Great report Hi Ralph, you old peach. Fantastic report and images, you have again captured the magic of traveling freely and going with the flow. Best wishes for 2024.
Nice one! Great report as ever, His Dudeness. Sadly, at 88 I'm unlikely to get to see the delights you serve 'the long distance stuff is in the past for us. Travel safely through '24.
Who knows... What life will still throw your way, even at 88... It's a nice even number in any case, by 99 you might have done some or all of what I serve up long distance...
Zouerat to Nouadhibou Mad Max has nothing on you Ralf...eating iron ore dust on a train...talk about understatement!!! I'll post this extraordinary photo on "Follow that Road" thread in the Photography Forum...maybe not a road but hey...a pic so good gotta be preserved for posterity. The Legend of His Dudeness has lifted that bit higher...hats off to you Ralf...couldn't think of a better person to carry the baton!!!
Chinguetti What a wonderful blog to read of your adventures in Mauritania, Ralf. Libraries of ancient Islamic learning...an opportunity you will savour all your days no doubt. We were fortunate to see ancient Islamic manuscripts in Timbuktu in Mali including of astronomy. only months before Al-Qaida marched into Timbuktu and started destroying hundreds of years of Islamic learning. Fortunately, some were saved as custodians buried manuscripts to preserve them from wanton destruction. I remember seeing the reports of destruction on TV with tears in my eyes. I wish I had taken more photos but the ones I have will endure. This pic of yours is a treasure, Ralf, handled with gloves as they are so, so precious. How lucky are you to have some pics to enjoy and take you back there.
Timbuktu One day, I wish to visit Timbuktu myself. Not only to see those ancient manuscripts that are preserved there. But also for the people, and maybe, if things really change, a chance to visit the festival in the desert. Insh' Allah, as they say.
Fundamentalist destroy much, but there are always brave people who save. And they often save more then you would think.
And here's a fun fact, before Mauritania was named Mauritania, it was actually known as Chinguetti...
Sahrawi Western Sahara Desert Blues I must have been missing in TB action for too long Ralf, but fortunately I checked in and see you travelling through Western Sahara, previously known as Spanish Sahara, but since 1975 claimed by Morocco. My connection to that desert enclave is not the Western Sahara War or its independence movements, but by "the Voice of the Sahara", the Sahrawi singer Mariem Hassan whose powerful vocals and mesmerising desert blues grooves in "La Tumchi Anni" are turned up each time Denise and I hear it. Unfortunately, she has departed to Blues Heaven, so we now have little reason to visit her homeland, so thank you for leaving your flip flops in the sand and venturing into that least visited area and sharing it with us.
I leave the castle And wall building to the Moroccans and Trump (should he get elected).
Meantime I'm continuing my sandy journey. I think once I'm done I will have had my fill of sand for a while.
Hoi Piet Ja, ik hoor van mama dat jullie trouwe volgers zijn van mijn blog en het is mooi om te horen dat jullie mijn blogs leuk vinden.
Groeten uit een zonnig en erg warme (37 graden!) Mauritanië
Long time my friend Hey Ralf,
Hope all is well. It’s John (we met in Sabah - Borneo) many years ago. I lost your e mail but was talking I about traveling today and mentioned you.
Hope to catch up over e mail soon….
Hey John To be honest, you need to be a bit more specific. I'm raking my brain, but can't remember. Sabah was 2013... For the specific part, you can mail me... :)
Slouching! How fun. That is my kind of travel. I absolutely loved Morocco and it looks like you got a good dose of the countryside. Great blog as usual and I enjoyed the pictures and of course the vineyard story.
Hotels Hi. I'm planning a similar trip and wondered if you could let me know the names of the hotels/riads you stayed in as they all sound pretty atmospheric. Thanks
Michael Emrose
non-member comment
Great report
Hi Ralph, you old peach. Fantastic report and images, you have again captured the magic of traveling freely and going with the flow. Best wishes for 2024.