BLOG - DIARY OF AN ADVENTURE
The following is a copy and pasted transcript of Kev’s blog that was initially posted on Facebook. This is presented as one continuous scrolling day by day diary covering 7th January 2025 to 8th February 2025. The grand total is around 11,500 words
Day 1 – Tuesday, 7th January 2025
KM’s today – 151 kms
KM’s Total – 151 kms
We were up and out of Mark’s by 05:30 for the 140km or so drive to the Ferry Port of Rosslare in south-east Ireland.
The docking process was painless and we were parked up right at the rear of the boat which will enable us to be amongst the first off when we arrive in Santander, Spain.
Our ship was the Brittany Ferries ‘Santona’ with a maximum capacity of 1680 passengers and 75 staff.
It soon became very obvious that the ship was nowhere near full capacity and an enquiry with the information desk revealed that there were only 119 passengers on board.
The route south took us through the channel between Lands End and the Scilly Isles
We spent the day lounging about the boat not doing a lot although we did indulge in a few Murphy’s stout during the evening.
Day 2 – Wednesday, 8th January 2025
Bay of Biscay to Burgos via Santander, Spain
KM’s today – 238 kms
KM’s Total – 389 kms
After a fairly rough crossing of the Bay of Biscay we arrived at Santander at 13:30hrs.
For some inexplicable reason all passengers were held in their vehicles for almost an hour before we were eventually allowed off.
After passing through immigration and customs we were on our way.
The route to Burgos took us south along Route A67 passing to the east of the Picos de Europa Mountains where snow capped peaks were clearly visible. There were some flurries of snow but not enough to concern us. Red and white marker poles were adjacent to the road indicating where the road was in the event of heavy snow. We actually ’topped out’ at 1002m before levelling off for 100kms or so, driving through wide opened endless plains that most of Spain’s holidaymakers never see because they’re too busy crowding the Costa del Somewhere!
There were high wind warnings on the route and the car on occasions wanted to go sideways rather than forward. But firstly Mark and then myself managed to hold an ‘even keel’.
After travelling south, about 67kms from Burgos the route direction changes to east along the A231.
Burgos is an historical city positioned at an altitude of 2,838ft (865m). It has a snowy season for 3 months in winter and the January average snowfall for the city is 3.3cm.
Burgos has a population of just over 175,000 and is famous for its intact medieval architecture.
Unfortunately, due to our arrival in Burgos being after sunset we were limited in what we were able to see. But we did venture into the Old Town and saw the magnificent Burgos Cathedral
Having dutifully ticked off this architectural highlight, we turned our attention to other, more earthly pursuits.
Burgos is very cheap to eat out at restaurants. We had a set meal consisting of starter, main course, dessert and 2 glasses of wine (each) for €17 per person and this was in a highly rated restaurant named La Fauna Gastro Burgos.
We also found a Scottish bar called Flor de Escocia (work out the translation yourselves) where we indulged in a couple of pints of the local Pilsner lager at €4 a pint. The Pub was also the local rugby haunt.
We liked Burgos and would certainly like to revisit in the future to explore.
Day 3 – Thursday, 9th January 2025
Burgos to Salamanca, Spain
KM’s today – 238 kms
KM’s Total – 627 kms
We left Burgos at 10:00hrs in order to get to Salamanca in the early afternoon so we could enjoy the city.
We joined the A62 route just outside Burgos and it took us all the way to Salamanca along flat featureless plains that were at a height of about 2500ft (762m).
When we turned off the main road into North Salamanca we were soon at our hotel for the night, The Hotel Bardo Recoletos Coco and a lovely hotel it was too.
We then headed into the old city area of Salamanca.
I have to be honest that my initial thoughts were that the place was a bit of a dump. However after about 20 minutes of walking we started to see how historical and beautiful the city was.
Salamanca is known for its ornate sandstone architecture and for the Universidad de Salamanca which is the oldest active university in Spain.
With origins dating back 2700 years, Salamanca has a population of 144,285 and the Old City is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. It is situated at an altitude of 2631ft (802m).
We had a good 3 hours walking around all the historical sites before finding a great Irish Pub ‘The Holy Cross’ to have a few beers.
We then found a local steak house ‘Bar El Sencillo’ where we both indulged in a bowl full of octopus and potatoes and then an entrecôte steak washed down with a bottle of Rioja.
Salamanca really hit the spot. The Old City is beautiful and spotlessly clean with lots of historical buildings to visit. There are lots of nice restaurants and bars. We both agreed that Salamanca will be high up on the list to revisit.
Day 4 – Friday, 10th January 2025
Salamanca to Cáceres, Spain
KM’s today – 234 kms
KM’s Total – 861 kms
We left our hotel at just before 10:00hrs for the short drive to The Salamanca Museum of Automotive History.
After spending about 90 minutes there we set off for the city of Cáceres. We set off in a generally southern direction along the A66 which also goes as European Route E803.
We were soon gaining attitude and signposts to ski resorts were being displayed. We also saw snow capped mountains but fortunately for us, the snow hadn’t arrived in the valleys.
We topped out at 3891ft (1186m) just north of Béjar and the altitude didn’t go below 2500ft until we started to approach Cáceres which is at a height of 1506ft (459m). This is still significantly higher than any city in the UK and most villages.
We arrive at the hotel AHC Hoteles and was initially dismayed that it resembled a warehouse! However, on entering we found that although dated, it was more adequate for our needs. And it was only £41 a night!
We wasted no time in walking to the Old City perched high up a hill and we sought out all the historical sites.
Cáceres was founded by the Romans in 25BC and has a population of 95,000. Being a medieval walled city it was declared a UNESCO world Heritage site in 1986.
It certainly is a beautiful and compact city but after Salamanca yesterday, it had an hard act to follow.
We were surprised how quiet the place was especially with it being a Friday night. A lot of bars and restaurants were closed around tea time or didn’t open up until 20:00hrs. The Spanish certainly like to eat late.
So the $64k question, would we return? Probably not when you have Salamanca and Burgos all within a days drive.
Day 5 – Saturday, 11th January 2025
Cáceres to Cordoba, Spain
KM’s today – 315kms
KM’s Total – 1176kms
We set off due east from Cáceres along the A58/N-521 and after reaching Trujillo turned south along the EX-A2. The weather had become foggy so visibility was much reduced both on the road and for viewing the scenery.
However, once we turned off the motorway close to Quintana de la Serena and got on the EX-346, the fog disappeared and we were again driving through open plains at over 1000ft above sea level.
Eventually we entered a long wide valley towards Belmez and was surprised to see several coal mining ‘Headstocks’ on either side of the N432 route. We didn’t realise that this area of Spain had a coal mining industry although it looked limited.
