It's €12 ($17.50 CAD, $12.75 USD) a night without electric so it's not cheap for what you get. But, it's a safe place to leave Max while we go explore the city today.
We really didn't do much else yesterday, so this is a good opportunity to tell you more about our upcoming trip to Mauritania.
Mauritania.
Mauritania is a desert country in western Africa about the size of Texas and Oklahoma combined. It's one of the least visited countries in the world. That's one of the reasons we are going there!
The market in Nouakchott, Mauritania.
We're doing a group tour that is organized and led by one of the world's most adventurous travelers... Johnny Ward of One Step 4 Ward. I've been following him for a long time, and always wanted to do one of his adventure trips. When I first asked him about it, this particular trip was sold out, but we were on the waiting list and had to make a quick decision back in November when the opportunity arose. So we signed up!
It's a bit of a splurge for us, costing $2,200 USD each plus the airfare to get there, which itself was not cheap. But it's one of those countries that we don't see ourselves ever visiting on our own. So this is our way to do it! We figure that we can afford a trip like this once a year (outside of our "normal" life of travel), so why not just do it.
He's running another trip to Mauritania this coming November. Here is the link to that trip so you can read the itinerary. It's exactly the same as the trip we are doing. Yes including riding the iron ore train through the Sahara Desert for 400 kms!
We arrive in the capital city of Nouakchott late evening of January 20th. It's going to be hot. Daytime temperatures of between 30C to 35C (86F to 95F). Of course quite a bit cooler in the evenings. We'll be met at the airport and brought to our downtown hotel. Most of the rest of the group will arrive on the 21st. I think there are 18 of us in total.
Of course the highlight of the trip is the iron ore train. Said the be the longest train in the world, it is about 2.5 kms (1.5 miles) long. It's going to be dirty and uncomfortable. But it's only for 12 hours! Yes, I know, we're crazy.
And you're going to get to read all about it right here. There are going to be a few days without internet access, but we'll update as we can, and of course we'll post full daily reports when we get back to civilization.
Gotta get going... we are off to explore Granada.
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And in Canada...
Wow! I can't wait to follow your travels. It sounds hot and sweaty and exotic. I will be waiting with baited breath!
ReplyDeleteIt is definitely going to be an adventure and perhaps a little out of our comfort zone but we are still looking forward to the experience. At times it will be hot and sweaty but on the train at night it is going to be cold and uncomfortable! We are looking forward to telling you all about our experiences there.
DeleteThis is going to be good! I've seen some documentaries but a personal perspective will be cool.
ReplyDeleteIt is definitely going to be an experience! The night on the train is going to be cold and uncomfortable but from what we have heard it is an adventure that not very many people will ever experience in their lifetime, so this is something that is right up our alley, :-)
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