Blogs from Western Sahara, Africa - page 2

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

It's been a long bit since my last entry, and a couple of thousand kilometers travelling too!!! and boy, it seems like a long time ago. I ended up spending 9 days in Essaouira, a lovely group of people, and a great bunch that went through it too. Troy, the greek god of street art, Michelle the reading maniac who got through any book you placed in front of her, Taz, the Hostel carer with an always ready smile and measured comment to anything, San, up for a laugh anytime and a savvy English take on things anytile, Linda, quiet but listening, and ready to place the killer comment. The two Catalans who shared a night of animated chatting on life coaching and more, the smoked out Brazilian and Iranian-English wife, relaxing one hundred per cent, ... read more

Dakhla doesnt appear in this platform, big sourprise that is... well, so the 24 hours bus was a piece of cake, as expected. I think by now I can sleep in any position, so a bus with air conditioning seemed pretty nice. just took my sheets and towell out and I was ready to roll. in the end it was more like 28 hours I think? although it was partly my fault? cause in every police control they checked me out (only white in the bus...). first three a cop bothere to come in and find me. last three the bus driver just told meto get off and do my thing, which consisted on saying spanish student to dakhla yeah spain rocks and won the eurocup!! dakhla is wonwonwonderful. well, not really. the city is just ... read more

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 ... read more

Ess-Agadir-Laayoune-DakhlaTom 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, camel-infested, 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 Republic, an independent country under Moroccan military control. And, according to the UN, it is a non self-governing territory, whatever that means. Whatever it is, and whoever actually owns it, it is basically just a huge patch of desert, and is one of the most sparsely-populated parts of the world. There are only about 350,000 people in the whole place, and 150,000 of them are Moroccan soldiers. So why would Morocco wan... read more