New stories and photos: Mauritania and into Morocco

for photos click the link at right

First Impression that I'm no longer in W. Africa

Kids are being kids, playing and hanging out.

Journey into Morocco

Signs warning of the danger of hidden mines periodically appeared along the side of the ribbon of asphalt that the car was traveling down. After an hour of inspection at the Mauritanian-Moroccan border where the car was unloaded, all bags searched and then sniffed by a dog, we were finally moving through the disputed land known as the Western Sahara.


This overland journey had been on my mind for a few days. Not counting the idea of driving through an area scattered with mines, my mind was occupied with the thought of endless hours crammed into a car to journey through Western Sahara, southern Morocco and arrive in Agadir, Morocco.


The first hurdle was met with a wonderful surprise. Those of you familiar with West African transport will realize that I scored big when my car appeared packed and ready to go with only three people in the 9-place. Could I be so fortunate? A 9-place is a station-wagon like car that typically contains place for two in the front (not counting the driver), four in the middle row and three in the back. Patrick and I were placed in the back and wondered who the third person would be. The car left and no one appeared. Surely we would pick someone up. With hopeful glances around we realized that there was no one else and the ride would be in comfort!


The other passengers were gems. They were all women with the two sitting in the middle row obviously friends. They laughed and gave each other high fives while chatting on expensive cell phones. They joked with men at the border stop and, to top it off, smoked in public. What's odd about this behaviour you may wonder. Remember that I'm not in the States but in Mauritania, a Muslim country where women are typically not at liberty to act like this. It was great. The women joked and laughed and smoked through the trip that instead of being miserable was OK except for the finale. With only 50 km to go to Dakhla, Morocco the car broke down. It was near 9:00 pm and Patrick and I had an 11:00 pm overnight bus to catch. Fortunately, we were able to hitch a ride and get to the bus station in time to board the bus that would take us to Agadir, Morocco. It left at 11:00 pm and by 4:00 pm the next afternoon, we finally arrived in Agadir. The next morning we boarded yet another bus for the amazing coastal town of Essaouira which will be a non-transport destination for a few days.

On the Coal Train

"It's coming don't worry. Maybe 6:00. Maype 6:30. It will be here. Just wait," was the advice given to me when I asked about the train.

I was in the small desert outpost of Choume, Mauritania waiting for the ride known as the coal train to arrive and take me to the coastal town of Nouadhibou. Choume is desolate. The heat soars and a midday glance down the main street may provide you with a view of a goat strolling about but nothing else. Daily, a train arrives from the east laden with iron ore. Stopping for 10-15 minutes, people are able to board for the 12-hour overnight ride to the coast. There are two boarding options:
(1) buy a ticket and fight for a space in the passenger car
(2) climb up and into an open air cargo car containing iron ore

Guess which one I did... A little after 6:30, Patrick and I were throwing our trash bag wrapped backpacks into the top of a car and climbing into the iron ore. We were in luck. Our car contained a mixture of powder and small cobble to pebble sized chunks of rock. The rock was small enough to sleep on and there was not so much powder to give us the appearance of coal miners after a long, hard day in a dirty mine.

The train soon began moving and I was provided with a preview of the upcoming night climate: cold and windy. The iron ore had been dumped into the center of the car creating a pile that peaked in the middle and tapered on the edges. The ore level in the front of the car was quite low and I was able to sit snug against the wall and be somewhat sheltered from the wind. But first, there was a beautiful sunset to watch. As the train chugged west, the sun slowly dipped under the horizon. A combination of the wide open desert only sparcely occupied by large rock outcrops and the western travel extended the sunset for what seemed an eternity. Then, without any artificial light blurring the view, stars began to pop out and glow with a brilliant twinkle.

Without the warmth of the sun the air quickly chilled and I positioned myself in the ore at the front of the car. I was wearing pants, a shirt, jacket and long robe and was then wrapped in a blanket to stay warm. My head was completely covered in a turban (sunglasses still on) to keep me warm and to minimize the amount of dust entering my eyes, ears, nose and anywhere else. Surprisingly, I managed to get some sleep on the rocky ore waking occasionally to glance up at the stars. The Milky Way was truly a glittering path in the sky that eventually gave way as the warm glow announcing the arrival of the sun began to color the day.

Sixteen hours later, the train arrived in Nouadhibou where a couple of Peace Corps volunteers allowed my ore covered body into their home and hot shower.

Terjit

To the south of Atar, Mauritania is a little piece of paradise known as Terjit. This place is an oasis supporting hundreds of date palms nestled at the head of a canyon. The canyon necks down as towering cliffs meet. Water bubbles out of the rocks and at one point flows down where it is diverted into cool pools tat are refreshing during the heat of the day. Date palms, laden with clusters of fruit that will soon ripen, provide shade. Life here consists of lounging under tents drinking tea until the temperature is cool enough to scale the cliffs and explore the high plateaus.

