Home » Mauritania Senegal » Overland Trip To Senagal 2004, Day 11: Goodbye from Mauritania, hello to 500 metres of anarchy...

10.04.04

Overland Trip To Senagal 2004, Day 11: Goodbye from Mauritania, hello to 500 metres of anarchy...

Thomas Morgan
2006-04-26 13:11:51

Displayed times (last time: )

Today was the hardest day but ended nicely with us sunburnt and eating biscuits. We woke at 8, showered and said goodbye to the French couple, they were getting in the taxi as we were walking back from the little shop with our breakfast – eight little bread buns, two oranges and two bottles of water. We ate the bread at the table in the entrance with the jam the French couple left. We ate the oranges in our room while packing and talking about what we were going to do – get to Rosso, get across and get the hell our fast. We’d heard nothing but bad things. A combination of the guide books, people in Atâr and, most recently, the French couple. It was awful, basically. We’d soon see. We changed our money with the hostel owner, a bit into ouguiya and a bit into CFA, thanked him, and left. He had told us that a taxi to the Garage Rosso would be 500 ouguiya, but the first three taxis we suggested this to were not impressed. Frenchy said 700 to one, and we got in. Getting a taxi to Rosso was a bit of a trial, as was the ride itself – four of us squashed in the back of a regular Toyota. Worse was to come. The drive down wasn’t bad, a few dodges of major potholes, but we made it to Rosso, and there the fun really started. Frenchy said it best when we made it to St. Louis. “You know that top 10 worst cities list…” and we both agreed that Rosso was high up, probably top. As soon as the taxi pulled up near the gate to the border, the hustlers were swarming. They fought over the right to carry our bags for which, if we’d have let them do it, they would have expected money. Not significantly poorer than the people of the other cities, the kids (teenagers mostly, but adults as well) of Rosso see white people and swarm. Do we need money changing ? Ça va, how are you, you want your bags carried, want to get across the border, need CFA ? We got through it with a combination of ignoring, polite refusal and patient indulgence following by lying. ...