Mauritania

*Wild camping along the coast in Banc d’Arguin National Park*

As soon as we entered Mauritania we could feel the difference between it and its neighbor, Morocco. The houses became simpler and the small villages felt like sites of a perennial battle between the people and the sands that threatened to overtake them. They looked empty in the heat of the day with people sheltering indoors. The cities did not have ancient history and architecture but felt new, built up in the last 50-70 years. It felt like one of the least populated countries in Africa, which it is.

People were dressed for the desert, lightweight periwinkle robes for the men with matching turbans and long dresses in varied hues for the women. With concerns about the safety of the more eastern desert routes (and a US State Department Advisory to reconsider travel with areas of high security risk), we stuck to the coast. We know we missed some beautiful areas of the country others have travelled recently and safely but decided to be cautious and were also aware of the extensive driving ahead of us over the next few months.

*US State Dept Advisory map for travelers, January 2023*

Specific preparations we made for travelling to Mauritania (and beyond) were filling our Rotopax with an extra eight gallons of fuel to account for fuel shortages, having a stack of new US $100 and Euro €100 bills - to get the best exchange rates (ATMS we had relied on in the past can be scarce in Western Africa and credit cards rarely accepted), hiding away a little beer and wine (a dry country) and multiple copies of a “fiche” - an officially recognized template which gives your passport and personal details on a single piece of paper. We had multiple color copies of our passport photo page but only ended up needing one each.

We also downloaded two programs of maps - Google and Open Street Maps, with Andy having one on his phone and Dawn the other. We have found that Google is better for finding specific place or business names, OSM better for obscure roads. We also have OSM on our Garmin Overlander but have not been technically saavy enough to figure out the interface to use it for turn by turn navigation so have been mostly using our phones.

Another critical resource for us is the Facebook group Overlanding West Africa and Morocco and the associated Whatsapp group. These forums are key for the most current information on border crossings, closings, safety and requirements. Currently we are concerned as we head further south that the Ivory Coast has just closed its borders and that Nigeria is not issuing visas at their land borders until after their February election. Tracking these details daily gives us advance knowledge about possible issues ahead.

Finally, in Mauritania, we started to see the shift of camping and resource information being more populated in iOverlander instead of Park4Night which was more common in Europe and Morocco. The huge advantage we appreciate with iOverlander is that it works fully offline.

Mauritanian Border Crossing

Here is a whole lot of detail for those of you thinking about this journey, for the rest, we recommend skipping ahead. We had heard that the Morocco to Mauritania border crossing was one of the most difficult and time consuming, and it sure took a lot of patience!

Our overall advice: arrive early, don’t be in a rush, and expect a lot of bureaucracy. Everything is handwritten multiple times in log books and receipt books, it is a process. We were also hampered by a complete lack of understanding of French or Arabic so had some additional challenges.

Just exiting Morocco was a surprisingly lengthy process (one hour) with some running back and forth between offices to get things stamped, but officials were extremely helpful and guided us through the process. We had to turn back in the small scan card given to us for the truck upon entry into the country. They also did a full x-ray scan of our vehicle (we were curious why they did this upon exit, we had been expecting it upon arrival with the understanding that they search for drones, which are forbidden in Morocco). The only question they had after the scan was asking Andy to take off the Rotopax so they could inspect the liquid inside. Finally we were approved to exit and entered the short “no man’s land” between the two countries.

Approaching the Mauritanian border, fixers try really hard to attach themselves to you, charging €10 to walk you through the process. We didn't use one but a key benefit if you do is that all the rest leave you alone. It is also not very obvious which buildings to go to in which order. Here is a list:

When you reach the buildings, park on left.

First, enter the police check building on left. They will take one color copy of your passport each.

At that point you can drive your car through and park beyond the buildings. Customs may have dogs sniff your vehicle or ask for inspection. They did a brief dog circle of our truck but did not search it.

Next is the visa office, also on left– it can take a while, there are couches to sit on, they will take your passports and do a fingerprint scan. There is a waiting period while your data is sent off, then the visa is printed which takes a full passport page. Visas are $55 each, cash, and they also accept Moroccan dirhams.

