As Andy has already mentioned, the minefield that exists on the border between the Western Sahara and Mauritania was crossed without any incident. We didn’t even get stuck in the sand!
First stop in Mauritania was the town of Nouadibou, here we stayed in a campsite which was recommended to us by a guy at the border and against all previous experience we decided to go there. It turned out to be a pleasant place with a superb ’suntrap’ seating area and basic but altogether acceptable ameneties. For some reason however every time i had a shower or used the toilet the water would go off - this annoyed the other guests somewhat!The town is next to some of the most densely stocked fishing water on the planet so we decided to get ourselves down to the fish market. After a bit of Ramadan style waiting around and uncertainty the fishermen returned and we managed to get 2 kilos of fish for just over 10 pence!
When we returned to the campsite a number of other travellers had been hooked by the guide on the border including an english couple and a swede who spoke better english than me. Good therefore to be able to speak english again, and to hear other peoples stories of the border crossing.
We spent 2 nights at the above place umming and aahing over what route to follow next. In the guide there is talk of a train suitable for vehicles which goes directly east from Nouadibou to near Atar, the main tourist and sightseeing city. One option so was to take this train and spend some time in that area of the country, possibly less sand and more in the way of Oasis and greenery. A group of french Geology students - see www.cosicosa.org who were looking for water! were our guides to sort out the train trip and although the service supposedly ceased 2 years ago they managed to get on the last car transporter for a price. We however decided, being skinflints that it was too expensive and to take the road directly south to Nouakchott.
This drive across the southern sahara consisted of trying to stay awake on what is a featureless tarmac road for 400ish km. On arriving in Nouakchott we met up with the swede and had pizza while discussing the highlights and lowlights of African cuisine?! It was still Ramadan!
One night in a basic campsite with a dog that did yoga and then on the road south again to Senegal.
Pics below of Mauritania,
Enjoy.
