MAURITANIA BETWEEN SEA AND DUNES part 3

How far away the dusty "libraries" of Tichit and Oualata seem! We wander through the narrow streets and buy silver and brass jewellery from the women of the village. We continue to Ouadane on a dirt road now a candidate for asphalt. A bit of melancholy comes over us and we think back to Tichit, Oualata, Nega, Rachid where there were no roads; we think back to the children, to the people of those villages without electricity and without water in their homes! At Ouadane we're welcomed by the tourist guide who accompanies us on the tour of the village, mosque and library. We slip into a women's cooperative to buy the last souvenirs. We're a little behind schedule and we're forced to leave Ghuelb er Richat and the Amour Pass for a future trip, heading quickly to Atar after visiting the rock paintings along the road. Atar is a city. Service stations, supermarkets and even chaotic traffic.

Several people ask us to sell our vehicles… they'd buy them in cash and in euros!! We have dinner in a restaurant of a friendly Moroccan eating chicken and chips. Tomorrow more track, the railway track!! It's the dawn of 20 August when we tackle the fairly smooth track to Choum. It's a very hot day, for the first time we go above 45 degrees! At Choum we're mobbed by a multitude of smiling children. There's an unbearable heat, a strong hot wind and the sand flies everywhere. And there's the railway!! The track follows the railway, you have to be careful, it's strewn with sharp pieces of iron.

To avoid some dune crossings we decide to do a few kilometres right on the rails! Dino gets a flat on the rails and a tremendous sandstorm starts to rise! We cross small villages that exist because the railway exists! We find in the little shops Coca- Cola, Fanta and mineral water to our heart's content. The drinks are even frozen, a pleasure at 45 degrees!! And finally the train… we immortalise it with photos and videos! We camp next to the railway and while we cook spaghetti with ragù … here … the train again. In the darkness we see from afar the beam of the headlights, it's exciting. The train is very long, the passenger carriage closes the convoy. A furious hot wind keeps us from closing an eye all night. In the morning we strike camp in a great hurry, the wind has picked up even more and has dug huge holes under the vehicles. We set off without even having breakfast.

After a few kilometres we're forced to make a stop: we're in the middle of a sandstorm with visibility reduced to zero. It starts to rain, the temperature drops to 21° and the sand compacted by the water no longer blows. We set off again. The track becomes smooth and easy, and without any problem we reach the asphalt that will take us back to Nouadhibou. The adventure on the track is over. It's 21 August. We relax at the campsite "Baie du Levrier" in Nouadhibou. The next day we decide to visit the ship cemetery south of the city and the Cap Blanc reserve where we spot monk seals. Returning to Nouadhibou we greet the train once more which, with empty carriages, is setting off again for the mine. We end the day with a dinner of fish in one of the most "in" restaurants of the city.

The adventure in Mauritania is now over, all that remains is to cover thousands of kilometres of asphalt, with a few short stops, to reach Italy. Bye Mauritania … we'll be back, inchallah!! THE END