Mauritania

We naively assumed the Mauritanian border post would be obvious; borders usually are especially when you are in a land mined area like we were. As the tarmac stops at the border, we stuck to the main track. Unfortunately there are lots of main tracks, twenty minutes later still no border control and we were beginning to sweat, especially when the main track was blocked and we had to take a detour. A luminous green Land Rover appeared filled with six guys, speaking very quick French. We assumed they were wanna be guides of the beach piste and decided to ignore them but in actual fact they were probably trying to tell us we had missed the border control and we needed to go back.

We then nearly drove pass the police stop, easily done as it did not look very official, a hut with a man in his underwear standing outside. He seemed surprised that we had missed customs but told us to go on anyway. A few kilometers further on and we reached customs, 'Cadeaux' (present) 'Any perfume for my wife' were the first questions asked before they asked to see the passports. Word of warning throughout Mauritania there are a lot of police stops where the word Cadeaux is wildly spoken, you can get away with saying no but sometimes it is easier and quicker to give them something. Also pretending not to understand French, can work to your advantage. 

Customs were not impressed with our lack of observance of their border post and a guard accompanied us to the police station in Nouadhibou, actually we were thinking he wanted a lift home. When we arrived at the police station everyone was asleep, the big chief was summoned and when he finally arrived he did not look very impressed. We followed him to the main police station where he tried his very best to get money from us but with a combination of Slade's very little French and pretending not to understand, he got nothing and we got the stamp we needed.

We found camping Baie du Levrier, a welcome retreat after the hassle of the day. Here we met a crazy german called Juan, his beautiful wife Nene and their friend Jean Marie. They had driven from Germany and on their way to Mali, where they live and run a tourism business. However the plot thickens, not only did they have one mini bus which was two wheeled drive. They were also driving a Land Cruiser which came complete with a trailer and boat. Juan cheerfully told us that he was going to catch the train on Saturday to Choum. This would avoid driving along the beach to Nouakchott. Later that evening he found out that there was no space for him on the train and he had to wait until Monday. As the urgency was mounting for him to be in Mali at a certain time, he enquired whether it was possible for us to travel together along the beach. Hurrah, we had finally found a traveling companion, however we had a sneaking suspicion that we would be of more help to him than he was to us. In fairness he told us this would be the case but we were up for the challenge.

We left the following morning, after a frustrating time in the bank trying to change travellers cheques. Not possible in Nouadhibou but maybe in Nouakchott, please note that travellers cheques and dollars in West Africa are not widely accepted but the Euro is. Why did not anyone tell us this before we left? Another annoyance is that you have to declare how much money you have when you enter Mauritania and prove with receipts how much money you have changed when you leave. This is a problem if you want to change money on the black market as you get a better exchange rate than the banks and you can not get a receipt.

Due to Juan wanting to know the best route to go for his boat, he hired a guide called 'Amed'. He proved to be a great guide and knew how to make the best mint tea you have ever tasted. But after the third cup you knew you had enough. Amed advised that we would have to drive inland and not along the beach and bird reserve as he said it was unacceptable for the boat. We did manage to see the beach and have a quick dip for five minutes which was enough time as the water was extremely hot and salty. Good excuse to use the Venters shower. See photo of Juan!

Crossing the sand took three days, it can take only two but a boat in the Sahara does not go very fast. Amazingly the two wheel drive got across the sand with no major problems, driven by Amed flat out in first gear seemed to be the key. This was our first experience driving on the sand and it was very cool. We used our sand ladders and a kinetic rope but never to pull ourselves out, honest.  Slade thoroughly enjoyed pulling out the Land Cruiser and equally enjoyed telling Juan the benefits of having a Land Rover. Using the kinetic rope was also a unique experience. The rope stretches and stretches, so the main thing to do is not lose your nerve and stop pulling. Just when you think the rope will snap and Sid will be catapulted into outer space the van would surge out of the sand and land behind us. An expensive piece of kit but well worth it for desert crossings.

