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Home » Backstage » Dust and Diesel – Sign of life, part 3 – 05.01.2013

Dust and Diesel – Sign of life, part 3 – 05.01.2013

January 8th, 2013 Posted in Backstage Tags: , ,

We’re having a day off in Dakhla – getting the cars fixed (the axle suspension of one of the cars broke – got fixed for 30 €) and relaxing. With 20°C at the beach, that’s easy.

At the moment, we are in the Western Sahara, a politically disputed region, which Morocco claims for itself. Morocco is attemting – without success –  to fill this region with life by building ghost towns in the middle of nowhere. There are houses for over 50 families – but the only occupants are guards, who protect the area. Very bizarre.

Our route took us from Guelmin to Laayoune and then ultimately to Dakhla. Not far from Laayoune, we stayed in a dune camp overnight, located along a tidal flat. Sand, all around sand. After that, the track was straight on. Sometimes you couldn’t see the end of the road, only a flicker at the horizon.

Once our fuel got scarce and we needed to use one of our spare canisters. It’s very wise to use fuel canisters here, as one of the gas stations simply didn’t have enough fuel for all cars. That is how it is in the Western Sahara.

The situation is pretty relaxed in general, only interrupted by some police controls, which are friendly most of the time due to our „Rallye humanitaire“. Small presents shorten the waiting time.

However, tomorrow we will have to wait a bit longer, as we’re going to Mauritania. You can spend several hours at the border. The route goes through a mine field. We’re  looking forward to seeing the no man’s land as well as visiting the children of the aepn project in Nouadhibou, who we are to meet tomorrow.

After that, we will drive into the desert in convoy with military protection. We’ll be driving on sand, through dunes and on the beach – let’s see, how our „red flash“ will handle it. We’re confident ‘though.

In Mauritania, the connection may be bad. But I’ll try to send a sign of life from there, too.

Bye for now,

Michael

  

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