WS & North Mauri

[florence of arabia]

Hi, back from a 3 week trip to liberated WS and north Mauri.
I took roughly the following route: Bou Lanour - Inal - Douera - Zoug - Dougaj - Mijek - Tifariti (via north of Bir Mogrein) and back from Buer Tighisit (a border settlement 13 km from Tifariti) - Confluence Point 25N 10W - CP 24N 10W - CP 23N 13W - Dougaj - Zoug - Tmeimichat - Ahmeymim - Nkc. Route lenght 2.500 km - 200 km tarmac, the rest roughly 50/50 between pure off-road and piste driving. I travelled alone, except for the nervewrecking 45 km stretch from Zoug to Tmeimichat where I followed a Mauri nomad returning from cheap fuel shopping. Camped most of the time in the bush well away from any sight of human activity, twice with very forthcoming Mauri gendarmes and a few times with desert folks. Didn't experience any upsetting moments. I does get terribly lonely up in the northeast of Mauri though. Originally planned to follow Washingtons 9degW paralel proposal, but opted for a more leisurely approach (less driving, more lazing around). Luckily, as I returned with no clutch and brakes virtually gone. But all smiles. There were a few brief moments when I though of mr. Belaour et consortes but experiencing this immense expanse of arid land mostly reaffirmed the words of George Carlin: terorism is a minor risk, nothing more. (It is a fantastic bussiness to some of our noble compatriots though.) Didn't take any special precautions except for the usual secrecy about my real intentions, revealing just as much as I needed to reveal. My biggest worry were the many, not-exactly-by-the-book border crossings. All went well. Saharawi military appreciate an invitation, but it is doable without it. Mauri gendarmes are indeed very concerned. I avoided all checkpoints except for Douera (going out) and Tmeimichat (coming back in), which I approached at the time of the evening prayer, when even the surliest guys mellow out a bit. Spent the night with them and took off in the morning. Driving at night in Mauri is formally forbidden but there are always exceptions. The three words to fear most are "pour votre securite". You don't want those as they inevitably mean no "securite" and a lot of complications. Mauri gendarmes tend to be trigger happy these days (I witnessed a rather silly incident at Douera, with shots fired and a lot of shouting). There are rumours of yet another coup in the making. Mauri gendarmes DO communicate between . Sneaking off might not be the best possible attitude ...
The landscape north of Dougaj in WS is stunning. Same goes for the area W of Fderik. I visited the site of a SA 1994 plane crash (Avro Shackleton 1716 forever missing-in-action). The Ahmeymim and areas south of it are splendid too (very biblical - a very easy ride except for some 20-30 km's at the beginning and at the end.