The desert experience was great. We had the opportunity to sleep out underneath the stars which was lovely until the clouds blew in and the wind started to blow with the strength of an industrial cyclone. Sid threatened to take off but survived the ordeal and we awoke feeling unrefreshed with sand in our teeth, in fact sand every where.

We arrived in Nouakchott and went to the Iraq Café to celebrate getting the boat and 2 wheel drive through the desert with no major problems. Rotisserie chicken, chips and coke was perfect. From there Amed took us the Auberge Menata  ran by a lovely French lady, Olivia.  We crashed out in the tents set up in the courtyard and decided what to do next.

Juan and Nene had to press onto Bamako but there had been heavy rain in Mauritania and Mali and some of the dirt roads had turned into a quagmire. We contemplated accompanying them on a variety of different routes which involved a 10 day desert crossing or taking the more direct 5 day route and fighting the mud.  We were also considering driving into Senegal or alternatively going north to Chinguetti.  Too many decisions to make so we went to the beach.

Just before we hurtled into the sea we spotted what looked like a zebra.  It was the black and white Land Cruiser HZJ 75 owned by the Dutch couple.  We walked over chastising them for their lack of communication which was very amusing. They were accompanied by a German couple Heike and Didi who were driving a Mercedes G 460.2. It turns out that Nicoline and Peter were taking a similar route to South Africa and Heike and Didi were touring West Africa.  They promised to come and find us the next day as they were heading into town to try and find a special visa that would allow them entry into 5 West African countries.

The next day they arrived and told us that the special visa was too good to be true and no one had heard of it! They invited us to join them on their trip to Chinguetti, apparently the desert was in bloom as there had been no rain in that area for seven years.  We needed to make a decision. Juan assured us that he would be ok on his own and if the mud was too bad he would leave the boat in storage somewhere.  We were put off Senegal because the crossing was expensive at Rosso.  Note: If your vehicle is over 5 years old and you do not have a Carnet de Passage you will not be allowed to enter Senegal. This is a new law bought in apparently to stop the sale of Euro Bangers in Dakar.  As we were all keen to see the blooming desert and traveling with two other vehicles meant we could take more adventurous routes, we decided to take this option.

We met the others the following day in Atar, 400 km away after driving through a rain and sand storm.  Sid was then covered in what can only be described as a thin layer of cement. We had desperately needed to clean Sid, our clothes and ourselves in Nouakchott so had given ourselves a day off.  All our efforts seemed to have been in vain by the time we arrived at Camping Bob Sahara in Atar. 

We spent the afternoon getting to know each other and made a plan to visit Terjit (close to N2015.7'W1306.1') the next day where there was natural springs and pools.  This sounded great especially as we all seem to be getting obsessed with water. Slades affinity with water reached a peak that evening. He had cooked us all a lovely meal and was just about to drain the potatoes when the pan dropped and he covered his legs and feet with hot water.  We all flung cold mineral water at him and shooed him into the shower.  He soon squelched back claiming he was alright, the hunger pains were shielding any other discomfort.

Terjit was lovely. We walked into the Palmarie where water dripped from the rocks and cool pools shaded by palms afforded a welcome retreat from the sun.  Mauritania really has stunning scenery and is completely different to what we had imagined. After cooling off we decided to follow a route from the Overland Sahara book back to Atar.  This turned out to be a good lesson in route planning because it taught us several things one: to read the whole route properly before you start and two: to calculate the distance and work out the hours of daylight for driving.  We didn019t do any of the above properly.

