Disputed territory, landmines, and crossing into Mauritania


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Africa » Western Sahara
October 14th 2007
Published: October 24th 2007
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Classic shot! The better picture is all of us passengers on the other side of the sign taking this shot (apparentlty standing in a mine field).
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 couple of kilometers (or so it seems) and the ocasional mine field. Surprisingly though, the road is all tarmac and in very good shape the whole way through. We were prepared to do hours of digging in the sand, but were plesently surprised with the conditions. Our thirst for digging would be satisified later...not to worry!

Upon exiting Morocco, we came across our first sighting of tree climbing goats! Definataly a sight to see! The terrain then changed from rocks and thorn bushes to the coastal beaches, shipwrecks, and different kinds of thorn bushes. At times we thought there must be a bush fire nearby because our views were completely obscured. We quickly found out that it was actually thick fog moving in from the
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Goats that live in trees. Imagine that!
sea that even the strong saharan sun didn't extinguish. Within seconds of leaving the truck, our clothes were soaked from the mists. It was definately not what either of us expected from the desert.

Pictures always speak louder than words so we'll leave it at that and move on to Mauritainia.



Additional photos below
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Tree Goats 3

Try to spot the real goats in this photo!
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Western Sahara 3

Just to give an idea of what meals are like. Here are some of our food and dish bins at lunch time in Agadir.
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Western Sahara 5

Finally, some sand dunes!
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Western Sahara 6

Just to give an idea of the distances we've been covering. This photo was taken before the border entering Mauritania close to Nouadibou. It took us 3 days of driving in the desert to get to Nouakchott!
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Western Sahara 10

The ocean mists provide the main water source for the vegetation near the coast.
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Western Sahara 14

Not a great photo, but it gives an idea of the unforgiving terrain of the no-man's land between the borders of Morocco (Western Sahara) and Mauritania. We made it through just before the border closed!


19th February 2009

just wonnderingeee???
what did you eat and @ what places did you go

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