Janjanbureh and chill

There was not much to do today. The distance between Wassu and Janjanbureh, called by my 2008 Rough Guide an upcoming eco-destination, is 20kms, so perhaps 30mins by car. It was in fact 20mins by bus. I decided to take the boat trip in the morning, before my departure from Kuntaur. There was a family […]

The powdered milk of Monkey Island

First things first: disclaimer! Island of Gorée is NOT the Monkey Island but it features strongly in one of the most epic computer games of all times: Monkey Island series. I managed to drag myself out of bed for the ferry at 11am, with a coffee on my way. The ferry costs 5200cfa return, goes […]

Seven places from Saint Louis to Dakar

It’s been a long day in cars. Car no. 1: taxi to gare routière in Saint Louis, 1000cfa. Car no. 2: sept-place to Dakar, 5000cfa+1000cfa for baggage. Sept-place are old Peugeot combi cars that have seven places for passengers. One in front, 3 in the back and 3 more in the further back. The further […]

Humans of Saint Louis

It’s been a chilly windy morning. My landlady offered me coffee on the rooftop. Of course I agreed! What I got was a small sachet of instant coffee but at least it wasn’t Nescafé. The auberge I stay in has quite a nice view on the canal and the neighbouring island. I went out in […]

Sandpiercer to Choum

I’m in Atar, waiting for some voiture to Chinguetti to show up. I arrived in Atar before 6am, driver just let us sleep in the minibus from Choum. The town was still asleep bar the muezzin calls coming from many sides. As I walkes around asking for transport to Chinguetti, I was told there is […]

The Long Train from Nouadhibou

Interestingly, it wasn’t cold at night in Nouadhibou. I mean, out there on the street, the moment the sun set, chill set in and I began to wish I had long sleeve on me. But there in the room on a mattress that served as bed it was alright. I only used a single linen […]

Visa no. 2: Mauritania on the border

Nah, this one was easy. On the border, €55, quite a queue but I think my bus driver skipped the hassle. It still took over 2 hours. I took a 8/8:30/9am Supratours bus from Dakhla. It costs 260Dh to Nouadhibou. There is change of bus to minibus at he border. You can also take it […]

Laayoune to Dakhla: South South

My Rough Guide to Morocco mentions 4 places to see in Western Sahara: Tarfaya, Laayoune, Smara and Dakhla. There isn’t much to see in either of towns yet the splendid desolation is tempting. I was thinking to go to each town but the transport options are poor: Laayoune to Tarfaya looks like there are only […]

Sahara begins

I noticed it around 6am, where we stopped for morning tea. Silver ocean under full moon. Sand. A truck on the side of the road. The plants were gone. We were moving among nothingness, sand, gravel, all gray and silent. Then at 8am a police checkpoint. Sir, what’s your nationality? What’s your profession? Where are […]

It’s raining in heaven

Writing to you at 5am, as we were told to change the bus in Tan Tan. Tan Tan I always thought is capital of Western Sahara but we’re still way off the “border”. It’s been a rainy day. Rainy and cold, felt like Poland. +10 degrees, gray, cloudy, miserable. Lots of mint tea consumed. I […]