He Says- Nouakchott – Lives and let live

04-08 October 09

The next morning we took a lazy stroll to the market with the hope of finding the bat colony. We found the market without an upward glance. It was a manic place, with people selling everything from cloth to radios to meat to well ahh cloth. It really did seem that there was only three things for sale. There must have been 300 stalls and they all had one of the above three things. The only brake from the chaotic mayhem of sameness was that everybody from the one-armed one-legged beggars to men in military uniforms offered change our euros. At first I could not understand how they could make money until I realised it is “the lonely planet effect” it was written once that the black market gives a better rate then the banks. So now, people that do not do their research go looking for the black market. We were offered 330 per 1€ in the market, and it was pledged at the time to be the best deal in town. The bank 5 metres away was offering 390/1. hmmm now I see. Tourists are idiots. In a foreign language maths become hard, I have done it, we all have. Half way though the market the mercury almost reached the halfway point (48°C), and although not as badly as the ride from hell, Tam started to melt. Her walking pace went from normal to a snail on valium’s as such it took us a long time to make it back to the hotel. Where we relaxed for a while before venturing out to find food.

We had seen a little whole in the wall café the night before and hoped it would be open. It was, we went it to slightly but not massively shocked looks on the faces of the staff. Behind the counter was a large black woman of undeterminable age, in the traditional costume that I always associate with black Africa. She gave me a small smile as we walked in. There was no obvious menu, so we went up to the counter, by the time we got there she produced a water bleached laminated menu. However I spotted the 50l pot bubbling away on the stove and asked about it. Convinced that we would not be interested anyway she just answered Senegal stew. Perfect! I’ll have that! Tam agreed the small smile exploded into a huge face full of teeth. I also spotted a fried triangular thing that looked a bit like an Indian semosa. So I order one of those as well. Her smile turned to a look of concern; I was now a bit concerned myself. What could have changed her mood so quickly? A few minuets later I found out. The triangular bread came out first, it was loaded with chips and meat and salad. It was a huge meal for a really fat glutton all on its own. We started to eat it and it was great. Then the plate of stew came out it was enough for an entire family. So there we where eating for a small village and loving it all. We managed to eat a fair bit of the food but the heat and the massive meal took its toll. We were almost 700m from the Auberge and Tam was dragging herself at a rate of nots (no, not at a rate of nautical miles .. but as in NOT at all). Eventually we got to the road and the door was only 50m away. I decided that I had to walk off that meal or else die. So Tam took a right I took the left. It being Saturday very little was open, but I covered a large section of the northern aspects of the city and even had a possible sighting of the Malian embassy. When I returned all was well Tam was rested and chatting with some of the other guests at the hotel.

That night we wondered down to the cheep eats section of town and had a small meal at one of the local joints. It was quite tasty and cheep and the staff seemed to have great fun at our expense handing us leaflets for college courses. It was harmless although I personally never got the joke. When we returned to the Auberge, we found out that the heat was not a normal thing and that the locals were dieing right along side of us. Well that is a relief.. well no, not really .. it was still very hot. That night the sleeping was no better for Tam and she tossed and turned all night long.

We knew it was going to be a hot day, so I went for a walk as early as I could to see if I could actually find the Embassy. It turned out to be an easy walk and found it with out any problems. They are open from Sunday to Thursday, Friday and Saturday are their weekend. This is true for most of Mauritania as well. We had the option of going back to the embassy that day. By the time I got back it was over 50°C well it felt it anyway (I later found out that I was not too far off 49°C). So we didn’t do much, lunch was the big assignment of the day and we only went back to the same café as the previous days lunch. This time a fish dish with lime. Stunning!

Tam surprised me by walking around and back to the Auberge at a normal pace. We reckon that a 2-day acclimation is not that bad. Once we made it back to the Auberge we found a British couple in a 4x4 had arrived as well as a Scotsman who over the last 8 years has adapted the Toureg life style and is now a camel herder. He was an interesting guy to talk to. He had a story for everything, and a lot of information, however he had also lost a lot of his normal people skills (if he ever had them) while wandering the desert. The result being that when you first met him you are not sure if he is wacko or genuine, it is only later that you come to believe that he is a genuine wacko, and his yarns are true.

The hotel was also home to 3 tortoises that when around destroying the landscaping and eating the veggie waste from the kitchen. They also had a great time picking on the two resident dogs. After an other hot night where Tam did not sleep well, we spent the next morning going to the embassy, and sorting out visas. The embassy went fine and we were told to come back at noon. The buzz around the Auberge was that the 50° C line was broken, no wonder it was so hot. That day we also completed our friend Pete’s challenge, which was to give leave his Morocco guide book for others to use and to pass on when they are done with it (lets see if he ever gets it back).

The only unfriendly people in the entire city was the hotel staff. Everywhere else you went you were hassled by people wanting to shake your hand and say hello, and ask how are you or anything else they can get across to us, but they wanted nothing else. It is the polar opposite form Morocco. It is so nice. This extended to an opening night at a little take-away restaurant. We were not very hungry due to the huge lunch that we had, we went in and ordered just a small sandwich each.

The owners then asked us “if it is alright with us they would like too give us at no cost the speciality of the house.” It turned out to be the same meat and chips in a fried dough triangle that we ate on the first lunch. Neither of us could finish it but they were so pleased that we ate as much as we could. Now feeling a bit sick from being overly full, we headed back to the hotel.

