http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/Western-Sahara/ Travel adventures in journals and photos from Africa , Western Sahara en-us Sat, 26 Jul 2008 07:59:08 BST Sat, 26 Jul 2008 07:59:08 BST We stopped briefly in Layoune to do some food shopping this is Western Saharas capital from there we camped out near a beach and had guy with a gun came by to tell us we are camping in land mine area so everyone was a bit careful going to the toilet that night it was also Di and Tonys 5th Anniversary so we celebrated a bit. Next day we stopped at Boujdour to do some more food shopping Dave and http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/Western-Sahara/North/Laayoune/blog-226101.html The train ride see had left me dreary and adrenalineless. In Nouadhibou I took lodge at a camp for overlanders and after a much needed resting day I begun my quest for a ride north through Western Sahara and up to Marrakech where a flight destination London awaited me. I had bought the ticket over a month earlier still in Mali but I had obviously underestimated both width and slowness of A http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/Western-Sahara/North/Laayoune/blog-224598.html The Western Sahara has recently been on the news again with the civil war largely forgotten over the last 30 years. My contact with the Saharawi caravan has largely been out of curiousity. The Polisario Front is well known as an African Liberation movement that resisted the Spanish during their colonisation period. Now today it is a NEW master... Morocco. In 1975 seeing a vacuum the Morrocan King http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/Western-Sahara/blog-217947.html Sorry for the length of time between updates. There isn't much for internet cafes when you're bush camping in the desert We've got a lot to update on so we'll try to split it up into a few entries.The next part of our journey took us through the disputed territory of Western Sahara. We won't go into the historical details of the dispute but the result is that there are police checks every cou http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/Western-Sahara/blog-213914.html I seem to be missing a lot of stuff out about the camping the trucks our new friends...We have camped on rocky football pitches sandy hollows in wind rain and beautiful starlight on a range of 'proper' campgrounds and have slept in the truck cook group privilege. We are part of a cook group of three teamed up with a neat girl from Holland called Lous. When our turn comes round we have http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/Western-Sahara/blog-175330.html EssAgadirLaayouneDakhlaTom Griffith When is a country not a country According to Morocco and 25 other countries and the Arab League Western Sahara is not a real nation. It is simply the large sandy camelinfested southern provinces of Morocco. According to the Western Saharan government in exile 45 other countries and the African Union Western Sahara is the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Re http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/Western-Sahara/South/Dakhla/blog-159820.html Western Sahara rarely features on lists of the world's countries anymore. Even on most maps this large area of northwest Africa generally appears as part of Morocco. However even in the eyes of the United Nations Western Sahara is a seperate entity. The country used to be known as Rio de Oro after it was grabbed by Spain during the scramble for Africa in the late nineteenth century. They grab http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/Western-Sahara/blog-145450.html Om 1900u vertrekt de bus ik ben ruim op tijd drink een colaatje op een terasje pal voor de bus en om 1930 vertrekken we de bus zit niet vol gelukkig en ik kan schuin op twee plaatsen zitten er wordt regelmatig gestopt voor een pauze of om mensen in en uit te laten stappen het valt best mee zo het is bijna comfortabel.Als we weer een keertje stoppen rond 630 loop ik slaperig naar buiten vo http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/Western-Sahara/South/Dakhla/blog-130101.html Leaving Tan Tan was a bit difficult I was torn such a scruffy little town but everyone we met had a heart of gold I really wanted to stay on but was also concerned that 'wasting' time in Morocco would leave less time to see MauritaniaGetting a SATAS bus to Dahkla for 320Dh was a good move. Clean heated and more spacious I knew this wasn't going to be the same journey from hell as we had had w http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/Western-Sahara/South/Dakhla/blog-92363.html Not only is this a physical journey for me but also a journey in english semantics. Be indulgent have patience with my linguistic faults as I try to twitch and wrestle with english expressions that you'll find far from idiomaticly correct. It felt good to leave Chefchaouen at last next time I'll be back with the hordes of tourists in July or August. Not only did all the hotels get booked by po http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/Western-Sahara/South/Dakhla/blog-38479.html Since I last wrote I went through Marrakesh Agadir Laayoune Dakhla and then across the border into Mauritania where I have so far been to Noadhibou and Nouakchott. Marrakesh was pretty and interesting but too touristic for me. Laayoune and Dakhla are in Western Sahara which is disputed and there seems to be some tension between the Moroccans who are sort of occupying it and the Saharans. T http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/Western-Sahara/South/Dakhla/blog-11825.html I'm now in Dahkla in the Western Sahara. The journey took 22 hours. It might have been quicker if we hadn't been stopped at police check points and asked the same damn fool questions so many times. Governments always put up so many checkpoints when their authority in the area is in question. The other dead give away about the contested nature of this region was all the big White 4 wheel drive http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/Western-Sahara/South/Dakhla/blog-2625.html