30.Jan.10Nouakchott, MauritaniaI'm in the capital of Mauritania, Nouakchott, and despite my horrible ~2 hours or so sleep last night in the Nouadhibou camp's tent (mosquitos biting all night, Jan's snoring, some French guy bumping into me while rearranging his mat twice, and some crazy TV/radio rock concert blaring from nearby), I'm tenting it again at the Aubuerge campsite here - the single room is too expensive, and I have to be very conservative with money while in Mauritania, as I read there are no internationally-working ATMs and I have a limited supply of cash (this isn't a place I fancy being stranded!). This morning with the Dutch humanitarians, I rode in Conrad's (younger Canadian) car, and for the group it took a bit to make it out of Nouadhibou - couple wrong turns (one leading to the slums),

but eventually got on our way. Mauritania's landscape is quite amazing - sometimes flat as a pancake with a few scruff trees off in the distance (5 km away? 10 km?.. difficult to say),

sometimes spectacular rolling sand dunes.

I think anyone traveling alone along this road, they better have plenty of petrol and water, because neither show up for 100km stretches at a time (fortunately, we all had plenty of both). Along the way we got to see the Zouerat-Nouadhibou iron ore train, at 2.3km's, the world's longest,

and after a while when we stopped along the side of the road so Chirak could talk to some locals who were erecting a TV/radio tower, but meanwhile all that is happening with the 3 other vehicles is being harassed for food and money, so there was a kind of coup d'etat and all 3 other cars started driving away (and at a more reasonable 110 km/hr pace to make up some time), taking the lead. Made it here this afternoon fortunately still with daylight, said goodbye and thanks to the humanitarian group, now off to bed (hoping mosquito-free with the nets provided).
31.Jan.10
Heading out in a bit to watch the final match of the Africa Cup of Nations football, Egypt vs. Ghana. I can't believe this will be the last match! Funny, I have no idea who is in the NFL playoffs back home, but can list the results of the Africa Cup finals the past round. So today, I spent a while wandering around the center of Nouakchott, visited the Grande Marche, and feeling this city is about as African as it gets - dirty, sand everywhere, broken-down looking cars, people's head wrapped entirely in cloth and sunglasses to block out the sun and blowing sand.

Mauritania, and specifically here in Nouakchott, seems to be a real cross-road between the Arabic north, and the Black south - very integrated here. And also super-friendly - very helpful people, like the woman working in the post office who wouldn't let me pay for a stamp to mail off my postcard. Very refreshing experience coming from Morocco! Later, I took a "taxi" (all cars here are potential taxis... just hold out your hand to any car passing by your direction and haggle on a price) to the Port de Peche on the coast, and spent some time watching the busy fish market,

and the hundreds of boats being brought in with the day's catch. Awesome!

1.Feb.10
Today was all about relaxing - after visiting the unspectacular national museum,

spent majority of the time in a hotel cafe with wifi and got caught up with the family on Skype calls. What to do now with no bar and no Africa Cup of Nations to watch??
2.Feb.10
Touba, Senegal
Its midnight and I'm on the building rooftop of a Senegalese family (actually, I think many families) home, laying on a mattress under a millions stars with my headlamp torch, and listening to different groups of people on the streets below still singing/chanting religious songs. Awesome! So this morning back in Nouakchott, took a taxi from the city center to the "station" Rosso, where I caught one of the barely functioning, decades-old sept-place (seven place) taxis cram people in (the makeshift rear bench for 3 is hardly what one would call "roomy"), and traveled to the border town of Rosso. Two Senegalese guys also in the sept-place and I, shared a horse-drawn taxi cart

