Batch 31 — The Great Sojourn — theNOSTOMANIAC.com

177 - Mauritanian Windmill (Tunis, Tunisia)

DON QUIXOTE HAD WINDMILLS. WE HAD THE MAURITANIAN EMBASSY. Decision time. Go east or west? Our first choice was Libya, but the embassy wouldn’t see fit to grant anything greater than a three-day transit visa. (Keep in mind, this was when Libya had an actual government and before someone sodomized Gaddafi with a bayonet.) This would not do. We wanted to experience Libya, not blast though like contestants on the Amazing Race. The ideal plan was to spend weeks there, confirming or dispelling our limited (and likely biased) misconceptions of a world pariah. After that, we’d take Egypt, the land of the pharaohs, by storm, going neck-deep in all kinds of archeological and anthropological nerd shit…Read More

Tunisia, Batch 31by Mr. Nos T. O'maniacNovember 21, 2019Tunisia, Tunis, MAURITANIAN EMBASSY

178 - Visa Confirmation And Bus Ride Titillation (Casablanca to Dakhla)

We filled out the forms littered with ridiculous questions (e.g. the last ten countries visited), paid the fee (340 dirhams), and were told to return at 2:00 pm that day. Although we'd requested six weeks, we received the standard one-month tourist visa. Our visa began the day of our application, instead of the day we entered Mauritania. I guess they assumed we all possessed the power of teleportation. We didn't. Bastards.

Nothing titillates my tits more than the prospect of thirty hours on a bus from Casablanca to Dakhla in the Western Sahara. We could’ve split the journey into legs…

Morocco/Western Sahara, Batch 31by Mr. Nos T. O'maniacNovember 20, 2019Morocco, Rabat, Casablanca, Western Sahara

179 - The Tweedles (Dakhla to Nouadhibou — Western Sahara/Mauritania)

Off we went. My visa anecdote sent tremors of foreboding across the Tweedles' faces. They were lost in a flurry of circumspection. Meanwhile, poor Leslie was the proverbial meat in the Tweedle sandwich, squashed between the big-boned dynamic duo. As for me, I sat shotgun and let my thoughts wander along the desolate landscape characterizing Western Sahara.

Every so often, we’d stop at a Moroccan security checkpoint where our driver would conduct high-level talks that always resulted in a bribe. I only had his word, but this is the modus operandi in those parts…

Batch 31, Mauritania, Morocco/Western Saharaby Mr. Nos T. O'maniacNovember 19, 2019Western Sahara, Mauritania

180 - Mauritania Timeline

3rd-7th centuries AD - Berber and Arab migrants arrive in present-day Mauritania.

9-10th centuries - Empire of Ghana has its capital in present-day south-west Mauritania.

1076 - Berber Almoravid warriors defeat the Empire of Ghana.

1500s - European mariners and traders establish settlements.

1644-74 - Mauritanian Thirty-Year War: Berbers unsuccessful in repelling Arab warriors.

1850s-60s - French forces gain control of southern Mauritania. In 1898 France wins the allegiance of Moors in the region.

1904 - France establishes Mauritania as a colonial territory.

Batch 31, Mauritaniaby Mr. Nos T. O'maniacNovember 18, 2019Mauritania

181 - The Elusive Cap Blanc (Nouadhibou, Mauritania)

After some signature indecisiveness, we settled on an auberge (French for “inn”), but not before our taxi driver ferried us around town longer than he might’ve hoped. My sympathy evaporated when I discovered he’d screwed us bounteously before parting. He was “kind” enough to exchange our dirhams (Morocco) for ouguiya (Mauritania) at, unbeknownst to me, a preposterously low rate. Wait, a random taxi driver isn't the best place to exchange money? Who’d a thunk it?

No excuses. We were tired and stupid and couldn't be bothered to give a shit. Not knowing the exchange rate and arriving on a weekend did nothing to assist our cause…

Batch 31, Mauritaniaby Mr. Nos T. O'maniacNovember 17, 2019Mauritania, NOUADHIBOU, downward facing dog, Cap Blanc, Ras Nouadhibou

182 - Oh, Fate, You Fickle Beeotch (Nouadhibou, Mauritania)

We liked flexibility, but Ahmed couldn’t quite wrap his mind around the fact we weren’t sure how many days we might require his services. We wanted freedom. He wanted specifics. His personality contradictions were too numerous to track, and we couldn't decide if he was deliberately evasive or if cultural and language barriers were to blame. A week after returning from the sandbox, we still didn't know. He would turn out to be an indecipherable enigma, as well as a bit of a conniver.

After throwing around possible itineraries and itemizing costs, we told Ahmed we had to mull it over. So, we mulled and mulled…

Mauritania, Batch 31by Mr. Nos T. O'maniacNovember 16, 2019NOUADHIBOU, Mauritania