For the uninitiated, Headstocks are the lift winding equipment at the top of a mine shaft that allowed miners to get to the coal seams. In the UK before 1990, they were a regular site in many towns and villages across the UK. That is before the mining industry more or less ceased.
At Belmez there is a spectacular fortress on a rocky outcrop called Castillo de Belmez and it is several centuries old. It really does stand out from miles away.
On our arrival in Cordoba we went directly to our hotel, The Eurostar Maimonides located right in the heart of the historic centre of the city. In fact we drove through several ‘no entry’ and pedestrian areas to get to the hotel although we worked out the signs did state that ‘hotel access’ was allowed. Fortunately the hotel had a car park although it wasn’t cheap.
Right opposite the hotel is the huge Mosque-Cathedral of Córdoba Mezquita known as Catedral de Córdoba, an important historical site.
The hotel is really nice and at £59 per night for a twin room, on a weekend, is excellent value.
We are in Cordoba for 2 nights.
Day 6 – Sunday, 12th January 2025
Cordoba, Spain
KM’s today – 0
KM’s Total – 1176kms
A rest day in Cordoba today where we did a tour of the city on an open top bus.
The weather is warmer and we had bright blue skies.
Cordoba is a very interesting city with a great wealth of history.
Day 7 – Monday, 13th January 2025
Cordoba to Tarifa, Spain
Kms today – 385
Total Kms – 1561
We were able to quickly leave Cordoba at 08:35hrs on the A4/E5 route and after 60kms, at the town of Ecija, we turned off and headed due south along the A351 towards Osuna. We then took a route that took us down several minor roads before we arrived at Arcos de la Frontera where a magnificent castle named Castillo de Arcos stands proudly on a rocky outcrop. Amazingly it is now a private residence.
After this we continued south along the A389 and then A381 towards Algeciras and got our first views of The Rock of Gibraltar. It was then a short drive west to our hotel for the night, Mason de Sancho which is located between Algeciras and Tarifa on the N340/E5 road.
This was also the location where a majority of the other folks taking part in ‘The Dakar Challenge’ were meeting and plenty of them had already arrived.
From the hotel we were able to see very clearly the high mountains of Morocco, our destination on Wednesday.
After we had driven to Tarifa to have a brief look and settled in the hotel, we attended ‘Shit Shirt’ night which we have been informed is always the prelude to the challenge! Mark and I did our best, and I even went as far as having matching shorts. But there were some really horrendous shirts worn that made ours look good!!!
The evening was spent having a meal and a few drinks and getting to know our fellow entrants in this mad challenge.
Day 8 – Tuesday, 14th January 2025
Tarifa, Spain
Kms today – 28
Total Kms – 1589
Today was a rest day so that we could check all our gear and carry out final checks of the car.
It also meant that we could do some washing and get the stuff dry.
We went into Tarifa in the morning to have a look around. Unfortunately the heavens opened up and we were stuck in the car for 30 minutes because of the ferocity of the rain. This was despite the weather forecast saying zero rain expected at this time and none for the day!
The only real thing of note today was that I was convinced I had left my reading glasses in a cafe in Tarifa. I returned 30 minutes later after not being able to find them in the car. No glasses had been found by the staff. I then asked Mark if I had put my glasses on to read the menu at the cafe and he wasn’t sure. I double checked the car and walked the route from the cafe to where we had parked our car. No glasses. This was getting to be a mystery. Guess what, on returning to our hotel room, the glasses were on the bed? What can I say?
Day 9 – Wednesday, 15th January 2025
Tarifa, Spain to Chefchaouen, Morocco
Kms today – 135
Total Kms – 1710
We left the hotel very early at 07:00hrs for the short drive to Algeciras and the ferry over The Straits of Gibraltar to Tangiers, Morocco.
The transition on to the ship was smooth and we left 10 minutes early.
The Straits were very choppy and it wasn’t the smoothest ferry crossing I’ve ever been on.
Upon arrival, we quickly got through immigration but then had to join a long queue to have our vehicle x-rayed. This was carried out by lining up 5 or 6 vehicles and a mobile x-ray machine drive down the side and x-ray all the vehicles in one run.
The natural landscape and topography was very similar to southern Spain. But everything else indicated that you were in a totally different place. The ramshackle buildings, poor state of many cars, Men wandering around not seeming to be doing much, woman in many places all wearing head coverings following the men, the horse and plough in the fields, hundreds of donkeys grazing and working, the litter everywhere, the amount of mosques and the apparent general disorganisation indicated that we were in a totally different place to Spain only 14 KM’s away.
Having said that, in our first encounter with Moroccans, they are friendly and cannot do enough for you.
The drive down to Chefchaouen via P4701 south from Ksar es Seghi to Tetouan, N13 south from Tetouan to Chefchaouen, was beautifully scenic and the roads were generally very good. There were a few rough patches but this was only where the authorities are attempting to improve the roads.
We reached Chefchaouen at around 15:30hrs and more or less got straight to the area we were staying.
The hotel, The Aymane Rooftop Hotel was in the Medina part of the city where cars aren’t allowed. So we parked just outside and trusted the security of the vehicle to a couple of locals for €5 for the night. This is some sort of arrangement that the hotel makes with the locals. Whether it was successful and we still have some or part of a car to go back to, I will let you know in the next blog!!
In the evening we went for dinner with Father and Son Noel and Max (Team 034) and had a great meal at Restaurant Jbaria. This was followed by a walk around the Old Town of the Blue City.
Chefchaouen is a city in the Rif Mountains of northwest Morocco. It’s known for the striking, blue-washed buildings of its old town and steep cobbled lanes. It sits at almost 2000ft above sea level and has a population of 42,786.
Day 10 -Thursday, 16th January 2025
Chefchaouen to Meknes, Morocco
Kms today – 211
Total Kms – 1921
We had breakfast at the Riad and then went to collect the car. There were no problems and it was still in one piece.
On leaving the town we stopped a few times to take photos of Chefchaouen and its stunning location.
After a short downhill drive we were on the Route N13 towards Meknes.
At a point on the N13 just south of Boukchouch Selfat, the road swings west. The N14 intersects it to go south east and all of a sudden we were heading down this road with nowhere obvious to turn around. The Satnav recalculated the route. We were directed over a mountain pass on the P7014. What a stroke of luck. The drive was stunning and gave us some fantastic views.
We then rejoined the N13 further south and arrived at the big city of Meknes.
Meknes is the 6th largest city in Morocco with a population of 632,079. It dates back to the 11th century and has a wealth of history and historical sites.
Although it would be impossible to see all the sites we were fortunate that our accommodation for the night, the delightful Riad Inspira, was located in the ancient Medina of Meknes.
Once again, like Chefchaouen, we had to park our car close by and pay a random bloke a small fee to look after it. It was then a 5 minute walk to the accommodation.
