Islamic Republic of Mauritania

Islamic Republic of Mauritania… Well, out of all the countries I researched about this trip, Mauritania was one of the countries I looked forward to the least. I really had no desire whatsoever to see this country. All I knew was it was 100% Muslim and they still followed Sharia law. I can tell now tell you that I am sad to leave this country. I have been very impressed with everyone. Everyone has gone above and beyond to be friendly. So far no one has ripped us off or felt like they were.

It took four hours to get through the border and was relatively painless. We had got through the border around 2 and had to drive hard from the border to Nouakchott. We were told at the military police checkpoints that we had to make it there before sun down. Once the sun goes down, Al Qaeda will kidnap and kill us… They told us that we couldn’t stay at the checkpoints because Al Qaeda will just kill them and kidnap us because we would make good television. Hmm.. I say drive Suse drive!!!!

We ended up reaching Nouakchott right at dark, and stayed at this very nice Auberge. The people who ran the place were so nice. It took Suse a good 15min trying to get Rosie into the compound, literally a 15 point turn just to get into the compound. Once inside the compound we got the option to camp or stay in the dorm (which held 15 people). I chose the dorm room. The thought of a real bed overwhelmed me. So it was a mad dash into the room that held 15 beds, all laid out on the ground. I ran to the farthest bed in the front right section of the room. I had a wall to my right and no one to my left. I plugged in all my electronics to charge, took a hot shower, checked my emails and passed out. I had the best sleep yet on the trip.  

Woke up the next morning, drank some coffee and completely relaxed. Suse went to the Senegal embassy to try to get visas for the Australians. She came back later saying the only way to get them is in Australia. She did say that the guy running the embassy is going to try to call his boss and try to get emergency visas because of the situation we are in. The only down side is we had to wait until the following day.

Myself, Ben, Steph, Rhys, Toby, Brittany, and Tony had the one of the guys who runs the Auberge take us to the fish market. We arrived in the early evening and watched all the painted boats come to shore offload their cargo of fish. It’s a great system they have. There are fishermen who catch the fish, the guys and girls who haul the fish on their heads to a location where there are people to descale the fish, then there are the women who sell the fish. Watching the system was very fascinating to me. We also got to experience the first time since the trip started people wanting their photos taken. We had kids posing, and young women smiling pretending not to want to get their pictures taken. The only people who didn’t want their pictures taken were the older men and women. We all had a really great time and it’s the first time on this trip we all felt like we finally made it to Africa. Morocco was great, but definitely not what I expected Africa to be like. Mauritania on the other hand was exactly what I expected.

All the boats waiting to go out in the morning 

Fish being bartered, and sold 

Part of the process 

The next day we (myself, Tony, Talbout, Maria, and Brian) all went to the center of town market. The market was completely different from any market we experienced yet. It was entirely made for the locals only. Everything from muumuus to used shoes and clothes. I went there to look for a postcard and stamps for my mother, but was only able to find one place that sold stamps. I bought the stamps and will send it to them on a later date. When we got back it was our cook group's time to cook. Ben, Steph and I headed to the fish market and bought 5 snappers, a couple kilos of potatoes and veggies. That night we made a great meal. Ben BBQ'ed the fish with lemon, garlic and butter. Steph made her secret potato salad (the secret is after boiling the potatoes, you lightly fry them) and I made a tomato, onion and garlic bruschetta. We have a very great cook group, we never argue and always work great together.

The next day we headed to the Senegal border. There are two crossings, one that you need to take a ferry and the other one you cross a bridge. We heard rumors that the ferry crossing was a nightmare so we decided to go the other route. On route we stopped at a military checkpoint who informed us that the bridge had just collapse and a Moroccan truck fell in the river. So we went to the alternative route. Once at the ferry border crossing we were told the ferries are not running and will only start running at 3:00 PM it was 1 PM... Two hours later no ferries running…  1 more hour, still nothing… finally at 5 PM the ferries started running. We caught the second ferry, and after another 45minutes of waiting we finally crossed the border into Senegal! West Africa here we come!

Market... No tourists other than us 

My new look 

Cutest baby ever