I’ve tried last 1st February to pass across the Bir Mogrein – Galtat Zemmour border, unsuccessfully… We were three bikers, coming from Zouerat to Bir Mogrein and here no problems at all with the Mauritanian police / military. They stamped our passports but advised us that a sarahaui control post was established last year somewhere in the ‘no men land’ after Mauritania. In fact 4 kms after pass the border line indicated in Mapsource, five or six armed soldiers have cutted the track, together with a Toyota equipped with a heavy shotgun. We stopped immediately (off course…) and the chief asked ‘what are you doing in a closed track like this one?’. We answered that we are trying to cross to Layounne or Smara, and we’ve successfully passed through the Mauritanian border. He was quite polite but insisted that we are passing through a forbidden track and we have to wait for a decision from their ‘Military Region’, and probably we need to go there to be interrogated. The headquarters seems to be somewhere in the Western Sahara 200 kms far away from this control. He also said that they are protecting us because if we proceed that track after 40 kms we will find a Morocco military post and they will kill us with no mercy... He confirmed that they belong to Polisario.

After some hours waiting from the referred decision, we asked them what is happening and why can not we proceed with our trip, and the chief answered that probably the 'Region' decision won’t arrive that day and we will need to pass the night there. We said that in that case we will return to Bir, but he replied that they won't allow us to do that. He continued very polite but also very intransigent about give us freedom to go anywhere. The conversation continued, we have even talked about giving them some ‘contribution’ to pass to Layounne, but all our efforts were not accepted by them. In the end of the afternoon, they allow us finally to return to Bir. I’ve tried again to negotiate a pass to Layounne but the answer was clear: ‘do you want to return to Bir or stay here for a couple of days?’ Clear enough to make us take the track back to Bir and make 2000 kms more to reach Layounne form the Guerguerat border.

Well, I believe that a solution could be found… guess what.

In Bir Mogrein we have talked with a graduate military, and he said that they are aware of Polisario control but they are not thinking about to do anything regarding this subject. ‘They are out of our country’, he said. Informed us also that last month a guide was killed and a traveller seriously hounded by a mine in that track, only because they go out the track for some centimetres…




[This message has been edited by Luis (edited 19 February 2006).]

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Luis Lourenco
America Twin

Luis,
The very same happened to us in oktober 2004.
Same place, same toyota-with-gun, no windscreen. The chief's name is Salah. They kept us there for 50 hours, until the "region commander"came, forced by Colonel Mokhtar, mauretanian army. Since then we tell all travellers to avoid this route, sorry you missed the message.
Next time somebody may be less lucky then we were.

Desert phantom

Thanks for sharing with us this information. I guess we can forget for a long time other border crossing than the Atlantic route.

Have any intrepid traveller try to cross this forbidden border mixed up with the Dakar rally caravan? I think is the only and irregular way to slip in… or even not.

#Luis, see you in Comporta
Enrique, o galego

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7cero

Hello DP,

I cann't say I wasn't aware of your advice. I've read it but I thought it wasn't a fix post, but you've found them somewhere in the track. Since we're travelling only with motorbikes, we thought they wouldn't be focused in intercepting us... Wrong bet.

Now my advice to everyone is really not try to do this border, lots of kms to have to return back for sure... and spend some time with Salah :-)

Photo of the Polisario post at: http://cj.smugmug.com/gallery/1199208/15/56354345

Thanks anyway, DP

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Luis Lourenco

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Luis Lourenco
America Twin

Hello Enrique!

Dakar Rally didn't cross Bir Border, but other in the north border with Morroco and not Western Sahara. The Mauritanian Military we've talked with, after the Polisario incident, said to us to try to follow Dakar tracks and pass that border, to avoid the thousands of kms of the south way. But we haven't enough info about it, and tracks in the sand disapear very easily, we didn't take the chance...

Rgds, see you soon!!!

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Luis Lourenco
America Twin