The Riad Inspira was lovely but had crazily small doors to enter.
We spent a couple of hours walking around the Medina and also visited the historical Al-Hadeem Square. We had a view of the walls of the important and huge Bab El Mansour Laalej, an ancient gate to the Kasbah of Moulay Ismail. Unfortunately it is undergoing a massive renovation costing millions of dollars and won’t be open for years.
We found a lovely restaurant called Aisha and had a Moroccan meal of traditional soup Harira and a Meat Tangine, washed down with lots of mint tea.
Day 11 -Friday, 17th January 2025
Meknes to Casablanca, Morocco
Kms today – 257
Total Kms – 2178
After a an excellent breakfast at the Riad Inspira, we left Meknes along the N6 route west towards Casablanca.
The drive from a scenery point of view was fairly non-de script although we passed through the large cities of Khemisset and Tiflet. Both were notable for how modern they looked and the amount of building development going on in both cities.
I haven’t mentioned so far the amount of Police check points there are. They’re everywhere and we have more or less worked out where to watch out for them. They’re prevalent on the approaches to roundabouts, entering and leaving cities or built up areas. We have passed through several but have just been waved through. These also operate with the Police carrying out speed checks.
We know through the ‘Challenge’ WhatsApp group that several of the other participants have been stopped and fined for speeding. Mark and myself have been making a conscious effort to stay under the speed limit which can be 40/60kms per hour in built up areas and anything up to 100kms per hour in the countryside. We have encountered several places where the speed limit goes from 80 to 60 to 40 to even 20, in the space of 100m! This tends to be where the Police are waiting.
Getting back to our drive today, we reached the outskirts of Rabat, before turning south generally along the coast towards Casablanca along the A1 motorway and toll road before turning off to Casablanca.
Casablanca is a huge city of over 3.5 million people and is the largest city in Morocco. It oozes old world charm merged together with a modern feel. It is certainly very different to the other places visited so far. We both agree that it is a pity that we are only staying one night. We had arrived late afternoon so didn’t even manage to get out and have a half decent look, so no photos of the city.
We stayed at The Ibis Casablanca City Center which was very nice and incredible value at only £45 per night for a twin room in a major city centre. However the free parking consisted of abandoning the car directly outside the hotel where it was all very haphazard.
I have posted already about our night out at The Irish Bar and Rick’s Cafe. (Note: mainly pics which are in the gallery on the home page. The Irish pub famously didn’t have any Guinness!)
Day 12 -Saturday, 18th January 2025
Casablanca to Essaouira, Morocco
Kms today – 367
Total Kms – 2545
Fairly non descipt drive today mainly along the National Route N1. The route was mostly flat lands that seemed to extend for tens of miles. We started off through very fertile farm land before the soil started to get very arid. Again the countryside was filthy with discarded rubbish.
Towards the conclusion it got a bit more interesting as we drove through towns where the local markets were on and there was pandemonium on the main road with vehicles, donkey carts and pedestrians everywhere.
The accommodation Riad Dar Latifa in the Medina, was basic but nice. It had a nice bathroom arrangement where you could wave at all the other residents.
There was nothing to get over excited about in Essaouira so we called it a day at 21:00hrs and got an early night as we have another long drive tomorrow.
Day 13 -Sunday, 19th January 2025
Essaouira to Sidi Ifni, Morocco
Kms today – 413
Total Kms – 2958
It was a more interesting and scenic drive south today, mainly on the Route N1. We were routed through the small towns of Ghazoua, Smimou and Tafrat, before hitting the beautiful but wild beaches of Tamri Beach, Plage Tanane to name a few. In fact the N1 for the next 100kms or so, to Agidir, hugged the coastline giving us spectacular views of wild and undeveloped beaches and cliffs. The amount of Western European registered camper vans and motor homes, including Brits, indicated that many people come to this part of Morocco and enjoy the winter sun
We drove through Agidir, the largest city in southern Morocco. It has a population of over 900,000. In 1960 Agidir was almost totally destroyed by earthquake and was rebuilt about 2 miles to the south of its original position. That rebuilding continues today. Although we didn’t stop and drove straight through, you can tell that it is very modern. It also has urban beaches.
Agadir was about the halfway point of today’s drive and our projected arrival time at Sidi Ifni was 1830hrs, without any stops. So after a coffee on the southern outskirts of the city we cracked on towards Sidi. We passed to the north of Tiznit and arrived in Sidi on time.
Our accommodation really ‘flattered to deceive’! It was a brand new apartment block on three floors and we had the middle one. Two bedrooms, two bathrooms, kitchen, living room. Well, this building would never have passed a building inspectors test in the UK. Despite having a lighting setup in the bedrooms that could have doubled up as a brothel, there were wires sticking out of the walls, the taps were rusted up, the boiler was connected to a gas bottle, the cooking hob was old and the fridge and microwave filthy. Incredibly though, the marble work surface would have cost you at least £10000 in the UK.
It did however, offer us a view of a pleasant sunset.
In the evening we met up with some others from the Challenge who were staying in Sidi and had a few beers and a bite to eat.
Day 14 -Monday, 20th January 2025
Sidi Ifni to Tan Tan Plage, Morocco
Kms today – 220
Total Kms – 3178
Today was a relatively short and easy drive to Tan Tan Plage. We followed the recently constructed National Route N1 through the very arid landscape. This new duel carriageway road replaces the single track original N1 that in many places still exists and is used as a road to get into towns/villages that the new road by-passes. We aren’t quite in the Sahara Desert. But it isn’t far away.
This section of the N1 was only built a few years ago and is effectively the only way to drive south towards Western Sahara and Mauritania at speed.
The entire N1 runs from Tangier in the north to Guerguerat in the south and is 2,270kms long.
On this particular section, although duel carriageway, it is a spectacular road to drive as it carves through hills and valleys and is in excellent condition.
We arrived at our accomodation for the night, The Camping Hotel Atlantique. We had a 2 bedroom bungalow which was quite comfortable. The whole site is occupied by huge French and German motor homes, at least 80. Some of them are the size of buses and actually have garages to transport cars.
In the evening, after a lovely dinner cooked and prepared by one of the staff members, we went for a walk around the town. It was busy enough in the coffee houses but there wasn’t a bar serving beer anywhere. So we had an early night!
Day 15 – Tuesday, 21st January 2025
Tan Tan Plage, Morocco to El Marsa, Western Sahara
Kms today – 338
Total Kms – 3516
After a great breakfast supplied directly to our room, we left Tan Tan Plage and headed to El Marsa which is the port of the capital of Western Sahara, Laayoune, 25kms to the east.
