Barbecue time in Mauri

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We are in Nouakchott, capital of Mauritania, staying at the Auberge Menata which is a very pleasant place. Lots of overland travellers of all nationalities.  We arrived here yesterday afternoon having driven from our overnight stop on a filling station forecourt just through the border close to the railway tracks for the mile long iron ore trains. It was exciting to hear them chugging past during the night. It is about a 4 hr drive from the border to here and we stopped for lunch and a paddle on the beach at Twilit.  I am writing this outside the Enterprise (on my new chair, Charles) while we are roasting a local chicken on the barbecue and Chris is chatting to a new NZ friend.  We intend to stay here at least 3 nights before leaving for the Senegal border at Diamma. Nouakchott is a very friendly city and the safest capital in Africa. We walked out to eat last night at a really good restaurant close by.

To explain some of Chris's cryptic posts since leaving Rabat: we had decided to keep driving on the motorway and stop at a services somewhere near Marrakech for our night's stop, then accidentally took an exit which took us towards the Palmeries and eventually took us past a huge supermarket. It was an opportunity to look for wine and beer.  However the 'off licence' section had just closed (only open for an hour) but Chris was very lucky and found a trolley someone had left with an adequate supply of alcohol for our needs and we bought that then feasted at McDonalds!

We reached the end of the motorway at Agadir where we stopped to fill our tank with fresh water, get the Enterprise washed while we had showers at the same time inside, and stock up on juicy oranges.  We drove as far as the coast beyond Tan Tan and parked close to the sea so we could hear the roar of the surf while we slept.  We managed to reach Western Sahara with its much cheaper diesel without running out of fuel this time!! Laayoune is the capital of Western Sahara and we remembered from last time there that there were lots of workshops for getting work done. Chris found a carpenter and with his drawing of what he wanted made (blocks to fit on the back bumper with the duel purpose of chocks and a deterrent to 'hitch hikers) and also covers for the doorstep holes. It was quite late by the time we left and spent the next night in a small town outside the mosque but were on the road again too early next morning to be woken by the call to prayer. We stopped to buy hot bread in Boudjour but kept going to get to the border before it closed for the night. We spotted the salty encampments again, Tim!  It was not worth stopping along the coast this time as it was very windy.  We came across an elderly French couple in a camper with a flat tyre and Chris stopped to help. They gave us a big bottle of Pastis in return so we arrived at the boarder to Mauritania (a dry country) with an awful lot of alcohol. We had been given a present of Spanish cider by Carlos the ferry ticket seller in Algeciras, bought Christmas beer in Portsmouth, more in Spain and Morroco, have a secret  stash of good Spanish wine (a present) plus our emergency gin!  Fortunately we were not searched.

Chicken almost cooked so must make salad to go with it; so more to follow before we leave here which has free Wifi.