The Sahara

My body lunged forwards, backwards, forward again and backwards. Suddenly I was sitting uncomfortably approximately 6 feet off of the ground. I was again on top of a camel though instead of looking towards the Aiir Mountains of Niger I gazed out into the endless sand dunes of the Sahara.

The early morning began with prayer call a little after 4 am. Mauritania is much farther north so the sun rises earlier, leading to the sleep-shattering calls in the morning. The camels outside of the compound were equipped with the same single-hump of fat storage as those in Niger and were quite vocal. We walked the camels through the town of Chinguetti and into the dunes before getting on for the trek into the Sahara.

The dunes are amazing. Standing at different heights, they continue into the east as far as the eye travels. Sweeping slopes, fine razor-sharp ridges, and sublime humps provide the shapes for these shifting mountains of sand. The effect of the endless dunes is one of disorientation as the eye loses depth perception. Golden sand follows golden sand follows golden sand blends in with the blue sky.

I was curious to see how much life would be visible among the dunes. As I rode on top of the camel, I was provided with a good view that contained a surprising amount of green specks. Scattered in low spots among the dunes and in plains are small bushes and shrubs and I was eventually in for a surprise as my camel exited a series of steep dunes to find the jewel of the desert. An oasis. The instant flood of green among the golden-yellow is spectacular. The camels slowly made their way to the oasis, knowing that the day's work was over. The wash of green color was due to date palms. Unfortunately, it is not quite date season and the palms taunted me with clusters of bright green, unripe dates. The shade of the palms provided a cool refuge as the temperature in the sun began to soar and I enjoyed the peacefulness until the heat broke and I could venture out to explore the dunes.

"I can't believe it. It's not possible," were the exclamations around 11:oo that night. Rain. I had successfully dodged early rainy season downpours near the equator and was now getting rained on in the Sahara. It's a desert here! Locals think it's rainy season if they get 2 to 3 days of rain in a month. But here I was, sleeping out under the desert sky and having rain fall on my head. Fortunately, the rain soon stopped and I gained a few hours of sleep before being awakened by the camels for the return trek.

In Mauritania

After a long day of travel on the "bush taxi" plane, Patrick and I reversed climates from the increasingly humid and wet Cameroon to the dry, sunny and hot Mauritania. Our travels included leaving Douala, Cameroon early in the morning to return to Cotonou, Benin. There, the "nice" border official did not even pause to notice that our Benin visas were expired and let us into the country. We had 12 hours to burn and sitting in the airport would not have been fun.

The next leg of the travel including getting back on the plane and making short, hour-long jaunts to Bamako, Mali followed by Dakarm Senegal before finally arriving in Nouakchott, Mauritania. We are currently stuck here trying to get a visas. Next stop is hopefully a trip into the dunes of the Sahara.

Sangelima Market (Cameroon)

Click at the right to see photos that I took exploring the market in Meghan's city. Tomatoes, peppers, bananas, fabric, and much more...

Mt Cameroon

Over the last week, I have been in Cameroon visiting a friend of Patrick's when he was in PC Gambia. Meghan has been great, showing us around and got the trip started with a trek up Mt Cameroon. We took three days to summit the mountain (4,095 meters) and hike the back side. On the first day, it was all about going up. Switchbacks? Nope, this concept has not caught on in Africa. Just head straight up the mountain. The first night was spent in a mountain hut where we had to get creative to keep the mice out of our food. The views from the hut were spectacular. Fortunately, the night was clear and we could see the ocean and many cities below.

Day 2 started where the first stopped: moving straight uphill. The climb was quite chilly and the wind was howling as we continued up into the clouds, sometimes only able to see 15-20 feet in front of us. The stop at the summit was less than 5 minutes as the wind was blowing frigid gusts all around us. After the summit, a run down the scree on the backside quickly got us out of the wind and into warmer weather where we could enjoy the varying terrain of green hillsides, former volcanic flows and cones formed during volcanic activity in 2000. That night, we slept in grass huts and were joined by a French couple exploring the back of the mountain.

Day 3 took us out of the moutain area and the hike began through beautiful, green hills sliced up with old volcanic runs. The fresh air quickly turned heavy as we entered the forest. The dense understory kept us busy navigating muddy trails as we descended the remainder of the way.

After the mountain, we took a quick ride to Limbe which is the location of beautiful beaches for a few days of relaxation in the ocean to soothe the sore muscles. Then, off to Meghan's site to get away from the tourist traffic.