Bab al Bahar Dakhla

... set of sand dunes several kilometers inland from the coast, another camp full of scorpions and one that had winds strong enough to make cooking and generally being outside a pain in the ****.



Our last night in Western Sahara and we were on cooking duties.Lene was head chef on this occasion and Mexican was the meal planned, all dependent on what we could get. Friday is the Arabic equivalent of Sunday for us and a lot of the stalls in the market were ...

... impressive sign. Further on we came to a camel sign, the novelty of which I'm sure will fade with time or frequency but as yet we're still enjoying it so photos a must. Nearing lunch we went off road only to near get bogged so decided against going any further, got back on the road and continued driving until we found a more suitable spot complete with a mound of rocks for toilet privacy. That said with the wind and sand whipping around as ...

C est vraiment un trou paumé mais c est une ville strategique pour le maroc. D ou une presence militaire tres importante. Vu le nombre de militaire j ai fait tres peu de photo. Meme si je garderai le souvenir de mon passage de la frontiere Maroc Mauritanie

... 6 rondelles d'étanchéité en sortie de pompe à injection (ces précisions sont pour Paul s'il nous lit) en 2 heures (il en avait en stock. Nous verrons demain, Inch'Allah. Sur Daklha, rien à dire et sur l'hotel (9 euros)encore moins, mais les cancrelats n'étaient pas encore sortis! Demain, route vers Nouadhibou en Mauritanie; avec passage de frontière peut-être long donc nous partirons de bonne heure (7:30!)

500 km de désert, c'est long et de peu d'intéret. Mais nous avons cherché les meilleurs coins et vous les proposons en photo. Ce soir nuit dans un Camping 4*, coté Bungalow de luxe (lits, eau y compris chaude, cuisine, salon télé) Beucoup mieux qu'hier soir à Tan-Tan ou pour 9 Euros la chambre double, les cancrelats étaient inclus!!!

... it with its own citizens. Meanwhile, the territory had been inhabited by an Arabized Berber tribe who call themselves the Saharawis, who had themselves been fighting the Spanish for independence. Their armed faction was named the Polisario and continued fighting for independence after the Moroccan takeover. There has been an official ceasefire in the war since 1990, but much of the Saharawi population still lives in refugee camps in Algeria. Another legacy ...

Hey! Sa y est, j'ai mon visa pour la Mauritanie! Je suis à présent en plein coeur du Sahara ocidental, région marocaine connue pour les tensions opposant le royaume marocain, la république islamique de Mauritanie ainsi que le front polisario, un mouvement indépendantiste. Aujourd'hui, la moitié est marocaine, la moitié mauritanienne et le indépendentistes sont fachés mais contraint d'obéïr (au moins la où c'est civilisé...)étant donné les nombreuses troupes de l'ONU qui ...

The day was long. We got up at 7h30, when Inaki and Maite where already leaving. Ben and I took time to get things ready before leaving the camp site. After I checked the generator was working, we left and stopped at Tarfaya (formerly known as Cap Juby), where we visited the Antoine de Saint-Exupéry museum, and by the way discovered the history of French Aéropostale and Latécoère adventure. We then headed to Laâyoune, capital city-to-be of Western Sahara ...

... water pipe. We are about 2,000 km further on now and running as close to a dream as is possible in a 30 year old 3 ton ambulance (more soggy than wet!). Problem sorted we headed off to our first taste of the real Sahara at Erg Chebbi, a huge set of sand dunes near Merzouga, close to the Algerian border. Catching sight of the sprawling mass of sand, shimmering gold in the afternoon sunlight, really is quite a breathtaking sight. Whilst attempting to sit quietly and have a cup of ...

That's more like it.  We left Essaouira after witnessing a very satisfactory state of footballing affairs.  England through. And Argentina out with the French.  Oh, the schadenfreude was overwhelming.   A 5.5 hour boneshaker of a bus journey to Tiznit and then a 45 minute 'grand taxi' ride further south to our destination , Mirhleft.  It was just the place to recharge our slightly Essaouira-jaded travelling antennae. The place consisted of one main street (which ...