Nouakchott - Day 174

Date: February 8th, 2010
Distance: None
Country: Mauritania
Song of the Day: Rot in the Sun - The Presidents of the United States of America

I met with the Deputy Ambassador for the Republic of the Gambia today. A guy named Omar. He asked me about my journey and what I was going to do in The Gambia. That I was biking seemed to impress him. He even told me he was in the Olympics in 1984 (Los Angeles) and lived in Atlanta for a time. Very cool guy. So yes, in the end, I did get my visa.

From there I went back to the fish market. I had forgotten my camera the last time. I really wanted to get some pictures. When I got there, the sea was much higher though. Not just was the tide in, but the seas were rough. The whole atmosphere was very different. At one point I saw was almost looked like a race. About 50 people were running down the beach. Then I noticed they had ropes. Out in the surf one of the boats had capsized. I wasn't sure if they were trying to save people or the boat. (I later learned that one of the guys in the boat had drowned. The other three were sent to the hospital.) I did watch one boat successfully land on the beach. I am not sure if it was more skill or luck because it almost swamped once or twice. Once one the beach they see-sawed it up to dry sand, then slid it into place among the others.

As the sunset I raced back to the Auberge, as I didn't want to be biking at night. The two other cyclist had left in the morning. So there wasn't much going on. I just got my stuff ready and went to bed.

-Dravis