to the border checkpoint, and were helping me to navigate through the hoards of scammers and hasslers in order to get my exit stamp and board the ferry to cross the Senegal River. One of the guys, M'baye, kept telling me (in broken English) I needed to come with him to Touba, as there is a big festival happening over the next 1.5 days. I planned only to go to Saint Louis, as I am without cash and need to get to a functioning ATM. But he convinced me, "No money. Everything in Touba during Grand Magal gratis! Food. Drink. Bed - all gratis!" Well, I never heard of this place nor the festival before, but there is a blurb mention of it in my guidebook (held annually 48 days after the Islamic New Year to celebrate the return from exile of the founder of the Mouride Islamic brotherhood, Cheikh Amadou Bamba), so figured I may as well go... after all, to me, this is what traveling is all about! So without any money I go with this stranger to the sept-place "station" on the Senegalese side of Rosso. Already I'm feeling a completely different atmosphere in Senegal - lively and loud. The crammed, falling apart sept-place was a really uncomfortable, although entertaining, ride to Touba: M'baye spent nearly the entire ride debating with the other male passengers in their native Wolof language, while the woman sitting next to me was breast-feeding her child uncovered (while the kid just kept slapping the boob). So we arrive in Touba this evening and the place is just crazy - thousands of people roaming around, everyone is decked-out in really nice outfits, music blaring, car & horse carts all over riding in the dirt roads.

We arrive at his Uncle's home with dozens of relatives who I'm introduced to, I'm trying my best to hold conversations in French! Showered, relaxed on the rooftop here, and then they brought up dinner - which was a large tray filled with hunks of beef, rice and vegetables. Plates? Silverware, napkins? Uh, no - bare hand (right only) digging-in, tearing apart the beef from the bone and scooping rice, shoving it in your mouth. In a helpful gesture(?), M'baye and others are tearing apart pieces of beef for me. OK, so I realize that this family is living the traditional way when it comes to hygiene - squatter toilets without flush (bucket you fill with water for that), and no toilet paper - so when you're finished with the restroom, you wipe (again, no toilet paper) with your left hand, and use your right hand to pour water and "wash" the left (I don't think the traditional style uses soap for that). So, I already knew all this, but this was the first time I've ever seen actually practiced where your left hand isn't supposed to touch anything or anyone, ever (understandably). Of course with my anal-retentiveness, it is little comfort, so I'm doing my best to block out the thoughts and figure, well, I haven't eaten yet today and completely starved, so just chowed.
3.Feb.10
I am sitting on a dirty mattress, under a tree with some sheets hung up to block out the blazing afternoon sun in some large, dusty lot with a bunch of house wall foundations 1/2 way built (doubt if they'll ever be finished).

There are groups of younger people all around, and everyone (except me!) is smoking hashish. And this is how I've spent many hours this afternoon. But so this morning after minimal sleep on the rooftop (with the loud singing/chanting going on all night and the mattress I slept on being shared with 2 of M'baye's cousins (the young kid in the middle who kept kicking me), we had breakfast. Corn flakes? Omelette? Ah, no - large tray with hunks of beef, rice and vegetables, again eaten with the right hand. We also had tepid coffee, I'm sure made with water right from the tap. I'm thinking to myself, "If I don't get violently ill after this experience, it will be a miracle!". So I'm given this colorful "Gnakhasse", traditional Senegalese outfit, and M'baye and his other friend (or "brother", as everyone calls everyone else) head into town. As we leave, I'm looking at them both with their pants tucked into 2 layers of socks, and we're walking outside, so I ask, "Uh, where are your shoes?", to which M'baye responds, "No, I do not like shoes." Ok then, they're walking around the dirt road town in their socks. So we take the ubiquitous horse-drawn taxi cart to get into town center, we walk around the streets crammed with thousands of people - the majority of men, I notice, also not wearing shoes, only socks. Socks! This is just crazy, I'm thinking. There is music blaring, people singing (or actually shouting, the "la la LA LA la" song, as I call it),
and vendors selling all kinds of stuff. Being the only white person, I'm getting plenty of stares, but everyone is super friendly - so many times we stop to meet people and are greeted in the traditional way (shaking hands and touching the other's hand to your forehead). We make our way to the Grande Mosquee, which despite all the mosques I've seen before, is still quite impressive to me.