The piste started off smoothly and curved off into the hills.  Even Nicoline and Peter who do not like heights enjoyed the views into the valley where sand had been blown halfway up the rocky cliffs. The piste then turned rocky before disappearing! Luckily we had good GPS points and Slade managed to navigate the rocks and reach each waypoint. All was going well until we reached the village of Toungad, we drove through the village happily waving at people who came out to watch our little convoy. As we drove down a narrow path with high shrubbery on each side we nearly drove into the back of a pickup and the rest of the villagers.  The path had washed away. There were about 50 people watching two guys shoveling and leveling the T Junction.  We were a great source of amusement and soon we had lots of childrens noses pressed up against the windows eyeing up our Moose and Teddy Bear!  Time was a ticking but luckily we had arrived just as the road building was completed. We drove on across a dried out, wide, flat Oued (river). The sand started getting soft and we had to try and find the best path. The GPS gives straight line directions to each point but obviously this wasn't possible. We swung a right and Sid struggled with the softening sand.  We reached hard ground before the Land Cruiser became grounded.  Out came the ropes and the cameras. Slade wanted all Land Cruiser mishaps recorded for future use to prove to his sister's boyfriend that Landrover is the best 4x4.

We let down our tyres and walked some of the Oued to find the best way. A bemused local man swung his arm around indicating the possible route. Darkness fell as we reinflated the tyres for the remaining rocky track.  Hmmm, never drive at night we had always said. Luckily it was a full moon and we were nearly back on the main road. A bit of an adventure and team bonding experience!

Next stop was the oasis of Chinguetti 80km past Atar. We could see loads of succulent type plants and even grass as we approached. This is one of Islam's holiest cities.  The mosque here is 800 years old and its interesting feature is the ostrich eggs on four spikes on the roof.  The city has lots of history including a library dating back to the 13^th Century which we didn't visit. Chinguetti was a small town but seems to be getting swallowed in the encroaching desert. Many houses had sand up to the windows.  Tubbs bought some ancient arrow heads from a group of women who had bags full of jewellery, stones and pots around them. 

We continued on to Oudane that day, another oasis town which was highly important in the medieval era as a trading post on the Caravan routes.  It was another 120 km along a straight and relatively unrocky piste. The piste is on top of an escarpment and is dead flat, no sand  but rocks, shrubs, camals and lizards. Krissys head kept nodding as she dropped in and out of sleep. Actually this is a common occurrence.

Oudane was at the base of the escarpment, we passed a Camping with hot showers outside and soon returned there after a quick tour of the village.  Didi did something with his stereo so all three vehicles were on the same wavelength and picking up the same music and played a rock CD. It sounded great. Cracked open some drinks and relaxed.

Chris Scotts Sahara Overland book is coming in very handy as we used it to guide us the 40km to Guelb er Richat which is a huge dome of rock which has been worn down over time. You need to drive over four rings before ending up in the middle. It was an interesting drive. First we met some British bird watchers who were staying in Oudane for three months. They had been there three weeks and seen nothing until that morning. The strong winds during the night had blown some birds off course so they were excitedly running around trying to net them.  Sid then got stuck in the sand.  There was no track to Guelb so we followed the GPS.  Sand turned to mud so we had a few amusing high speed drives across some mud flats! Poor Peter and Nicoline who had done no offroading before this were beginning to wonder why they were with us all!  We finally reached the centre and to be honest you couldn't tell that's where we were.  It was impressive scenery because it was so vast and we were in the middle of nowhere. Had dinner in a handy empty hut, surprisingly no nomads appeared. Normally when you think you are alone here, even in the middle of nowhere someone will arrive.  We call them pop up Mauritanians!  We drove back a different way and Tubbs had her first drive of the landy!! Hurrah, Hayley I've had a drive! Krissy also had a go and it was good fun.

We needed to start heading south again, we could either drive all the way back to Noakchott and back across to Bamako (1000km) or drive straight across the desert to Tidjika which was only  400.  We found out from a variety of people that the piste was quite straight forward  but we needed a guide.  Heike and Didi had the book GPS au Mauritanie which documented the route well so we decided to go for it alone, well 7 people, 3 GPS units and one satellite phone. The route could take from 3-5 days depending on the weather conditions and state of the terrain and I guess how many times you get lost.  We filled up Sids 80 litre water tank and 20 litre jerry can.  The diesel tanks and jerrys were also filled with 130 litres of fuel. (There is fuel in Oudane but in a station  in a locked garden.)  We had plenty of food but unfortunately for Slade, not that much meat.