Then you drive your vehicle to get your vehicle permit. Only the driver needs to go in here, we do not have a Carnat so for us it was a €10 TIP (temporary import permit). That part was easy.

The final stop is to get your visa stamped in. Each person needs to be present with passport and they will want one phone number for the group.

Once you drive over the border there are offices for insurance, sim cards and to change money. We have a blanket insurance policy for Africa through our German auto insurance company, Tour Insure, and since Mauritania is listed on the policy as covered, it was accepted. We took the opportunity to change some money (they liked the new Euro bills, rejected a used one we happened to have on us as too old).

The whole exit-Morocco-to-enter-Mauritania process took us two and a half hours. We started at 10am. We also noticed that it is standard practice for the fixers to jump the line with their clients’ passports, but that officers had a system for getting back to the independent folks at a regular basis.

*Visa office at the Mauritanian border, includes biometric full fingerprint scan and takes a full page in your passport. $55 each.*

*Exiting the border we helped some Italian riders we met in line jumpstart their bike.*

*And we are off! Mauritania here we come.*

*The only animals we saw out in the desert*

*Heading into the first national park - road was mostly just a suggestion in the dirt. Andy getting ready to air down as we can see deeper sand ahead*

*But it was worth the journey! Beautiful spot at Banc d’Arguin National Park*

*Got a little over confident in the dunes but Maxtrax got us out - that is why we carry them*

*For people from Oregon, it really never gets old seeing a camel cross the road*

The drive from the Moroccan border to Nouakchott was sparsely populated and there were few fuel stations. It was also common for stations to either be out of fuel or not have what we needed - gasoline, or Essence in French. We took the advice of others and filled up when we found it, grateful for our backup Rotopax. There was also a whole lot of sandy country. Come unto these yellow sands.

*Common site - small villages in the sand*

Our only urban stop in Mauritania was the capital, Nouakchott. The biggest city in Mauritania, the name is Berber for “place of the winds.” A new city, it has grown from 15,000 people in the 1950’s to its current size of over one million residents. We camped at Terjit Vacances, a hotel and restaurant on the coast with space for campers. It was relatively isolated out of the hustle and bustle of the city but with good security on site. The city itself was definitely chaotic, the first place we have driven where stop lights seemed fully optional.

*Our most interesting visit in Nouakchott, Port* *de Pêche,* *a thriving fishing port.* *As the only visitors, we were warmly welcomed by the vendors at the fish market and the fishermen. Pictured here boat coming in to shore to be offloaded by hand and donkey cart.*

Fascinating conversation with fisherman Boyta who took the time to explain life at sea - four men on a boat for three days fishing, bottom of the boat lined with ice for the catch, sleeping on the boards.

We left Nouakchott, continuing south toward the border with Senegal. In total in our drive through Mauritania we passed through 10 police checkpoints. Each one asked us for a fiche, accepted it without really even looking at it, and waved us on our way. Twice we were asked for a “gift” (cadeaux in French). Each time we smiled and said we were sorry that we didn’t have one and were allowed to pass on without a problem.

*Amazed at the skill of these women - full coolers balanced on their heads*

*Mid sized towns along the main road are full of pedestrians and vendors, a choas of people running every which way, caution required*

*Smaller villages in the sand always dominated by an attractive mosque*

*Baby camels! Last camel photo, we promise*

Our last night in Mauritania we made our way toward the border crossing into Senegal with the better reputation. The two mains ones are Diama and Rossi. Diama requires a longer drive on a bumpy dirt road but Rossi has a reputation of corrupt officials. We opted for Diama.