We again followed the National Route 1 for most of today’s relatively short drive. We did turn off at Tarfaya to go and see the wreck of the Armas ferry Assalama, a ferry that ran between Tarfaya and the Canarian Island of Fuertenventura and breached on rocks 2kms south of the town in April 2008. However, it wasn’t where it was supposed to be according to Google Maps. In fact it wasn’t there – full stop. Research on Google failed to come up with the answer of ‘where was it now?’ There was some ‘chatter’ on Google about the Moroccan authorities wanting it to be removed as far back as 2019. It obviously has been removed. But where is a mystery!
We continued along the old NR 1 coast road which was a good quality single track road and saw Camels for the first time and there were hundreds of them.
We crossed the border from Morocco into Western Sahara in the early afternoon. The actual border was delineated by a ‘dirty board’ with no writing on it.
Although I won’t bore you with the history, Western Sahara is still considered by Morocco to be part of Morocco. However the United Nations regard it as a ‘non self governing territory’.
It’s all a very long story and if you are at all interested ‘Google’ it.
As far as I’m concerned it’s the third country we have visited on this trip!
The landscape today ranged between very arid to slight desert. We also followed the coast south on both roads and arrived at El Marsa at 15:00hrs.
We stayed at the Hotel Beauport in El Marsa which apart from the hotel in Casablanca, was the best we have stayed in after crossing The Straits of Gibraltar. After a few beers at the one and only bar that sold it in El Marsa, a bar named ‘Josefina’, we returned to the hotel and had a very good meal.
One final thing, for context as to where we currently are, we are now further south than The Canary Isles
Day 16 – Wednesday, 22nd January 2025
El Marsa to Dakhla, Western Sahara
Kms today – 542
Total Kms – 4058
After another really good breakfast at the hotel, we left El Marsa just before 09:00hrs for the longest drive of the trip so far south to Dakhla.
Again our route took us south along the National Route N1, although the new dual carriage part finished at Laayoune. There was plenty of evidence that preparations are well under way to dual this part of the road to almost the border between Western Sahara and Mauritania.
We were very close to the coast for the entire drive. Although there were patches of sand and sand dunes, the topography continued to be very flat and very arid.
The only place of note that we passed through today was Boujdour and only because we were checked going in by the Police and checked going out 5 minutes later.
I mentioned in an earlier post about the Moroccan Police having road and speed checks everywhere, even in the middle of nowhere. To date, I have been stopped once for speeding but got off with ‘words of advice’. Mark hasn’t been stopped at all. But it looks like we will get through the entire length of Morocco without any speeding fines.
Our destination for today was Dakhla which sits on the southern part of the Rió de Oro Peninsula of the Atlantic Ocean.
To get there we turned east off the NR1 onto the P1100. The views from the road of the Bahia de Dakhla (Bay of Dakhla) are stunning. There is massive development of hotels in the north end of the bay. Dakhla has an airport and new routes are being added all the time. On the northern outskirts of the city, thousands of building plots have been marked out. There has already been significant development and there are car show rooms everywhere. A brand new Port is also being developed and will be completed in 2028. It is tipped that Dakhla will be a very significant and important city in the future.
However……..our hotel, The Hotel Fyndy, was located in the south part of the city which was pretty run down! The hotel was fine and we even got a complementary breakfast which we weren’t expecting. But this part of the city really does need a ‘spruce up’.
But I have high hopes and a good feeling about Dakhla for the future.
Day 17 – Thursday, 23rd January 2025
Dakhla to Bir Gandouz, Western Sahara
Kms today – 311
Total Kms – 4369
We left Dakhla at about 08:45hrs and drove along the P1100 in the opposite direction to yesterday.
It was a good 40km distance to the NR1. We the headed south towards Bir Gandouz. But enroute we had a stop at 23.4394 degrees north of the Equator, The Tropic of Cancer. It was denoted by a very small, old and shabby signpost. There was however a bigger sign with an explanation about this Tropic and its position on Earth.
Other than by air, I have only ever crossed it once overland and that was in July 2012, whilst driving south through China.
After the obligatory photo shoot, we continued south along the NR1 very adjacent to the coast. We passed no significant towns. In fact all we drove through were a couple of very small villages.
This part of Western Sahara is really remote. The NR1 is the only road for 200kms that heads south. The landscape continues to be very arid, the beaches are empty and pristine and there are still hundreds, if not thousands of Camels.
The road surface continues to be generally excellent.
We reached our destination for the night, Hotel Barbas at Bir Gandouz. This was an obligatory stop on the ‘Challenge’ and all 35 teams arrived in ‘dribs and drabs.’ We arrived at 1500hrs and were about the 10th to arrive.
The Hotel Barbas is a well known spot to ‘Overlanders’, being the last large hotel before the Western Sahara/Mauritania border. However, it doesn’t make it good. It’s a dump!
We spent the evening relaxing, making sure the car was okay and getting to bed early. We have to be up early tomorrow for a 06:30hrs drive to the border 89 kms away.
Day 18 – Friday, 24th January 2025
Bir Gandouz, Western Sahara to Nouadhibou, Mauritania
Kms today – 157
Total Kms – 4526
We were up at 05:30hrs after a lousy nights sleep due to the constant sound of Dogs barking, cats screaming and donkeys ey-orring!
After a coffee we set off in convoy following a local policeman who had contacts at the border. When we reached the border we were led straight to the Moroccan border front. We arrived at about 08:00hrs but the border didn’t open until 09:00hrs.
When it did open there was a bit of a ‘pantomime’ with documents being taken and given back before we were allowed out of Morocco into a ‘no man’s land area’ of about 5kms which is full of land mines. Immediately after passing through the exit gate, the road surface changed from tarmac to a totally rutted and sandy road with sharp rocks sticking out and lots of deep potholes. We eventually reached the Mauritanian border and that’s where the fun and games really started.
Firstly we had to run the gauntlet of the money exchange men, then the phone SIM card men, then we had to hand our passports over together with a hard copy of our e-visa’s. These disappeared for an hour or so but Dahid, our Mauritanian ‘Fixer’ assured us that everything was okay. Then we were handed the passports and evisa copies back. Then we had to queue for another hour to have our photographs taken and fingerprints. Bearing in mind, we had already provided a photo when applying online for the evisa. Then we were sent to our cars to wait. After about 4 hours Dahid arrived at the group and gave us our passports and e-visa copies back. We were allowed to go before everyone else because the others have opted to do a 3 day desert drive. We decided that would be a step too far for our ‘Eddie’.
We left the border post by the Border access road and then turned west onto the N2 in the direction of the city of Nouadhibou.
We actually turned off the N2 well before Nouadhibou towards our stay for the night, The Villa Maguella.
Our accomodation and Nouadhibou are located on the Ras Nouadhibou, a peninsular that juts out into the Atlantic.
