Nouakchott - Day 172

Date: February 6th, 2010
Distance: None
Country: Mauritania
Song of the Day: Where the Streets Have No Names - U2

My first order of the day was to get to a cyber. I had sent my friend Natalie a message through CouchSurfing asking if she knew of a good place to stay. I didn't have time the night before to find out if she had sent a reply. The place I was stayed at the night before was not that great.

It took me a bit to find a cyber. There really aren't that many sidewalks in Nouakchott. Instead there are just unpaved places, which in this town means sand. So to get anywhere with speed you have to walk in the street and hop off when a car goes by. Annoying. Finally I did find a place where I could check my e-mail and sure enough Natalie had sent me back with a place to stay.

You didn't need to tell me twice. So I headed off to find it. Another thing to note is that Nouakchott really doesn't have street names. So you can't give directions that way. Instead the directions were to find the Maritel building, go north and take the first left. Sounds weird, but it worked.

The place is called Auberge Menata. I was quite impressed. The place is a sort of strange commune filled with lots of Europeans. There is a yard most of which is usually filled with RVs. There is a bit of space for some chairs and tables. A good place to hang out and talk with your fellow travellers. Since they didn't have any beds left, they let me pitch my tent on the roof. Cool beans.

I also met two other cyclists staying there. One guy, Hiromu, was from Japan. He had cycled all the way down here from Istanbul. He even cycled the road from Nouadhibou to Nouakchott with no problems. There was also a French cyclist, Jonathan. He had come from Paris, but like me, took the bus from Nouadhibou.

Jonathan also told me there was a cool fish market to go see, so we biked on out there. The market itself isn't really all that big. They do have tons of different fish. Huge fish too. I couldn't tell you what just about any of them were. Out on the beach is where the real action is happening though. There are hundreds of fishing boats lined up along the shore. They are all brightly painted. It just looks amazing. Some are coming and going, bringing huge nets full of fish ashore. Once on the beach the fish are offloaded onto a donkey cart and taken to the market. There is so much going one. It is fun just to walk up and down the beach.

After I got back, Natalie came to pick me up. She was going to show me around the city for a bit then take me to some place for dinner. (I am always hungry.) The first stop was the top of the only skyscraper in town. It was in the office where she worked. At the top was a place to get (non-alcoholic) drinks. It also had a balcony where you could look out over the city. While I was up there it struck me that Nouakchott is a lot like Anchorage in Alaska. Neither city had any reason to build up, so they both sprawled outward. Connecting the various areas of town are wide boulevards. Of course, Nouakchott has sand for sidewalks instead of snow, and it is goats or camels that wander the streets, not moose. But strangely similar.

After that we headed over to a place she knew for dinner. The place had the feel of a beach side restaurant. It even had a sand floor. A few of Natalie's friends showed up while we were there. They helped me with my french. (I am getting better.) I told them about my adventure, which even I am getting impressed with. W didn't stick around too late, though. A good day all around.

-Dravis