Dirty. Uncomfortable. Amazing!

When we left you yesterday, we had just boarded the iron ore train in Mauritania, Africa headed west from Choum to the Atlantic coast at Nouadhibou.

The train travels at between 35 to 40 km/h (22 to 25 mph). With a distance of 400 kms (248 miles), and several short stops along the way, it should take around 12 hours to get to our destination. But certainly none of that is written in stone.

The main event... the iron ore train!

Friday evening was the main event! The reason we came to Mauritania was to ride the iron ore freight train through the Sahara Desert. We were all pretty excited about it.

We had most of the morning off to do our own thing. Internet access was actually pretty good while we were in Chinguetti. But only because I had bought a SIM card when we had arrived in Mauritania, and there was a 4G high speed tower nearby. So we took advantage of that and got caught up on some internet stuff.

A beautiful desert oasis in Mauritania

I tried googling the most beautiful oases in the world. A few lists of them came up, but nowhere did I see mentioned the one we went to on Thursday. Truly stunning. And it's not mentioned anywhere because hardly anybody knows that it exists.

The day started when we hopped into the 4x4's again and headed back into the desert.

Pros and Cons of the Brand New VR Gambling

Virtual Reality is becoming a part of people’s everyday lives and significantly simplifies activities in multiple sectors. Modern online gambling establishments follow all the latest trends, and many have already implemented the technology. Several years ago, passionate players could get the immersive casino experience only when gambling in live dealer games. VR innovations made this process even simpler, so let’s look at the main benefits they provide users with. Keep in mind there are also some pitfalls you may face!

Four wheel drive adventure in the Sahara Desert

On the road Wednesday morning at 9:00am with five Toyota Hilux 4x4's for our group. 

We did five full hours of crazy desert four wheel driving! It was totally fun and I really enjoyed it. Some of the group rode in the back of the trucks if they chose to. 

Our first Sahara Desert oasis

We were told that we would be on the road at 7:30am Tuesday morning with a full day of driving ahead of us to get to the Terjit Oasis. So in preparation for that, we were up at 5:45am and had a quick breakfast with the group between 6:30 and 7:00. 

For our group, we were 18 people... plus our leader Johnny, so we had a minivan and two Toyota Hilux four wheel drives. And three drivers.

Not exactly the nicest capital city in the world

Among travelers who go to out of the way places, Nouakchott, the capital city of Mauritania, is well known to be the worst capital city in the world. 

Sandy, dusty, dirty, trashy. With very few attractions. And no alcohol.

Introduction to the group

The rest of the group arrived at various times overnight, some as late as 4:00am. We went down for some breakfast at 8:30am or so and there still wasn't anybody up yet. But, we met everybody gradually as they came down over the next couple of hours.

Ruth and I wanted to go back to the ATM. We forgot that we were going to have to pay for our room in cash. Then we wanted to find a SIM card for the phone, and do some shopping to find some snacks that we can take on the trip.

First day in Nouakchott

We had only got to bed at 2:30am the night before, but still managed to get up around 8:00am feeling not too bad. By 9:00am we headed down for some breakfast. 

Mauritania was a French colony until 1960, and there is still some of that influence remaining. So what was for breakfast? Croissants!

Welcome to Mauritania... country number 58

A great way to start off a new year is by visiting a new country! Mauritania is country number 58 for us. There will be a few more new countries to add to the list during 2023. It's going to be a great year!

We didn't arrive here until well after midnight, so we really haven't anything to show you yet. However, we do need to tell the story of how we got here!

Today, we are off to Casablanca Airport!

Interesting place where we have been staying the last three nights. The guy who owns it is originally from Germany, but he married a Moroccan lady and he's been living here for 23 years. But his wife likes the city better, so she spends most of her time there, and he spends most of his time here in the countryside.

Another van showed up the other evening. A younger couple from the Netherlands. Just before lunch on the rainy day, our German host invited us all in for soup.

More detail about our trip to Mauritania

Yesterday was a rain day here in Morocco, so now is a good time to tell you a little more about our upcoming trip to The Islamic Republic of Mauritania.

Mauritania is one of the least visited countries in the world. That's actually one of the reasons I wanted to go there! 

I did not have a plan B

We really would have liked to have stayed one more night in the cherry orchard. Really nice folks running the place. When we left, they were trying to refine our pronunciation of some of the Arabic phrases we've been making an effort to learn... but without much success. At least we all had a good laugh about it.

We've pretty much got one sentence down pat... "Assalamu Alaikum" which directly translated means, "may peace be with you", but it's essentially used as "hello". Of course we could just say "bonjour" because 90% of the locals also speak French.

Time to head to lower elevations!

We waited until the sun came up over the mountain at about 10am, then set off walking uphill towards the cedar forests. We planned on about a 10 km (6.2 mile) return walk directly from the campground, and gaining another 300 meters (1,000') or so in elevation.

It was chilly, only calling for a high of about 13C (55F) but with clear blue sky and sunshine, and no wind to speak of. Quite comfortable for hiking uphill.

We were sure he was going to tip over!

We headed over to the big city of Meknes (population 650,000), but there really wasn't anything we wanted to see there so we took a route that avoided much of the city to get to the southern outskirts where there is a big modern shopping center with a big Marjane superstore.

Got there just before 11am on Sunday morning, and it was pretty quiet. Tons of space in the huge parking lot.