Awoke this morning beside the frontier but the policeman we had spoken to was nowhere to be seen so we breakfasted and then felt bad and joined the end of the queue that had developed whilst we ate and packed away. At about 9.10 he saw us and waved us through the queue as a unit and we began the waiting game! Hand in passports and whilst they telex all our details to ‘HQ’ we wait. Collect in the vehicle documents, queue and the give little presents to all!! Next on to the border guards, all the car drivers had to and meet a man under a tree in the shade behind a wall to fill in details yet again….. And at last we were off into no man’s land off road in the sand, the boys were happy but no sooner had we radioed to ask Glen and James if drivers were unsure.. they got stuck in the sand! Fighting off guides on all fronts we drove on through and even did a good turn by towing out a car that had clearly rolled. Less difficult at the Mauritania border but more ‘helpers’ which got quite stressful. We managed the frontier formalities and visas and car insurance but the day was largely gone! We set off only to be stopped by very aggressive police controls and we got just a little exasperated.
Finally got a few miles under our belts and headed for a well known nature reserve at speed. Got local directions and finally found our way. Again sorted the entry fees to the park and was adopted by a lovely local a guide included in the price of camping. Great fun was had by all off road driving in the sand but sadly Steve’s motor overheated and has blown it’s header tank. Limped to an isolated camp dune and now need to return to the garage tomorrow early to get replacement parts rather than towards the beach to watch the birds. Our guide remains with us to eat and sleep but there are still some tensions in the group. A good night’s sleep may help.
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