Monday 4th July – The turn of the month saw us now leaving our now beloved Morocco for Mauritania. Moroccan customs; as many layered as an onion, is the usual exercise in futile bureaucracy and petty corruption, which took two hours of forced smiling and handing out cigarettes. This was followed by a ‘no-mans land’ of 3kms full of discarded tyres, stripped and burned out vehicles, reminiscent of Beirut or the road to Tripoli. By contrast the Mauritania officials were a paragon of efficiency. Although it may have helped that some were mildly inebriated on confiscated alcohol. Luckily they didn’t find the Gin, and luckily Islam has not yet banned Marmite. When jokingly they asked for Beni-Mallal’s passport, they were flabbergasted when we promptly produced it.
Evening saw us safely in Nouadhibou, Mauritania’s second city and centre of urban sophistication, where we camped down for the night at Camping Chez Abba, a little slice of the desert brought into town i.e more sand!
Currently driving to Atar to gaze upon one of the wonders of the desert… a big rock called Ben Amir. Have just been temporarily delayed at one of the many police checkpoints, however at this one, Carruthers was called upon to produce a 16mm spanner and help with various missing nuts….
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| Nouadhibou Taxi Servie |
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| Downtown |
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| i think the 2nd goat has pushed it just over the limit |
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| dave being a good citizen |
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