On our way to Diama we encountered our first real tourist scam. As we approached the crossroads with the main road to Rossi and the cutoff to Diama, we saw a police checkpoint. The standard road stop signs warned off the upcoming check point so we slowed down and pulled out a fiche. A young man (not in the standard issue military garb but in an official looking navy robe) approached the car and asked for the fiche. Then, he asked where we were going and we said Diama. He said that was good, it was a better border crossing than Rossi. Then he asked for our Covid vaccination cards (very unusual we had never been asked for them). He scanned them and returned them. Then he got on the phone to call his contact at the border to check how things were for us. He explained he had American tourists with valid Covid vaccines. He put his friend on the phone with us who explained that we were welcome at Diama. However, first it was required that we drive 40 km down the road to the Rossi crossing to pick up our authorizations. We could then return the same way or drive along the river to the Diama crossing, We nodded, a little perplexed but willing to go with it. Andy asked about where we got these authorizations and we were told that there was a house with a sign. We asked what the sign said and were told “Muhammad.” Hmm. We set off on the road to Rossi as told. About ten kilometers along we started to think that the whole interaction had felt off. We realized he had not been in uniform. The ask to see Covid vaccines was highly unusual and seemed fake. We saw nothing online about additional authorization needed and realized we were being sent an additional 40km out of our way to a crossing known as corrupt.

So we turned back around, approached the same intersection, waved at our gentleman in the blue robe without stopping and headed down the shortcut to Diama. It was an easy dirt road, and we found a beautiful wild camping spot along the way (it was getting late and we prefer to cross borders early).

*Tucked into the shade the best we could - it was still 90’*

*The sun goes down on the Mauritanian bush*

*Livestock boma near our camp - enclosure built with thorny bushes, usually to keep animals either in or out*

Adventures with the Truck

With a moment of downtime, Andy decided to replace the water filters in our UV system. We have a Pura UVB-2 system built into the back seat of our truck. The system has a washable 5 micron sediment filter and a .5 micron filter with activated charcoal. Using a bucket and a built in pump, we can run all drinking water through the system on its way to our storage tank. Our son had brought new filters for us to Morocco. Although not heavily used in Europe, we had not replaced them since 2019 and had used them extensively on our 2020 trip to Baja.

*Old and new filters - .5 micron with activated carbon filters. Yikes.*

*Old and new 5 micron sediment filters, not catching nearly as much as the .5 one.*

*Bottom of the sediment filter canister - two years of collected dirt*

*Ultra violet light which kills viruses and bacteria*

Water system updated we are ready to face the border crossing.

*Approach to Diama on the Mauritania side*

We learned at this border that is useful to have smaller Euro bills in addition to the 100’s we use to change to local currency. At the end of a visit it is always difficult to know exactly how much local currency will be needed and exchange rates for those last few bills are low. But for typical tourist-type fees Euros are widely accepted.

In general, before a border we read as much online as possible to know what to expect. We are learning to tell the difference between scammers and officials and real fees and requested bribes. But it can be tricky.

Our first fee was €10 each for the national park upon approach. We received an offical receipt and went on our way. At the Mauritanian side of the border there were three key stops.

First, a metal gate. We parked there and entered the police check building. After a passport review we were good to go. We paid a 100 Mauritanian community gate tax and received a receipt. We have learned that if an official is not willing or able to give a receipt you have a good case for refusing to pay.

We were passed through the gate and handed over our vehicle paperwork and paid customs a 400 Mauritanian exit fee - which we had expected.

And then came the big surprise. At our final immigration office stop, an official behind the window in full uniform took our passports and disappeared for about 15 minutes. Then he returned and told us we owed €400. We were dumbfounded and asked “why?” We repeated the request and he disappeared again. Ten minutes later he returned and said again that we owed €400 euros. Again we asked “why?” He simply wrote €400 on a pink post it and said we had to pay. We said we didn’t understand. He disappeared again and another official returned with our passports, handed them over and said we could go. It was the most egregious example of a request for an exorbitant bribe we have encountered. We can only assume that people just get frustrated and hand over money. It was worth a half hour wait for us.

Overall, we found Mauritania to be starkly lovely and the people were welcoming and curious about us. They smiled at our being from the US and despite the State Department warnings we never felt at risk or uncomfortable. However, we did not drive at night and did not walk around Nouakchott at night. It was a predominantly Muslim country and most women and even the men wore head coverings. We dressed modestly, no shorts or bare shoulders, Dawn mostly wore long dresses. She did not wear a head scarf and it felt accepted, people were always kind, recognizing that we were visitors.

Next country, Senegal. We feel like we are just starting to get our West Africa legs under us - so much to learn and see. Thank you for reading!

Senegal and The Gambia

Morocco