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09.04.04

Overland Trip To Senagal 2004, Day 10: Road to Nouakchott

Thomas Morgan
2006-04-26 12:13:13

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refreshing, and the usual 3 shots of tea.

Another prayer session followed, and we were off. Cue numerous breakdowns, toilet stops, another prayer stop (it’s Friday, after all), a stop for the kid in front to be sick, and a near miss with a rather careless camel. It had stood patiently by the side of the road like a pedestrian at a zebra crossing watching our bush taxi approach. Unfortunately there was no zebra crossing and this was no ordinary pedestrian – it leered out into the road just as we arrived, forcing the driver to swerve violently to the other side of the road. Having realised its mistake, it turned and walked alongside the road with that carefree, lazy style that only camels seem to have. Once before Akjoujt and once after, the tarmac stopped – a collapsed bridge the first time, and a seemingly reasonless empty patch the second. But this is Mauritania – no road no problem ! We left the road and went slaloming through the bushes and tents before rejoining the road as soon as it started again. After a few more breakdowns and a couple of police checkpoints we finally arrived at Nouakchott bush taxi station. We hadn’t eaten all day, we were out of ouguiya, huge bags… and a look at the map revealed that we weren’t actually on it, so far were we out of town. Bugger. The only solution available to us was a Dakhla-style trudge to the hostel we had marked on the map.

Unfortunately, street signs seem to be as common as dustbins in this country and it was amazing that we only got lost once on our 2-hour slog during most of which we were the start attraction for kids running down both sides of the road trying to get our attention. One girl having caught sight of us, completely unlike the others bolted like a scared cat for the relative safety of a heavy metal gate from behind which she could watch these two bizarre creatures walk by. Of the very small percentage of the global white population who would actually consider going to Nouakchott, we are probably the only two who are retarded enough to consider this walk, and we were certainly creating a big stir ! 8pm, 2 hours after arriving, we tumble into the hostel. A Mauritanian who works there and a French guy and girl are there, everyone very friendly, bought us some water and invited us to share a huge dish under a tent over the road. Having analysed my feet, I’ve also realised that mosquitoes around here love me.

Heard stories about Rosso on the Senegalese border – sounds like complete hell but we have no choice – we’ve decided to give Nouakchott a miss and are heading off tomorrow morning, hopefully to be in St. Louis by tomorrow evening. Much potential for plans to go wrong, fingers crossed.

The night, the tenth day of the extraordinary trip ended on a high in the company of three Moors and a young French couple whose sympathy and generosity were invaluable. We all ate rice from a big bowl, sat in a circle under a tent, under a still city night, talking about various things. I tried to steer the topic of conversation towards politics, but they either didn’t want to or didn’t know much about it. Probably the former. I struggled with my oral French but am gradually improving. Dinner was delicious and more than enough. Our trek to this hostel was trying and long but we made it. We had to, making it was all we could do. Let’s hope our good fortune continues to the end.