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Friday morning. 5:45. Departure of the humanitarian convoy to the Gambia
from Motel Asimex in Nouadhibou - Mauretania
Just before sunrise we stop. Beya, our guide for the desert, is praying to Mekka
Last night we decided to make only a short fun trip into the desert
and not to stay there overnight.
We are following the perfect road southwards – for about 50 kilometers
Beya lets us stop the convoy. We have to prepare the cars for the desert
I am reducing the pressure of the tires for having a better contact to the sand
It is important that the guide will show us a way through
where we will not get stucked at once. Last time entering the desert it took us
two and a half hours to pass a distance of at least 300 meters only
Beya is telling Jan why we do need a guide like him
and where we are going now
Now we are going to enter the desert until the dune over there
which You are not able to see. Sure, I can see it. No, I don’t
We are going to drive just parallely to the paved road direction Nouakchott
We do really need a guide for that. Otherwise we would get totally lost
in this overall looking the same sandy desert. We have done it before
There is no difference it´s looking all the same
We are leaving the road to start our little adventure inside the desert
We are filming the convoy disappearing behind the sandstorm
What a nice picture
We have just arrived in the desert. The other cars are already gone.
No we are following their tracks to meet them again
We are passing boulder areas and drifting sands
But what exactly is coming up when?
Drivers with experience in crossing the desert know how to get through
While driving through the sand you have to try going far behind the others
If somebody gets stucked, you can pass them with drive
That’s very important.
He says – and only one moment later the Pickup car has stucked
I wasn’t the driver. Fritz was!
The ambulance car was slowing down more and more. I had no chance to pass
Whoever to blame: Get the shovels and dig it out!
On the top of the dune we are sniffing the air, feeling the sand between
the teeth and all over and acting a little bit like all-inclusive tourists
on their trip into the desert Everybody: please wave and cheer!
Where you ve got the turban from? The guide tied it around me to make me
feel the atmossphere in the desert. Its straight
Ricardo is smoking his second cigarette during the tour
and Thorsten is comparing the desert to the cold winter at home
Driving here is like driving on clear ice
Suddenly the car´s boot is loosing control. It s fun
We go on dashing through the desert Almost missing to pick up camera man Dirk
Almost
Calm down, Dirk. We would have never left you alone here
Two hours later: we are passing the first wild dromedaries and then
we are going to look for our way back to the road
Now we are in the middle of the nowhere. We have driven 50 Kilometers through
the desert. Its gorgeous, but it is looking the same all around
Really, I am very glad that we ve got a guide who will show us the way out
We are having a break right at the first petrol station along the road
Spring vegetable noodle soup in the Sahara. A little bit sandy – but it´s alright
We let the tires being inflated again
and we notice some damage to our camera equipment
I had never thought it would get covered with dust like this. I tried to protect it in
several ways, but nevertheless the sand is getting through everywhere
We have passed Nouakchott the capital of Mauretania
And we continue driving southward. And suddenly the trees are coming back
the soil is getting red and the people are waving to us
Shortly before the Senegalese border we are turning right onto a dusty path
Over there you see Rosso the ferry crossing point to Senegal
We know this to be the most dangerous border crossing all over Western Africa
Therefore we are going to drive on a 80 kilometers very dusty road to reach
another border crossing. And this is what we have to use now
At least we have 100 kilometers to go through dust and potholes
We are getting covered with dust totally It´s impossible to breath without
face masks. And the road never seems to come to an end
At 11 pm we finally reach St.Louis/Senegal
Tomorrow we have one day off
About that there are no pictures available
This is the very only one.