Blogs from Western Sahara, Africa

Thursday Day 33 Woke up to a very wet tent and we waited until after breakfast to see if there was any chance of them drying. Of course it started raining and it ended up being even wetter, the gravel and sand sticking to the fly sheet as we rolled it up. We took off towards Agadir for one last stock up at the marjane and two nights of very little sleep meant I spent the majority of the morning with my iPod on, dozing. I knew when we'd arrived at our free camp site when we turned off the sealed road and onto a bumpy path that led past a farmhouse with a decent sized field full of olive trees and oddly enough, gum trees! Past the dog and machinery we drove up to a ... read more

Troche historii z drogi. Lotnisko w Marakeszu jest bardzo blisko miasta ale postanowilismy tam nie zagladac i ruszyc odrazu w trase,co prawda pojechalismy nie w ta strone co trzeba,ale mily starszy pan wywiozl nas na wlasciwa trase w stone Agadiru. Nie przemieszczalismy sie za szybko ale co dzien o kilkaset km do przodu poznajac nowych ludzi. Znow ladowalismy w Tiznicie i Tarfaji. Trafilismy w srodek ramadanu wiec czesto musielismy poscic razem z muzulmanami bo glupio pic i jesc przy kims kto posci caly dzien. SZczerze mowiac nie wytrzymywalismy i jak tylko zostawalismy sami wpychalismy w siebie szybko co sie dalo,szczegolnie wode. Ogolnie do Al Ujunu dojechalismy w kilka dni,ale nie bylo latwo ze wzgledu na policje ktora czepiala sie kierowcow ciezarowek ze nas biora na stopa i przetzymywala nas razem z kierowca do pol godziny ... read more

W tej podrozy podoba mi sie to, ze ruszamy z miejsca dopiero gdy czujemy sie jak u siebie. Czyli poznajemy gdzie najtanszy chleboplacek, dobra mieta z absyntem(powaznie dodaja jakas zielenine ktora sie tak nazywa,wyglada jak koper) najlepsze placki z orzeszkami, jakies tanie jadlo, ludzie nas pozdrawiaja juz z widzenia i Imienia.CZyli gdy sie zasiedzimy... wtedy ruszamy dalej. Od paru dni lazimy slimaczym tempem po Al Ujunie. ZAdziwiala nas liczba wojska. Ciagla odnosze wrazaenie ze za chwile ma sie cos wydarzyc. Jak przed wielkim meczem.W niedziele trafilismy na demonstracje.Jeszcze wiecej policji i zolnierzy z jednej strony, a z drugiej mlodzi Saharyjczycy mowia o sobie Sahrawi wyspiewywali w zgrany, zorganizowany sposob swoje hasla. Podchodze do policjantow i pytam zaciekawionym (przyjaznym) glosikiem co sie dzieje, dlaczego oni krzycza o co chodzi.. Policjant zmierzyl mnie (jak z... read more

As there is no official border crossing on entry into the disputed Western Sahara, it’s difficult to tell exactly when you get there, there were a couple of giant camels in the middle of a military outpost which seemed likely, but everyone’s GPS suggested the border was in fact an empty patch of sand about 400metres further on... personally we preferred the camels. We had to be pretty careful in Western Sahara because only about 3 weeks before conflict had risen up again. The Sahrawi refugee camp had been broken up by the Moroccan authorities, with a dozen civillians killed in the process. Jeepers, best not to mess around with Moroccan military. The first town we stopped at was Layoune, which is a heavily military dominated town; the place was crawling with soldiers and training facilities, ... read more

So Laayoune ended up being a great city at night Streets were full of people. Food and Coffee were cheap (3 course meal was about dollars? good coffee was 50 cents). Lots of fruit and amazingly colourful dressed people. And people didnt pester you trying to sell things for crazy prices. Sat on the bus today for almost 10 hours. Lots of checkpoints. I think 6, friendly police today, many smiles and hellos. Hopefully I can get some kind of ride to Mauritania tomorrow. Lots of camels here, maybe soon I will get to eat some of their meat and drink some of their milk. Still hating the french keyboards... I feel like i am learning to type again for the first time. ... read more

So I didn’t go to Laayoune after all, as I went straight through on the bus to Dakhla. It took 16+ hours and was uneventful except for the numerous police checkpoints. Also this fruit vendor, Abdullah, who bought me a yop and then asked to exchange phone numbers. I was suspicious, but his near illiteracy made me think he was just extremely nice, which he was. He gave me a bunch of photos of himself (odd?), and we are now brothers. I arrived at Dakhla at 5 am and found a crappy hotel around 7:30 am that let me check in so I slept until noon. Then I explored the city --- so many cops and military!!! Bought a sweet “Lawrence of Arabia” suit! Off to Nouadibou, Mauritania tomorrow. Actually in four hours as I have ... read more