There were some very impressive Dutch and German motorhomes there who had travelled down from Europe and were on their way to Cape Town.
Now, they say things happen in 3’s!! Firstly, when we arrived at The Villa Maguela, they didn’t have my booking although I booked and paid for it via Airbnb 7 months ago and confirmed the booking even telling them what time we would be arriving. Apparently the bloke I was talking to lived in New York and the messages hadn’t been received in Mauritania!
Secondly, Mark fell up a step and caught his toe slicing it open.
Thirdly, 20 seconds later as I turned to get the 1st Aid out of the car, I head-butted the overhang on a detached section of a mobile home, cutting my forehead open. It initially bled like bloody hell.
All these 3 things were resolved by sorting a room out for both Mark and myself and a complimentary evening meal.
Both Mark and myself repaired ourselves although he has a sore toe and I’m going to have a big bruise in the morning.
The aforementioned meal hosted by Victor and Trish, was Camel Bolognaise and it was very tasty. We also had an enjoyable evening talking with other overlanders.
So all in all, an enjoyable evening.
TOTAL DISASTER. (FACEBOOK POST BY KEV 07:15 27.1.25 IMMEDIATELY POST ROBBERY ON 26.1.25)
NOTE: This entry appears out of sequence as all travel blog entries were posted one day later.
Unfortunately there will be abrupt halt to my Posts concerning the Challenge.
Mauritania isn’t the place to get robbed of most of your cash, cards and the most important thing of all, your bloody passport!
I spent most of yesterday at different Police Stations, and at 0500hrs this morning had to get up to go to the Central Police Station to collect an official report. So at least I can send it to a British Embassy and get either an emergency travel document or new passport.
This is probably one of the worst places in the world for this to happen. There is no British Embassy In Nouakchott and the nearest Consular assistance is in Senegal who deal with Brits in trouble in Mauritania.
I will be speaking to the FCO this morning about how I get repatriated.
Even using the mobile phone is difficult. No British company has a reciprocal agreement with a Mauritanian provider. So I am reliant on dodgy local SIM cards.
Mark, at my insistence will continue the journey by himself although it is mainly a group thing for the last 700kms into Banjul.
So my trip is over and I’m gutted!
But I’m safe and it could have been a lot worse. One of the managers at the hotel, Amin, has been a real star. He speaks perfect English and has been driving me all over the place trying to help. Without him, this whole disaster would have been very difficult to sort out.
Please don’t ask questions about how, where etc as I don’t feel like talking about it at the moment.
This post is for info only in case you wonder why I’ve gone quiet about the journey.
You never know, I might be laughing about this in a months time!!!
FOLLOW UP POST 18:53 27.1.25
Thank you everyone for your concerns and kind comments about my current predicament.
I appreciate and value every comment and reaction, it means a lot.
The latest……….
I have been in contact with the FCO several times and they advised me to apply for a ‘Emergency travel document’ (ETD) which in effect is a temporary passport that will enable me to get out of this hell hole and get back to the UK.
I have also spoken on the phone to the UK’s one and only diplomat in Mauritania. To be honest he wasn’t much help.
Tomorrow at 15:30hrs, I have a ‘Teams’ interview with a diplomat in Dakar, Senegal who will then decide if I can have the ETD. This should only be a formality.
The document will then be Fedex’d to me at the hotel and I should be good to go.
I can’t book any flights until I have got the document. The most likely route home will be a flight to Gran Canaria and then a RyanAir or Jet2 flight to Birmingham or East Midlands.
Initially I was going to try to catch up with ‘The Challenge’ in Gambia. But 24hrs on, all I want to do is get home to my family who are obviously upset about what has happened.
I am indebted to Amin, the Manager of the hotel I am stopping at, The Grand Plaza. He has put himself out for me more than he ever had to. Without him the task of reporting to the Police and other things such as purchasing SIM cards, and even extended hotel stay, would have been very difficult.
So Folks, I’m down. But not out!
Once again, Thankyou for your support and encouragement.
I’ve written this after the events of Sunday. But I want to keep the blog going to the end even if it is only Mark that is going to complete the Challenge.
DAKAR CHALLENGE 2025
Day 19 – Saturday, 25th January 2025
Nouadhibou to Nouakchott, Mauritania
Kms today – 477
Total Kms – 5003
After a nice cup of coffee we left Villa Maguella at around 09:15hrs and headed off towards Nouakchott, the capital of Mauritania.
We passed the Iron Ore railway that transports the mineral 704kms from the mining centre in the east of the country. The trains are an incredible 3kms long. Passengers can travel in the cars when emptied after leaving the port of Nouadhibou where the iron ore is deposited into boats for transportation all over the world but especially to China, USA, The Emirates, France and Spain.
Theres not really a lot to say about todays trip other than it was again through very arid and pre Saharan desert. The N2 road took us all the way through featureless countryside with very few towns or villages enroute.
Initially the road surface was fairly good. But 50 kms into the drive the road started breaking up pretty badly. But this was punctuated with sections of very good road surface. Fortunately, from about half way, the road greatly improved and we were able to make good progress.
We saw at least 4 recently overturned lorries and one jack knifed lorry. I would imagine that these accidents are due to loss of concentration by the drivers as no other vehicles appeared to be involved. It looked like all had run off the narrow road into the soft sand and had lost control.
We reached our accomodation for the next 2 nights, The Hotel Grand Plaza. At €37 per night, it’s quite good.
We ate at a Lebanese Restaurants in the evening called Fayrouz and it was excellent.
A quick update on what’s happened today in my ‘Repatriation’ saga.
Had video interview at 1530hrs to confirm identity. My heart missed several dozen beats when the video went blank after about 3 minutes. But the fault was at their end and communication was restored 10 minutes later.
ETD has been issued but has to be courier serviced from Dakar, Senegal. I have to wait for the British Embassy in Dakar to contact me in order for me to pay and make arrangements for where to deliver. This won’t be done until tomorrow as the Embassy closes at 1500hrs!!
I had to laugh when she said that I was only entitled to 3 of these documents in a year! I said that I’d had a passport for 50 years and had never lost one
So one more hurdle cleared before I can come home.
I’ve written this after the events of Sunday. But I want to keep the blog going to the end even if it is only Mark that is going to complete the Challenge. NOTE: This entry describes the circumstances of the robbery in Nouakchott
DAKAR CHALLENGE 2025
Day 20 – Sunday, 26th January 2025
Nouakchott, Mauritania
Kms today – 26
Total Kms – 5029
After breakfast at a restaurent next to the Hotel, we returned to the room to decide what we were going to do for the day.
We looked at Google for the top 5 things to do in Nouakchott. It quickly became apparent that there wasn’t a lot and after considering walking we settled on driving.
The first thing on the list was Port de Pêche, a fishing pier where all the fishing boats come into.
