Crossing the Sahara on motorcycles

Posted on 23 February 2012

Riding our bikes along the dusty roads in Mauritania, in the Sahara Desert is like sitting on an oven, in a bigger oven with a hair dryer blowing in your face.

Our Mauritanian visas were ready, and we could finally leave Rabat. We were hoping to push through to Agadir, however, thanks to the late visa pickup (the collections could only be made after 14h00), we could only make Marrakech. We took the opportunity to take in the sites and enjoyed a delicious (but expensive) meal on the medina.

We then spent the next five days riding through scenery that changed from dry to bone-dry to linger-and-its-instant-death dry. The roads were straight and boring and we ate through the kilometres, assisted by a pounding tail wind. The roads were as empty as the landscape, however we did encounter a crazy cyclist heading in the opposite direction. He had the wind in his face and he was carrying a grimace that spoke volumes. He managed a feeble wave as we blasted past him.

The border crossing between Morocco and Mauritania was quite an experience. The no-man’s-land is a few kilometres of rock and sand with a dozen tracks leading off into the desert, to finally converge on the Mauritanian border post. Locals hover like vultures waiting for an ‘off” so they can pounce and demand cash for rescuing you. First trick is to ignore their guidance, they have a habit of leading you towards the soft stuff. Second trick is to take your time and examine the route yourself. Both Russell and I had a little lie down in the sand, but we bailed each other out and escaped relatively unscathed.

The formalities at the border crossing were relatively painless, although time consuming. Once we received the all clear, we were back on our ovens, in the big oven.

We then made for Nouakchott, the capital of Mauritania. We decide to stay for a day, mainly to get our visas to Mali. This was a very painless procedure and we obtained these on the same day we applied. We also took the opportunity to have a braai with some other guests we met, at the fantastic Auberge Menara, which seems to be a bit of a haven for overland travellers. Beers are especially hard to come by in Mauritania, with alcohol effectively being illegal to the general public, but we do like a challenge.

We have met quite a few interesting people on the road up to now:

Macek from Poland on a Yamaha 660 Tenere. He’s travelling around Morocco with no fixed destination. He’s also packing two golf clubs and a few balls. He’s not going to let a little bike trip keep him from his hobbies.

Fabian, Joanna and their son from Germany. They’re camping in their RV outside Dakhla, windsurfing all day. Their hospitality was very much welcomed.

Alex and Eric from Brazil, on two Honda Transalps. Their plan is to travel from Paris to Cape Town in 42 days. They’ve had some problems en route and are already behind on schedule. They’re averaging around 900 kms a day when they are on the road. Good luck guys!

 

Junk

Camping chairs come in handy when you’re waiting for the embassies to open

1

Just another night in Marrakech

Tagine

A very delicious tagine thanks to Riyadh Omar

Macek

That’s Macek the golfer at our first desert camp

2

Shade is rare in this part of the world. Lunch on a garage forecourt here

Straight

The infinitely straight roads of the Western Sahara

Isbsi

We were absolutely shattered after taking this shot. We had to drink about two litres of water and rest

Runs

Our camp 30 km outside Dakhla. We’re at the bottom left and the Germans are the RV to the right. This is a surprisingly popular windsurfing and kite boarding spot

Action

Russ flying past for the action shot

Dunes

More dunes and sand in Mauritania. And a lot hotter too

Straight road

The roads in Mauritania are good. Their road engineers are experts in straights. Sand, mirages and roadside tyres are complimentary






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