Laayoune to Nouadhibou - Day 169

Date: February 4th, 2010
Distance: Cheating by bus and taxi
Country: Mauritania
Song of the Day: Drive - Incubus

So I missed the early bus to Dahkla, and ended up taking the one that arrived just before midnight. That worked out well. I was fairly tired and slept most of the way. Actually I only really needed to wake up every couple of hours so the gendarmes could ask for my passport and occupation.

Once in Dahkla, I actually wasn't all that impressed. Yeah, it was a town, but it didn't seem to have the excitement or energy that Laayoune had. I didn't see much in the way of beaches or interesting wilderness. So I decided to hit the road. Since the wind still wasn't cooperating and I didn't have any real (food) supplies, I decided to catch a ride.

This meant I had to find a something heading to the boarder with Mauritania. I choose taxi, which really wasn't the best option. I wouldn't recommend it. It was overpriced and crampt. They were able to tie the bike down to the back pretty well, so that wasn't a problem. I think it would have just been better to hit the road and try to hitch a ride on a South bound truck. Oh well.

I do have to say that it would have been nice to have ridden some of the way there. There were a few places where the dunes stretched out into the waves of the Atlantic. It made me want to just find a place to pitch my tent and stay a few days. My own little beach with no one around but a few trucks and cars on the highway. But it was not to be. I was already in the taxi, I couldn't exactly ask to be let out half way. Then again, most of the area wasn't that exciting. More boring desert. The wind had changed a bit and was now flowing across the road. Still, no real help for chewing up the miles.

I did end up in Mauritania by accident. Not really what I wanted. I had wanted to be let out on the Moroccan side, and cross the boarder myself. That was not to be either. The boarder on the Moroccan side looked like just another police checkpoint. Plus we had another 40 kilometers to the town I thought we were heading too. But they actually stamped my passport, which I thought was odd.

After that the road was gone. Vanished. There were just tracks in the sand. We were going through a dusty wasteland. No-man's land. There was trash everywhere, and the shells of stripped down and wrecked cars. Most of these had been flipped over to provide shade for the few people who live or work in this lawless strip of land. (I later learned that this area is laced with old land mines. So the tracks mark, not the best path, but a safe one.)

Then after a few kilometers we came to a gate with Mauritanina flags. Whoops. Now I knew what was going on. It was too late to do anything about it though. I couldn't exactly go back to Morocco at this point. So I went on and got checked into Mauritania, no problems. Then it was the final 40 kilometers to Nouadhibou.

I arrived knowing nothing. I was actually hoping to camp on the Moroccan side. Then cross the boarder and find a bus going south. Now (as it was getting dark) I had to find a place to stay. There were a ton of people pressed around the taxi trying to offer me places to stay or something to eat. Quite overwhelming.

I did meet a young guy who invited me just to have a drink at his cafe. Good, someplace calm and quiet to think. I didn't have any Mauritanian Ouguiya, so I just had some water. I ended up talking with the owner of the cafe, named Moctahr. He was a cool guy. I guess he works three different jobs. One was the cafe, but his was also and administrative assistant at the hospital and an exterminator.

I got my Moroccan money changed over and he cooked me up some fish. Very good. Then he took me back to his house. I met his whole family. They had cooked up a big plate of pasta and meat. It was quite tasty. (Oh, and you eat it with our fingers. I nearly burned my fingers because it was so hot.) We also watched a movie on the TV (in English with Arabic subtitles). Finally I grabbed a couch and hit the hay.

-Dravis