As we left, I grabbed my shoulder bag as I didn’t want to leave my passport and wallet in the room. Plus, if we got stopped at one of the many check points in the city it may have been a problem if I didn’t have my passport with me.
In the drive down there we were ‘gobsmacked’ by the state of the place and the cars. This part of city was just one big rubbish tip and the cars were literally falling apart and some were being held together by rope. The buildings weren’t much better and this whole part of the city was akin to being a nuclear wasteland!
When we reached Port de Pêche, it was closed!
As we were driving past the compound that leads into Port de Pêche, we saw a road that leads to an entrance to the beach. So we went to have a look.
Well the beach although beautiful was a tip due to all of the rubbish.
It was at this point that my trip was going to take a turn for the worst.
After the cursory look at the beach we began to walk back to our car, about 100 metres away. On our way a man passed in the opposite direction. He wished us bonjour and made the hand across the heart gesture. I now know that he made a u-turn as moments later I sensed someone behind me, immediately followed by my bag being forcefully grabbed. I turned to find the same man wielding a ten inch blade knife. He’d slashed through the webbing strap of my bag which was still over my shoulder and removed it. He then made off to the sand dunes with the bag containing my passport, credit cards and a quantity of cash.
Mark and myself started to pursue him. We both shouted ‘passport’ hoping that he may return at least that, but the man stopped and brandished the knife at us and then ran further into the dunes. Fearing that pursuing him could have ended up with one of us being stabbed, we returned to the car and then the hotel.
To cut a long story short, I went onto the Foreign and Commonwealth office (FCO) website to see what I needed to do. It took them 6 hours to reply to my email. In the meantime I saw the hotel Manager Amin who I had spoken to the previous night and told him what had happened. He spoke perfect English having studied in the USA. He stated that we needed to report it to the Police. In all honestly he took control of the situation because Police Stations in Nouakchott aren’t like the UK.
We got taken to one station that was just a dilapidated building with a sign in Arabic outside. When we went in, the place resembled a squat with men dressed in scruffy uniforms lying around on filthy mattrasses. Amin, the hotel manager, told them what the problem was and one of the cops started asking me questions through Amin. After 20 mins or so they decided that the station wasn’t in the right area to where I had been robbed. So we were directed to another area and a cop came with us. After a 10 minute drive, the cop received a phone call and we were turning around to go back to the original station. Apparently this was on the orders of a senior police officer. So further details were taken and then we took them to where it had happened. We searched the sand dunes for about an hour but there was no trace of my stuff. I was then told that the report would be sent to the Police HQ’s in the central part of the city. Some hours later Amin contacted me and said that we had to go to the Police HQ’s. When we got there, there were 4 cops laying around on grubby mattresses and one at a desk behind a dodgy looking computer. Again I was asked a few questions. Through Amin, I was told that Amin would be contacted in a few hours and told when to collect the report.
By this time it was about 20:00hrs. Amin suggested that we go for some food and we ended up at the same restaurent as the night before, Fayrouz.
On our return to the hotel I checked my emails and there was a mail from the FCO that someone would contact me in the morning.
It was then to be a waiting game. Having not heard anything from Police HQ’s we went to bed although I could hardly sleep.
(Kev’s Facebook post regarding help from Amin, the manager of the Grand Plaza Hotel – photo of Kev with Amin also in the gallery on the home page)
This man is Amin who I am proud to call a Friend. He didn’t have to involve himself in my catastrophe. But he did and without him this whole situation would have been 10 times harder to sort out and would have taken a lot longer. He has been a diamond. I shall probably never see him again but he will always be my Friend.
Unfortunately it looks like my Credit Card company have put a block on my card and I couldn’t get any money out of the ATM. I can’t use my UK number here so can’t even answer the probable text that says ‘Confirm your ID’.
He’s paid for 3 meals for me. Has contacted me everyday to check that I am okay. He has taken me everywhere I needed to go without hesitation.
Today I was ‘rocked’ by the chance that my Emergency Travel Document (ETD) might not arrive until Monday.
He insisted that I come out with him and after a great Indian meal, he took me to a Shisha bar where I have spent a really enjoyable afternoon smoking a few Shisha’s and having great conversation.
Together with other English speaking Mauritanians and a Somalian born woman who lives in London, we have talked about politics, religion, and other topical world subjects without anyone raising a voice or falling out. Believe me there were pretty opposing views on both sides with Amin siding with me. He could have caused a ‘shit storm’ when he declared that he supports Donald Trump!
A magnificent afternoon that will live long in the memory.
Thank you Amin.
I’ve written this after the events of Sunday. But I want to keep the blog going to the end even if it is only Mark that is going to complete the Challenge.
DAKAR CHALLENGE 2025
Day 21 – Monday, 27th January 2025
Nouakchott, Mauritania FOR ME
Nouakshott, Mauritania to St Louis, Senegal FOR MARK
Kms today – 345
Total Kms – 5374
At 05:00hrs I got a message via Amin, to collect the report. Mark and I went to Police HQ’s about 4kms away, and on going into the front compound, there was no security at all. I recognised the room off the compound we had previously been in and I knocked on the door and was allowed in. There were 3 cops lying asleep on the floor and an elder one who gave me the report.
We then returned to the hotel and Mark prepared himself to get on the road.
I then made the decision that I wasn’t going to try and catch up with the Challenge and that all I wanted to do was get home.
Mark departed at 08:00hrs to meet the others at The American Embassy where they would then go in convoy to the Mauritania/Senegal border at Diama.
I again contacted the FCO for further clarification of what I had to do.
I spent the day lazing around waiting for the FCO to contact me. At about midday when I had not received a call or email, I again emailed the FCO and asked them what was happening. They told me to apply for an Emergency Transit Document (ETD) straight away. I went online and within 30 mins had completed, uploaded a photo and paid. I was then directed to the British Embassy webpage in Dakar, Senegal, and told I had to book a ‘Teams’ video interview. The earliest one was 1530hrs tomorrow (Tuesday).
I also received an email from my insurers saying that I was covered for everything but I would have to pay out and claim back. We will see how that goes in the future!
Amin then contacted me and insisted that he take me out for some lunch. So we ended up at a steak house and I was able to pick up some money. Amin insisted on paying. He had been brilliant and I will always be indebted to him.
I returned to the hotel and just spent the evening laying in my bed reading before crashing out at around 22:00hrs.