It was 120 km back to the start of the piste near Atar.  When the piste commenced it was very rocky, we bounced along heading east until we reached a river bed. The GPS told us to go straight on but the bed was very soft and muddy.  Nicoline and Peter were also concerned as the piste was jarring Nicolines back.  She'd broken it in the past and needed to be careful.  They went off for a chat and Tubbs and Krissy checked out a local ladies wares.  Not many people come this way so they really wanted to sell something.  One bracelet, necklace and tea pot later everyone was happy.  We decided to go straight on, across the river bed.  The boys had walked it and it seemed strong enough. Sid accelerated towards the other side and suddenly sank axle deep in mud. He was going nowhere.  Back to the bank, Slade now covered in mud above his knees, to make a plan. 

Didi accelerated towards the other side further down the bed and suddenly sank axle deep in mud.  Oh dear, only one vehicle left unstuck.  There was nothing for it but to all get in the mud and start shoveling and shoveling. We started with the Mercedes. We shoveled channels to draw the ground water away from the wheels, used all the sand ladders and tried to pull him out with the Land Cruiser.  The Mercedes drew back a metre, so we started again, having first to dig out the sand ladders which had become buried as the wheels spun trying to get traction.  Several hours later the Mercedes was back on dry land but on the wrong side.  We were all covered in mud and sun cream as the sun was very hot.  

Sid was looking very sorry for himself and seemed to have sunk deeper in the interim.  There was only one way to get him out and that was to pull him from the opposite bank. This meant driving up the river bed to try and find a place to cross.  Krissy, Tubbs and Nicoline stayed with Sid and the others drove away.  Two hours later they returned having driven 5 km up stream to cross, they'd all got stuck in the process and were pretty tired but happy to have made it.  Back into the mud  to dig out Sid, the faster you dug the more mud would slide into the holes.  We had to pull him up the bank. First we tried to pull him out with the Land Cruiser but he was well and truly suctioned to the mud.  We needed Juans kinetic rope.  We rearranged the sand ladders and this time put the Mercedes in front of the Land Cruiser to use both the vehicles power.  This would have worked brilliantly if Didi and Peter had communicated, as it was Peter accelerated and Didi moved away too late so nothing much happened except moving Sid off the ladders. Finally, seven hours after he got stuck Sid emerged, dripping. Excellent, we had completed 12km of the 400km piste that day. Slade washed the mud of the brakes and seeing as it was almost dark we sheepishly left the village, having entertained the locals all day and found a place to camp.

The next three days to Tidjika were far easier going.  Although we crossed six more river beds nothing compared to day one.  The desert was different to what we imagined, you think of sand dunes only but this piste showed us that it is rocky, shrubby and in places it is being cultivated especially around oasis areas. Due to all the rain there was even grass in the desert, beautiful to see especially the camels grazing.  We met several people on day two, nomads who had set up a tent encampment whilst they grazed hundreds of goats.  Two children ran to see us and the little boy had a huge growth under his chin, we wished we could do something to help him. Nicoline presented them with two caps and toy and they excitedly ran away.  The next encounter was slightly closer because we drove into a farmer's field.  The field was marked with dry bushes; it did not look like a fence. We suddenly noticed that there were hundreds of dips with seeds in them.  Then we noticed the farmers, oops we stopped the vehicle feeling guilty. We paid them some money for the crops we had ruined and they were very nice about it, one of the farmers then guided us out.  The final large village we came to was full of people especially children that sprinted behind us as we drove in circles trying to get out.

The GPS book was really good but you still had to do a lot of navigating as there were no tracks, you only knew the direction.  Great scenery here you really felt that you were isolated and miles to civilization in all directions, these thoughts were then quashed as  Krissy pointed out that we could still contact people anywhere in the world with the satellite phone!

