Into the Desert and Out the Other Side

The last week has been spent driving across the Sahara Desert in order to make if from Agadir, Morocco to Nouakchott, Mauritania. Some of it was on paved roads, some on hard packed roads and some through sand. There were times where a wrong turn would lead us into a mine field (luckily we made the right turns). Except for one night in Nouadhibou, all were spent bush camping in some of the most remarkable locations I could ever imagine. The first night was spent on a cliff overlooking a shipwreck on the coast, another night we camped in a flat expanse that stretched from horizon to horizon, another was spent in ancient sea bed miles inland and well above sea level but covered with shells and the last was spent at the base of a large sand dune. Each night we were treated to an amazing sky full of stars and then at around 9 pm the moon would rise. There was a full moon a few nights ago, and when I came out of my tent at around 3am there was a perfect circle of clarity around the moon and then the haze from the sand and dust in the sky filled the rest of the darkness. It was one of the most amazing sights ever. To top it all off I saw for the first time the Milky Way in the Northern Hemisphere, and it was incredible. The trip itself was great. There were long stretches where the scenery didn't change much, but when it did it was pretty dramatic. We had a local guide, Ahmed, from Nouadhibou to Nouakchott who knew the region well and helped us get through the sticky sand. We only had to dig the truck out 6 times and there was only one blown out tire, so it wasn't that bad.

On the way into Nouakchott Ahmed brought us to his sisters home. His family are nomadic camel farmers, so they live in tents in the desert and drift about to find vegetation for the camels. We sat in one tent and drank camel milk and mint tea for about an hour, everyone pretty much just making hand gestures to communicate. It was one of the best parts of the trip so far.

We leave later today to re-enter the desert as we head towards Mali. We should arrive in Bamako, Mali in about 5 days time. Bush camps all the way. After that we will head to Timbuktu and to Dogon Country.

Now for some pictures from the trip so far:

The village of Chefchaouen in the Rif Mountains


In the medina in Fes





The 3rd largest mosque in the world in Casablanca



The fishing boats in the port town of Essaouira


The location of our 1st bush camp in the desert



A sand storm that engulfed us one evening in the Sahara



A camel



Where we had our last bush camp before Nouakchott in the Sahara