From Mark –
‘Only arrived at Zebrabar at 10.30pm. Yesterday’s driving was the hardest of the trip. Diama border is approached by a 48km unmade road (that’s a loose description). Horrendous in a small car & hard in a 4×4. Some odd noises from the car now. I think the water pump may be on its way out but will investigate further when up & about. Hopefully can make it to the end with some coaxing. Room/chalet is very good. Gave side/daybed to Israel, the Spanish guy for somewhere to sleep as he had to sign his van & contents over to Dahid (The Mauritanian Fixer) in order to get out of the country (His car packed up in the desert). He was treated very badly by the Mauritanian customs at the border. When he couldn’t show his car documents they threw his passport on the floor & kicked it away (on their side of the counter). Much negotiation by Clemo (The Organiser of the Challenge) & new fixer to get him into Senegal.
Had a very late dinner and a few beers with the others. Got to bed around 1.45.’
I’ve written this after the events of Sunday. But I want to keep the blog going to the end even if it is only Mark that is going to complete the Challenge.
DAKAR CHALLENGE 2025
Day 22 – Tuesday, 28th January 2025
ME – Nouakchott, Mauritania
MARK – St Louis, Senegal
Kms today – 0
Total Kms – 5374
I didn’t go out at all today. I just wasn’t in the mood.
I waited around the room watching British TV on my phone, thank goodness I got that VPN just before Christmas.
The main event of the day was the video interview I was to have with a consular official regarding the issuing of an Emergency Transit Document (ETD).
The meeting was to be at 1530hrs by ‘Teams’.
At the above time I sat in front of my phone and switched the screen on, joined ‘a meeting’ and then waited a couple of minutes until the screen became live and I was talking to a Sara a Consular Official.
The questions began and it was just confirming the information I had put on my application. Then after 7 minutes the screen went blank! It remained blank for another 10 minutes until the interviewer appeared back on the screen, full of apologies. Whatever the fault had been, it had been at their end. After a few more questions she explained that ETD was the same as a passport but limited in its scope. It allows a person to return to their home country but that you could visit countries in between getting back home but not every country had signed up to the ETD. So basically I was told to plan my route back carefully.
Sara then told me she had authorised the document and that she would instruct the Embassy in Dakar to issue the ETD and that they would contact me shortly.
I asked if that would be today and she replied that it would be more than likely tomorrow (Weds) morning.
Mark is at the Zebrabar, near to St Louis in northern Senegal. He has checked over ‘Eddie’ and made sure that the car is okay after yesterday’s torrid drive to the border in Mauritania.
The Zebrabar is a famous stop-off point for ‘Overlanders’ in West Africa, a place I was really looking forward to visiting.
I’ve written this after the events of Sunday. But I want to keep the blog going to the end even if it is only Mark that is going to complete the Challenge.
DAKAR CHALLENGE 2025
Day 23 – Wednesday, 29th January 2025
ME – Nouakshott, Mauritania
MARK – St Louis to Toubakouta, Senegal
Kms today – 371
Total Kms – 5745
There were a couple of things of note from my perspective.
Firstly, after waiting all morning for ‘the phone call’ from Dakar, Senegal about my ETD, that never happened, I emailed the FCO and asked what was going on. Laid it on really thick, mental health being severely affected blah, blah, blah!
About 12:30hrs I got a phone call from Ali, our one and only diplomat in Mauritania, to state that he had been in contact with Dakar, Senegal and had been assured that my ETD was going to be posted today.
I asked how long it would take and Ali replied 3 days. I enquired about a premium delivery service and I was happy to pay. He said that he would get back to me.
Half an hour later Ali is back on the phone. It will take 3 days and it could arrive Friday and then pause…. or it could arrive Monday. I was incredulous. I asked about a premium delivery service. However, because of the route it takes and there being no direct DHL flights from Dakar to Nouakchott, there was no premium service.
There was a long silence whilst I was taking it all in. But you can’t beat this type of bureaucracy.
Ali obviously has no influence over anything. I would imagine that he is a newly qualified diplomat and that Nouakchott is his first posting as a tester!!
He did offer to come out and see me but I said that I didn’t see any point as there wasn’t anything he could do.
So, it’s a waiting game now.
Amin came to see me in the afternoon and took me out into what was a brilliant afternoon/early evening. I’ve already posted about that so I won’t repeat myself.
Meanwhile, Mark had a long drive from The Zebrabar at St Louis to Toubakouta.
Mark drove in convoy with others to Toubakouta along mainly local roads with a short section of toll motorway near Doura.
Mark decided against staying in Somone where we had originally booked, to get closer to the Senegal/ Gambia border. He stated that Senegal is a ‘mixed bag’ with high end luxury alongside Moroccan style poor village life with donkey carts etc and that it has more of an African vibe with more colourful dress, particularly the women. There were not so many woman wearing the head coverings as you get in the previous visited Muslim countries and everything was carried on their heads and babies swaddled on mother’s backs. There was a lot more evidence of the African diet in the farming and fields of maize, yams etc because the soil is more fertile.
Mark stayed at luxury accommodation tonight costing a whopping €100 per person. The place was called Les Paletuviers Boutique Hotel
(Note: The hotel was chosen as a last resort as the accommodation booked by another member of the convoy turned out to be a total flea pit. Eight of the ten members in the convoy opted for the hotel).
Day 24 – Thursday, 30th January 2025
ME – Nouakshott, Mauritania
MARK – Toubakouta, Senegal to Banjul, The Gambia
Kms today – 67
Total Kms – 5812
Another non-descript day for me. After going to the cafe close to the hotel, I just remained in my hotel room and did some reading. Although half tempted to look at flights out of here and back home, it is pretty pointless until I have the ETD in my hand.
Amin took me out in the afternoon for a bite to eat and as much as I like his company and his sunny disposition on life, I really wanted to be by myself. He totally understood.
Mark had a pretty horrendous day!
After a short drive to the Senegal/ Gambia border at Karang, all the cars queued up to get on the Barra ferry that takes you the 6.3kms across The Gambia Delta to Banjul.
All the cars were supposed to be travelling together. However, in the usual chaos and disorganisation associated with this part of the world, only 20 cars managed to board. Mark wasn’t lucky and he had to remain waiting for the next ferry a couple of hours later.
Although there is a schedule for the ferry, that means nothing in this part of the world. The 35 minutes between sailings can drag into hours and unfortunately for Mark, this is what happened.
Mark and 3 other vehicles failed to get onto the next ferry, although 11 vehicles did. Mark and the others were ousted when a convoy of Land Cruisers came from nowhere and muscled its alway to the front of the queue, no doubt aided by a ‘back hander’!
So Mark and the other 3 had to wait for another couple of hours for the next ferry to come and this time they were successful on getting on.
A short time later Mark was at the finish line and was actually the last to cross.
But Mark got ‘Eddie’ to the final destination and that was the objective. Congratulations Mark.
Gutted not have been with him, but sometimes life has a different plan and it wasn’t meant for me to go the whole way.