Sand driving was cool too. Tubbs was behind the wheel driving over a series of mini dunes that went on for ages.  Her confidence was growing as she got used to the feeling of driving on sand and finding the best way round the dunes.  Unfortunately the problem with dunes is that you are never sure what's on the other side, steep drop off or gradual decline. Tubbs managed to find a steep drop off.  As we went off over the top the dune disappeared and we nose dived into the sand. It was the only part of that dune that had a hole in it. Typical.  Luckily the only damage was a dent on the bumper and Tubbs sand driving confidence.  Slade stayed remarkably calm as Sid was pulled out of the sand, Tubbs was thinking that she'd have to put on her head scarf and start walking! Hayley, this might have been the last drive.

Shortly after this Peter got stuck in deep sand. It was really hot but we were now experienced in digging and managed eventually to get him out.  Didi and Heike then took the lead after all these incidents because they knew how to negotiate the dunes by driving along the tops and finding the lowest entry point.  We eventually reached the other side where the scenery changed again with palm trees, and even natural pools.

We reached Tidjika finally but felt good for having completed the journey.  We did the journey in some style as every evening we cooked fantastic meals. One night we had duck and potato with crème fraise. Great traveling with these guys as they have loads of goodies packed in their cars! Poor Slade, far too many vegetables for his liking.

We needed to head for Bamako now our 3 days in Mauritania had stretched to 2.5 weeks.  It took 2 days to get to Ayoun from there we had to take the dirt road to Mali.  Whilst there we met a French Canadian man working with different municipalities out here.  He helped us change money and recommended a friend of his that would put us up.  Jacques de Meille was his name, a French/Mauritanian with a farm in the Ayoun Oasis.  He'd moved here to get away from civilization so he was really pleased when 3 vehicles and 7 people rocked up in the dark. Actually, he provided great hospitality, inviting us to sit on his mats, drink tea and have dinner.   His wife cooked a great mutton meal and he found it very amusing to teach us to eat with one hand. 

The next morning we could see what a lovely place it was.  We also could see the love struck donkey that brayed all night and the mooing cow that also seemed to have lost its partner. Also everyone was staring at our tents. Jacques pointed out the rich variety of forage grasses on his land that easily fed all of his animals.  

 Tubbs has found an admirer, one of the boys on the farm realized she was single and presented bouquets of different grasses to her. The feeling however was not mutual. Everyone of course found it very amusing. After we had all walked around Jacques garden and he had given us loads of veg we left. 

We followed the new road out of town and out of Mauritania! We did not realize we had entered Mali until Slade spotted it on the GPS. No border signs, no security guards and no Welcome to Mali signs.  We could not believe we had been stopped throughout Mauritania and now when we needed advice there was no one around. Eventually found out in Kobenni that we should have got our Carnet and passports stamped back in Ayoun which was now a 5 hours drive. Luckily there was meant to be customs in a village called Modibogo 35km away.  To get there meant driving back into Mali, turning right into a maize field to reenter Mauritania, go through the villages of Labidi and Senewali before hanging a right past the tethered goat to customs! The police here were very helpful but unfortunately Customs man with his thick coca cola glasses was not.  He wanted to see how much money we had exchanged but if we did not want to show him we only had to pay him 100 euros and we could move on. We showed him money, receipts and luckily he could not count properly and all was fine. He then wanted to charge Didi and Heike 100 euros because they were leaving from Modibogo and not Nema as they had written on some of their paperwork. Forget it; they decided to sort it out in Bamako.  We camped just outside the village as all this official activity had taken the rest of the afternoon.

Recrossing the river the next day was fun.  We are more cautious now and waded through. It was pretty deep but the bottom was hard.  It was a successful crossing for all three of us. Slade had closed all the breather holes and covered the front of the radiator so we all remain dry except teddy that got wet as we forgot to close the air vent.

GPS SUMMARY

Baie du Levrier, Nouadhibou

N20º91.581'' W17º05.016''

Auberge Menata, Nouakchott

N18º09.329'' W15º97.729''

Bab Sahara, Atar

N20º52.216'' W13º06.227''

Oudane Camping

N20º92.353''  W11º62.810''

Mauritanian Customs, Moribougou (if you miss Ayoun)

N15º51.287''  W09º48.721''