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Since he could obtain assistance, Bi Fang naturally intended to make careful use of it.
Human or animal.
Between the two, Bi Fang undoubtedly chose the latter, and had decided early on to rely on the power of the "ships of the desert" in Sahara.
One of the key aspects of this mission was the deadline—120 days.
Whether crossing Nemo Point or traversing the Sahara, both required a long time, and the deadline of 120 days was indeed pressing. To be safe, one naturally would choose the aid that could reduce the time.
In the task of crossing Nemo Point, choosing either humans or animals wouldn't improve the actual sailing speed.
Choosing humans to help could at best result in two people building a better boat, but no matter how good the boat was, there was no significant breakthrough in speed—at most a ten percent increase was the limit.
And choosing animals was even less to speak of—a canoe carrying an animal, besides causing frustration, would accomplish nothing else.