The Atlantic route

[islendingurinn]

Can anyone tell me what the Atlantic route through Sahara is like? How long does it take to drive it and are there some safe places on the way to camp?

We are planning to drive down to Guinea-Bissau in september in shortest possible time. We have three kids so we also want to take the safest route.

[dathaifrench]

Atlantic Route is not so much through the Sahara as around it.
Quite safe and straightforward but the border at Mauri-Senegal
at Rosso is a bit dodgy (ie corruption)
Use Diama Dam border crossing to the west instead.

Some pics of a 2005 trip down to Guinea Bissau are at
http://www.motorcycleoutreach.org/MMRPictures.html

Casamance in Senegal was fine when I went through it.

[dathaifrench]

2nd attempt to get the actual questions ...

How long to drive it ?
All depends on what you call the start and end point
and of course miles per day plus allow a few hours for each
border.

In general from Tan Tan south to Senegal is just empty road
so an easy week from Morocco to Senegal. All depends on
your style of travel but with kids I'd assume they're rather
stop occasionally.

I camped off the road a bit without problems but mostly stayed in
cheap hotels on the route.

[airamerica]

Can you tell us something about this hotels? Positions, price, condition?
Thank you

[roro]

About driving on this road , be very careful : Through southern Morocco the road becomes very narrow AND straight , so many drivers are going very fast especially truck drivers ;
The actual danger comes when one of them becomes sleepy because it's almost impossible to avoid the accident : you can go on shoulders of this very narrow road only if your speed is not very high.
No problem to find bivouacs in this area (some of them close to the ocean).
RR.

[islendingurinn]

Thank you so much for your answers
We are planning to do Morocco to Bissau in three weeks, it sounds like that´s a good time plan.
Would you recommend camping on the way or staying in hotels? We are used to camping life, so I´m more thinking about security wise.

[roro]

Through Morrocco and Mauri. , I recommand camping .
But in "big" towns like El Layoun or Nouakchott a good hotel is not so bad !
Senegal , I don't know this country .
RR

[Tim Cullis]

You need to allow two hours minimum to cross borders between Western Sahara and Mauri and between Mauri and Sénégal. Other than that, the roads are straight and smooth with a speed limit of 100 kph. Many people go faster than this, but even with 100 kph speed you will average 90+ kph (plus stops).

I have a blog at There and Back Again which describes my trip.

Don't miss
- Legzira beach camping (between Mirleft and Sidi Ifni): N29 26.750 W10 07.008
- Gouffre d'Akhfenir (sea arch), just north of Akhfenir: N28 06.420 W12 02.280
- Le Roi Bedouin campsite (between Tarfaya and Layoune): N27 27.763 W13 03.934

There are some great wild camping locations on the way onto the Dahkla peninsula at N23 54.211 W15 47.322 and N23 49.868 W15 51.885

In Noukchott I used Auberge Sahara, though it's non too clean: N18 06.158 W15 59.830

Just before Rosso at N16 30.905 W15 48.785 take the piste towards N16 30.628 W15 49.174 for Diama which is about 70 miles on dirt. Keur Massene Lodge is a possible stopping point en route at N16 33.240 W16 14.223

Tim

[Jose Brito]

One last thing:
Bush camping in Western Sahara is OK north of Dakhla. South of the crossroad to the Dakhla peninsula there is the risk of mines. Lots of panels indicate this along the road.
Thus, south of Dakhla, I advise you not to leave the paved road; if you do so, then follow clear and well marked tracks. This warning is especially important close to the border with Mauritania.

Happy travel!
José