nets and older women waded through the water, feeling for oysters with their feet.
Date and time recorded: 13:04 local time, 2nd September 2009
Location: Near L’Ile aux Coquillages, Senegal (view on map)
Equipment: Audio-Technica AT897 via FEL …
Soundscape: Morning at Terjit Oasis 
Ah, Terjit. On the evening of the day we left Atar, we crawled into Terjit Oasis – almost literally – with broken bikes and suffering bodies (more about all that soon, in the blog). Streams, rockpools (to swim in!), date palms, toads, glow worms, fireflies, cicadas, birds: a feast for our ears and eyes after two months of deserts and cities.
Date and time recorded: 06:50 local time, 9th August 2009
Location: Terjit Oasis, Mauritania (view on map)
Copyright: Listen to Africa
Subscribe to the podcast »
Soundscape: Sahara wind If the sounds section of the website has been a bit quiet of late, it’s because pedalling through the Sahara has been anything but. Wind. Almost constant wind. And, even though it’s meant we haven’t been able to record any birds here, we’ve learned to love this sound; it’s usually a tailwind. This is the sound of the wind blowing through a pile of rocks that marked a junction between a sand track and the main road.
Recorded on: 9th July 2009, 20:10 local time.
Location: The Sahara, Western Sahara (view on map)
Copyright: Listen to Africa
Soundscape: A short walk through Sidi Ifni at night 
Recording this was really an experiment / learning experience for us but we thought we’d post it anyway; we loved Sidi Ifni and hope these sounds evoke a little of its atmosphere. Main lesson learned: cycling sandals (with metal cleats sticking out of the bottom) make the worst possible footwear for a sound recordist…
Date and time recorded: 21:40 local time, 8th June 2009
Location: Sidi Idni, Morocco (view on map)
Copyright: Listen to Africa
