Mauretania, Nouakchott.

Am am writing this from the country with an unpronounceable currency: The Ouguiya. Yes, we are in Mauritania, the capital city of it to be more precise. Nouakchott.

The pic below is the biggest oases in the world. It's in the Atlas mountains of Morocco. You can clearly see the divide.

The Benz clocked 6150km's so far and has seen his fair share of adventure. I am writing this from the lobby of some hotel, so I have to be quick writing this update. Apologies.

Here are some headlines. Rino and I both managed to get a speeding ticket in the Sahara. One would think there is nothing but sand, but this is not the case. There are two bushes, and behind those to bushes there are people that have gotten a radar for Christmas. Here is a picture of me, helping the guy out writing my speeding ticket.

As far as the car is concerned. The Benz never ceases to amaze me. The thing just goes and goes... and goes. Even in the terrible heat of the dessert. The tail end started to hang a bit low, but it is not affecting the driving of it. At some point we noticed the muffler had broken loose, but we got out some wire in the middle of no where (western sahara) and it was ok again (see pic).

The road from Agadir to here was a long one. And there is only so much sand you can see. But camping out in the desert is mesmerizing. The road is pretty good, you just have to watch for crossing camels and such. The border crossing between Western Sahara and Mauritania was no picnic. Or actually... it was. A very long one.... Waiting games to get out of the country and corruption games to get into Mauritania. Between the two countries there is a stretch of 'no mans land'. I'll write about no mans' land later on.... but we got stuck and digging out did not help.

On the way from Nouadhibou to Nouakchot we had to give two military guys a ride. We already had one passenger in the back, so it got crowded back there. Clearly the coup de l'etat was the conversation of the day. We can clearly feel a divide between those for the coup and those against it. However, we do not feel any immediate danger. There are a lot of road blocks, but that is business as usual. We have to answer the same questions over and over again. What a pain......

Anyway... a lot of nice pics to show... but not enough time... We have to set course to Kiffa now. 650km's in the heat and many roadblocks to go (duane, military and police roadblocks). The last pics is one of people that did a similar trip and had to walk away. The pic was taken in no mans land between Western sahara and Mauri. RIP.