We next go to some religious figure's house, and M'baye and his friend are on their knees bowing in front of this guy like he's some bishop or someone pretty important and start conversing. Well, I just kind of sit down next to them (I forego the bowing), and don't know what they're discussing but it seems like M'baye is maybe asking for forgiveness or a favor/blessing. So the bishop, as I call him, is shaking his head, and eventually we are lead to the head, top dog religious leader, the Cherif, and invited in his home - apparently this man has more influence and power than Senegal's president! So the two guys, and even the bishop, are all bowing in front of this Cherif. So I'm just sitting around and M'baye introduces me, and the Cherif, who speaks some English and is really interested in my story, asks me to sit next to him to discuss global events and drink lots and lots of coffee. We're there a while, and different groups of people keep approaching him to receive blessings (I think), all the while he keeps talking to me, occasionally throwing out a riddle or two (which I always guess the incorrect answer!), and more coffee and tea (possibly about 10 glasses by the time we leave).

I think he took a special liking to me since I was so casual about meeting him - I mean, I never heard of him before and its certainly not my religion, so I'm just chatting with him as another person and thankful he speaks English. Really nice man and completely humble considering how much influence he has (I think his son, who I also met, is a bit high on himself). He encourages me to walk around and take pictures... the locals are of course reluctant, until they're told that the Cherif said it was OK!

So we finally leave and head to this dirty lot, and I am trying to understand some of the blessing/foregiveness M'baye was asking for, as his English is very limited, but I'm pretty sure now I understand he was just recently in a Moroccan prison for possession - ok then! And now we're sitting in this lot and he's smoking hash all day - I mean, we've been here for hours. I understand (or so I'm told) that its legal here, but still have the feeling the groups here are reclusive/hidden for a particular reason. And now I was told that we're staying up all night, because the song and dance climax of the festival doesn't happen until 5 or 6 AM! Well, its a good thing I didn't pay for a hotel room.. Meanwhile, lunch and now dinner have been, unsurprisingly, large trays of beef, rice and vegetables.
4.Feb.10
Saint Louis, Senegal
Long, long night last night and day today. I am checked in the really nice hostel here in Saint Louis, looking forward to a mosquito-netted bed and some sleep. So, sure enough, stayed awake the entire night last night - which was really cool to see the climax of the festival, between 05:00 - 07:00, but the midnight through 05:00 hours were spent sitting around that dirt lot with a bunch of hashish smokers - I got up and wandered around a few times, but not knowing anyone except M'baye, and himself not going anywhere, didn't venture too far. But the festival climax did make the whole experience worth it - dozens of groups dancing and singing,

with the Cherif again extending preferential treatment, with endless cups of coffee and asking me to sit next to him. So afterwards, I say goodbye to the other pilgrims and Cherif and M'baye and I head back a long long walk to his Uncle's place, where I bid thanks and farewell to him and his family, for a truly unique and unforgettable experience. I head over to the lot of sept-places, one of which is bound for Saint Louis. Well, I am the first guy there so score the coveted shotgun seat. But 3 hours pass, and still no one else shows up (sept-places only leave when full) - the driver offers to take me direct right there and then for 30,000 CFA - around US $60. As an individual seat sells for 5,000 CFA, I said "No way" and stuck it out. Well finally another car in front of mine goes ahead to consolidate, and I end up getting stuck in the middle third row - and this turned out to be one of the worst 3-hour rides ever! The space between the 3rd and second benches was so small I couldn't even fit my feet in, so my legs are curled up to my chest. And the beat old wagon starts overheating, so the driver has to turn on the rear defog air - hot air. And it is blowing right on my head. Seriously, so miserable was this ride that all I could do was laugh! Finally arrived in the very quaint, historic (first French settlement in Africa) island-town of Saint Louis, and already really like this place - looking forward to seeing it tomorrow!
5.Feb.10
Yes, I really like it here in Saint Louis! Old colonial buildings, calm and (for the most part) scammer-free atmosphere - and plus lots of good places for cafe au laits in the morning and beers at night - today I took advantage of both! So after breakfast, wandered around the small mini-Manhattan looking island and just enjoyed the atmosphere. Plenty of nice architecture to scope out,

and I headed down to the southern tip of the island for a tour around the museum (not the greatest, but nice enough to escape the blazing sun for a couple hours).

Now after happy hour at a riverside bar, showered and heading out to a live-music venue down the street - great day!