I stopped off at the bakery to buy some bread from lunch. It was mayhem. You walked up to any of 5 lines that went to one of 3 windows. You held out money (it seemed like any domination that you wanted and they somehow in a millisecond worked out how much bread that bought you and they threw the bread at you. They were doing this to at least 20 people at a shot. When the bread cart was empty there was a slight riot of shouts and screams regardless of the fact that there was another cart was already being wheeled in. Getting my two baguettes I headed home.

One thing I don’t like about Mauritania is that I did not take many photos as the people are still suspicious of cameras. It is not that they think you are stealing their soul but are worried that you are from the government or are going to make money off of their image. However, I really like one thing about Mauritania is that although the men and woman stay (kinda) separate they are equal. It is more like they choose to group by sex and not by an antiquated religious code. There were many cases of mixed groups or just couples.

The next day we left for Aleg, of course there was no signage at all. Somehow we did not get lost. Which was good because even tough we left early it was already hot as hell. The route took us though the real Sahara, but without the lifeless feel, that we have seen before. This is despite all the dead animals and cars on road. The number one cause of death and car accident is cars hitting livestock. At times there could be 10-15 dead animals in a row, along a 20m stretch of road. The road is called the Road of Hope, it was not so hopeful to the dead. It has also killed many villages; the young have used the road to get out as fast as they can, thus leaving many villages one old generation from ghost town.

The road took a few hours to transverse it was good but full of potholes. Then without waring we came to green fields. I was just thinking (again) how I missed trees and then bang a nice place with huge shallow lakes that where full of trees, for far as the eye can see. We arrived in Aleg, after going to three stations, found some fuel for Anubis. We were hot and tired, we decided to call it a day early. We saw some signs for a hotel so followed them. We could not find it, 30 or so minutes of driving around asking people; we were directed up a goat track over the hill. The hotel was a huge affair, but there was no one home. We decided to stop in the shade and eat lunch before looking elsewhere. In the mean time someone showed up, walked into the hotel and started yelling! It turned out that the staff just could not be ass getting off there asses and let us in. Not a good sign. We did end up staying, but we had to move rooms because the AC that we had paid for was not working. We then even had to pay for the privilege of using their dirty kitchen. I was not happy and I was getting sick. By dinner time I was once again stuck with some major gastro issues.

Although I slept poorly we moved on as early as we could in order to avoid the heat. We stopped in little town called Kiffa for cold drinks and a snack as the local chief of police stopped to chat. 200ks later in a different town, when we stopped for lunch we met up with the same chief of police this time on route home to see the family. I was still a bit sick but not bad so we continued to the 203k to

Road turn to a game of dodge the pot hole for 200ks including a couple of fordings, then in Tintane it became a off piste ride for about to 10k. However I though that it would be this bad for the remaining 70k to Ayoun el’Atrous My bad stomach, lack of sleep combined with not being prepared for an off piste ride; I was not having a good time. About half way down the road the Topbox’s bracked broke and I noticed the left side rack had snapped a bracket. NOT happy! Luckily I was wrong the bad stuff was only about 3-5k and the road was good piste for the next 5k then it was back to paved potholely road. With the broken bits I was actually much happier when back on bad roads.

With out knowing us a grand cab, helped us by leading the way and telling me where the bad stuff was. For most of it I did not really need him as it was the same for the previous 130k. However, there was one section where the fording was a broken 500m, he showed us a path (mud sand, rock) around the ford, and even waited for us at the other side to make sure we made it. Then unlike in Morocco he waved us to his side said go on the rest of the road is good and said bye. He passed us a little later as we stopped to take photos. We play leapfrog for the next 10 k or so as we got into town. As we stopped at the police check coming in to town, Tam ran up to the Taxi driver and handed him a card of thanks that we had made, he seem greatful until the cop started to hassle him about it and then us. He too wanted a gift, but he did not help us so we said no, The cabbie got an earful, maybe about us maybe not none-the-less I felt bad. He was the first person to receive on of our “thank you” cards that totally deserved it and got shit for it. No good deed goes unpunished.

The nicest part, was for the first time in the trip, there was birds everywhere we looked. I was going too fast too often to know what they were but from the soaring silhouettes above; I knew that at least some of them were birds of prey.

Ayoun, well there was not much to tell, we found a Auberge a few k out of town got a room with ac that only kinda works. It is well in to the high 40°. Ate a very exxy chicken and chips, well we both picked at and went to bed. Next day went in to town to have the racks welded up (I am not bothering with bolts any longer) went grocery shopping and that is it. Tam gave me hair cut (finally), I made a goat stew using the solar heat to stew it.. and relaxed tomorrow was to be Mali.

Mauritania has become one of my favourite places so far, not because there is much to do but because the people are so great. Most of the people have been helpful and not wanting anything. We are a spectacle doing anything from buying potatoes, to filling the tank; within seconds a small to large group of people surround us staring and asking us the same questions over and over in either bad English or perfect French. To which we answer it in either bad English or worse French.

Mauritania, I think, needs another visit but one where we are able to go a bit more off the beaten track. Does this mean not by bike? I am not sure but I know it means with support by either more bikes (at least two or three) or by 4x4 and it does mean not two up fully loaded. We have struggled off road where normal cars can go, we can not handle the Sahara. Mauritania has true desert here and you should not go anywhere off the beaten track with out lots of water (3 days), fuel and some sort of back up support. We are unable to do any of the above (without hiring a guide with their own vehicle--- way out of our budget.). The only thing that I have found that I don’t like is the dislike of cameras some of the people are stunning and I would have loved to capture that. Mauritania if you read this, you should start to expand your tourist appeal and tell the world how stunning you are. This place is great.