Mauritania - Blogabond

The last 2 nights we spent in Nouadhibou. We met Mahoudi last night and he was very entertaining. Iak and Niell wanted to try out camel meat and he said that he will be glad to make it for us. So we buy camel rump and cook it with onions in its own juices. This is then ate with bread - and what a delicacy it was!

The crew and truck on Highway Sahara

We then continued the trip onward to Nouakchott, 400 km from Nouadhibou. This is really Dakar Rally country and like I said in the last blog, the previous road that was still in use just a few years ago was completely under sand at times. We pushed through this very hot and humid day. This Portugese man is proving to be a real character. He tells us stories through his broken English about his travels over the past 20 years. He was a sailor for the majority of his life and now travels his pension through the world. He tells us that he has traveled around the world twice now and this is the second time he is doing Africa from top to bottom. North and South American, Asian highlands, Pacific; you name it, he's been there. We also met this one cool French surfer guy In Nouadhibou. We hoped to travel together to Dakar, but then things didn't work out in the back of the Nissan Corgo van. He has been traveling the world looking for the perfect wave for 10 years now. He said that in his Central American surf expeditions he found a deserted surfer shack in Guitamala and lived there for a year, surfing perfect, uncrowded A-frame tubes every day... What a life!!! He goes where the wind blows him.

Sahara Highway

On the road again - some thoughts came to me. Adventurers don't really think in the mindset of top-10 things or 'favorites' because they understand that every country/landscape/people group is uniaue in its own context. Driving through the Sahara, I saw something that was the exact opposite of this philosophy of cultural sensitivity. On the back of a Mauritanian roadsign, the graffiti said 'Scholtz to South Africa'. I thought that these people consider their overland trip more precious than respect for Mauritania. To be honest, not a whole lot happens here, but the arrogance of thinking that we own things while we travel offends me. That we can even become consumers of adventure/ travel/ 'otherness' and in so doing totally loose our humanity. I hope that we will never become like that.

We will be in Nouakchott to get our visas for Senegal and Mali and then we are off to experience West Africa music which I am sure will not dissappoint!

written by

afrikawasbeer on October 17, 2009 from Nouakchott, Mauritania

from the travel blog: Traveling Africa Overland

Send a Compliment

Jinne wallas, julle moet die grensposte maar rustig vat, het al baie gelees oor hoe gevaarlik dit kan wees. Die travelling klink great, wens ek was daar saam met julle. Julle moet Wes-Afrika geniet en die kultuur absorbeer sodat jy alles vir my kan kom vertel. Cheers

written by johan borman on October 18, 2009

awesome reis Walter!...ek love die foto van jou op die pad..simbolies van baie dinge waaroor mens kan filosofeer as jy terug is!Dink so baie aan jOU!
Braveheart!
Adventurous soul!
Enjoy every minute!
xx

written by Lorraine Fieuw on October 20, 2009

comment on this...