Howdy,
Well i have now entered hot hot hot africa (FINALLY)! I was worried there for a bit, concerned about my lack of clothing options!
Finished off my time in Morrocco and currently in Mauritania. If you read the last long blog you will see that after that event i vowed never again to get annoyed at the attention paid to me by the morroccan men....hence i spent a day with a man in Marracech who used the following conversational line on me....'you have big hair'.
Travelled down through the western sahara, camped in the desert, struggled up sand dunes and somersaulted down them (in hindsight probably not the smartest thing to do but hey ho, you live and learn, my spine is in the same position!) Nothing quite like treking up and over a sand dune and coming across a herd of camels the other side, if the fact that you are bloody hot doesnt do it then that will certainly remind you that you are in the Sahara desert!
So after 5 days of stinking it up without a shower we encountered the western sahara / mauritania border. Not a place you would choose to hang out at! Mauritania is a dry country, therefore we couldnt take alcohol in...so we hid it. To get from one country to the next you must pass through a strip of land 5km wide called 'no mans land' this seperates the illegally occupied western sahara from mauritania. This is heavily guarded and is known for having many landmines in it. Therefore we were overjoyed when i truck got stuck in the sand and we had to dig it out! Not the best place to expand on your digging skills. You havent lived until you have walked among the landmines in no mans land!
Had the best ice cold shower of my life in Nouadibou before heading cross country down to Noachicott or however you spell it. Slept on the beach one night, the sea gods attacked during the night with the highest tide they have had in months and the next day the desert gods attacked with a sandstorm from the other direction! Amazing thing to wake up out of your tent and have 20 small african faces staring right at you. Needless to say i had the last laugh as my bed hair scared the crap out of them! Have another night here - in a bed by the way the first one in 4+ weeks - before heading out to Mali via 10 nights of bushcamping! Bring on the stink! Will try to write again from bamako with stories of how bad i stink before heading off to Timbuktoo!!
Hugs and kisses to you all from the hot hot hot Mauritania!
ps. for all those freezing it up in the UK...i went for a swim yesterday and the day before in the ocean because it was bloody hot!
pps. also of note is that you cannot take photos in this capital city...you get chased by big policemen with guns...let me learn the hard way and educate you all incase you decide one day to visit Mauritania
ppps. got caughts smuggling grog into Mauritania by the army, they were nice and gave us time to hide it better, the police searched furiously however we have supreme hide and seek skills!
36 °C