Day 25 – Friday, 31st January 2025
ME – Nouakshott, Mauritania
MARK – Banjul, The Gambia
This is the final blog post about ‘The Challenge’ Itself.
I’ve already posted about not receiving my Emergency Travel Document today. I’m disappointed but philosophical about it.
Mark, had a quiet day in Banjul and booked his return flight home which now ‘bizarrely’ means that he will be arriving home before me. In fact as I write this, he is now actually home.
I wouldn’t have put any money on the that happening at the beginning of the week.
The car was handed over complete with spares, toolkits and other miscellaneous item. Hopefully it will be put to good use.
The final figures were 35 cars entered, 32 cars completed, 2 were wrecked in the desert but were either towed or low loaded, all the way from Mauritania to Banjul, 1 car was written off and officially scrapped in Mauritania.
And finally, all contestants made it…………..APART FROM ME
FACEBOOK POST BY KEV 13:44 3.2.25
At last – It’s arrived and it’s not leaving my side!
Delivered personally by the Deputy Ambassador of the British Embassy of Mauritania (although officially we don’t have one).
I had a good long chat with her and mentioned that the Crime Report doesn’t mentioned the sizeable cash or the Credit Cards that were stolen.
She took a copy and then came back to me 30 mins later to say that what I thought was the crime report is in actual fact a declaration that I’d lost my passport.
So the DA is picking me up at 09:30hrs tomorrow to take me to the Police Station, with an interpreter, to resolve the issue. They may have been slow to start with but things are moving forward and with purpose now.
The ‘upshot’ is that I won’t be flying out of here tonight or tomorrow. But I will fly to Dakar, Senegal on Wednesday, and have 2 nights in Dakar. Originally Mark and myself were going to have 4 nights in Dakar before flying home.
I will then continue with my original flight home on Friday evening arriving at Manchester, via a short stopover in Madrid, on Saturday morning where my youngest will pick me up and take me home.
FACEBOOK POST BY KEV 12:49 5.2.25
Well, I’m on my way out of here after 13 nights in Nouakchott, 11 nights longer than I had planned to stay.
I’m indebted to Amin, the hotel manager, who helped me massively in my hour of need.
I’m also grateful to Suzanne White, the British Foreign Ambassador, who sorted out a major problem for me.
- Q) When is a crime report of robbery not a crime report?
- A) When it’s nothing more than a declaration that I had ‘lost’ my passport.
Together with Suzanne and an interpreter, we attended Radio Mauritanie, which doubles as the Direction Générale de la Sécurité Nationale (General Directorate of National Security), for what turned out to be an exhibition of the epitome of inefficiency!
We were initially fobbed off and told that they couldn’t issue a crime report as no robbery had been reported for a couple of weeks in Nouakchott! One way of keeping crime numbers down, I suppose.
But Suzanne wasn’t going to let that go. She asked to speak to the Director General.
After five minutes or so, we were led down a corridor into a big grand office. Behind a huge desk sat the Director General, resplendent in his finest African-style uniform, complete with a large row of medals across his chest. A handshake for the male interpreter and me. But just a nod for Suzanne.
Suzanne spoke to him in French, and he listened intently.
He then made three or four phone calls, shouting down the phone each time. I later learned he was tearing a few people a new arsehole!
I also found out later that he was both embarrassed and apologetic. He had given strict instructions for the report to be done.
After handshakes and a cup of sugary Mauritanian tea, we returned to the original station where I had reported the robbery on Sunday, 26th January. Half an hour later, we left with a full report in hand.
So, thank you to Suzanne and the British Embassy in Mauritania (which doesn’t officially exist—long story) for sorting this out.
I’m now about to catch a flight to Dakar, Senegal. I had been looking forward to this part of the trip before the events that left me marooned in Mauritania. But everything has fallen into place, allowing me to spend my final two nights in Dakar.
As for the bloke who stole my money, in all likelihood, he will have been traced by the police, through threats, intimidation, and beatings by the same officers I originally reported the robbery to. He would then have been forced to hand over the stolen money to them, and they would have kept it. It’s The Mauritanian way!
The fate of the robber? With a bit of luck, he’ll be buried in a remote part of the sand dunes, never to see the light of day again!
FACEBOOK POST BY KEV 16:08 6.2.25
After a 9km yomp, there and back, to get there in 26°c temperatures, I am pleased to say that it was worth the effort.
This spectacular monument was built in two years between 2008 and 2010 and is one of many monuments in Africa to herald a new era of African Renaissance.
African Renaissance is the notion that Africa can promote cultural revival, economic growth, unity, and self-reliance which in turn will make Africa prosperous, empowered, and globally influential.
The monument is bronze measuring 52m (171ft) in height. It can be seen from miles around and is quite striking in appearance when first seen. It shows a family drawn up towards the sky, the man carrying his child on his biceps and holding his wife by the waist. The child is pointing to the sky.
There is a lift inside that takes you to various floors where there is a museum to the African people. The top floor of the lift takes you to a viewing gallery inside the man’s hat.
It was surprisingly built by North Korea!
I also managed to get a few photographs of the western side of the city and some donkey cart action on the roads.
Dakar is the capital of Senegal and has a population of 1.2m. It is located on the Cap-Vert peninsula and is the most western point of Africa
FACEBOOK POST BY KEV 20:51 7.2.25
Well folks, I’m in the Business class lounge and enjoying the benefits. Flight is in a little over 2 hours and I look forward to stretching out on my seat that will fold flat and getting some ‘shut-eye.’
(Here are a few photos from the chaotic, but memorable city of Dakar. I’ve been wanting to come here for years and 48 hours hasn’t been enough. Note: See gallery)
It’s a fun city, caught between two two worlds. Being 97% Islamic, traditions are followed but not in a strict sense. It is secular and westerners are made to feel welcome and there is always a smile on peoples faces. French is the official language but away from Dakar only 20% of the population speak it. English is fairly understood in the city.
It is a developing city with hundreds of large infrastructure projects such as road building and huge buildings. It was interesting to see that although the labour was being carried out by the locals, all the supervision and direction was being done by Chinese people, or maybe North Korean because they too have a footprint here.
I loved the place. Do I love it enough to come back? Yes probably.
FACEBOOK POST BY KEV 11:04 8.2.25 FINAL ENTRY OF THE BLOG
Have arrived back in Blighty.
Flights were not quite the full buiness class experience I was expecting. But I got more than my monies worth. The seats are premium economy at best. But you do get better quality food, more attentive service and proper cutlery. So definitely worth paying the extra but a long way from a true business class experience. The lounge at Madrid for the 5 hour stopover was a godsend and enabled me to get some sleep.
Just waiting on my daughter Camille coming to pick me up to ship me back to Nottingham and home.
BTW – It’s bloody freezing!
And 'Eddie' now lives in The Gambia!!!!
