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mauritania route & other questions mauritania route & other questions
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North Africa Topics specific to North Africa and the Sahara down to the 17th parallel (excludes Morocco)
Photo by Mark Newton, Mexican camping

I haven't been everywhere...
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Photo by Mark Newton,
Camping in the Mexican desert



Trans Sahara Routes.

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  #31  
Old 6 Jul 2023
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thoughts on fuel bottles vs bladders?
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  #32  
Old 7 Jul 2023
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Originally Posted by dunz View Post
thoughts on fuel bottles vs bladders?
It depends on how strong the bottles are. Don´t forget fuel smells bad, very very bad. If the bottle, container or whatever you use start leaking or get damaged you don´t want the fuel to spill on your clothes or equipment. So you would have to transport the fuel separate from your other stuff.
A couple of drops of fuel on your clothes is not a big deal but if your clothes get soaking wet you can throw them away.

Don´t ask me how I know
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  #33  
Old 7 Jul 2023
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Originally Posted by dunz View Post
thoughts on fuel bottles vs bladders?
I would take a fuel bladder.
I was in Mauritania two weeks ago, and I used sturdy plastic bottles (the type where cleaning liquids are usually stored in). This worked fine. But something I didn't realize is how much petrol can actually expand when it warms up. I opened up the bottles to let some pressure out several times. I wouldn't dare to transport fuel in a less sturdy container (for example water bottles).

Maybe it was more psychological, but I still felt pretty uncomfortable driving around with plastic containers containing fuel, even though they were relatively sturdy. Next time, I will get me a fuel bladder, even if it is just for my mental peace.
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  #34  
Old 7 Jul 2023
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Great point. Something along the lines of 1% for every 15 to 20 ish deg f?. Fuel bladder can be contracted down. I've got my eyes on the desert fox fuel cell.
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  #35  
Old 8 Jul 2023
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Originally Posted by dunz View Post
Why is the fuel in Mauritania damn expensive?
Two reasons:

1) Transportation costs. They don't have any refineries that I know of in the country, which means that the finished product (gasoline) rather than the raw ingredient (crude oil) needs to be transported to the country by ship, then overland to the point of sale by road.

2) Sparse population. There's not a heck of a lot of fuel sold in the country, hence, there's not a lot of competition in the industry. The formal fuel stations that exist don't pump huge volumes of fuel, which means that they need to recover their overhead costs in the form of higher price per litre.

€1.50 a litre is not bad, all things considered. That's fractionally less than the average price in continental Europe. Even in Canada, where I live, gasoline sells for about €1.10 a litre (CAD $1.60).

Michael
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  #36  
Old 11 Jul 2023
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Wells in north africa?
Morocco, Ws & Mauritania - how often will i come across wells? If i do, is it safe to drink the water if i put it through a filter? Any well known wells across these areas?
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  #37  
Old 11 Jul 2023
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useful information through flash cards
I've already put together a bunch of mechanical flashcards for my motorbike with valuable information + the bikes manual; now i'm onto the more, if you will, 'survival' aspect of things - let me know any useful information you think is worth having in my rucksack
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  #38  
Old 19 Jul 2023
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Mauritania and IDP
My application for an IDP to the french gov is taking longer than expected. I sent through my application nearly four months ago and there's still some complications and delay time. I'm fine without it for maroc & ws, but what about mauritania?
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  #39  
Old 19 Jul 2023
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Hi,

I am assuming you mean International Driving Permit?

In case you are in the Netherlands at some point: Here you can go to any ANWB shop with a passport photo and just get your IDP on the spot. You can do so with any European driving lisence.

I have no official information, but I have travelled to The Gambia recently (i.e. I went through the countries you are going to by motorcycle), and only in Senegal and The Gambia I was asked for drivers lisence. When I showed them the international one they laughed at me, they only wanted to see the national one (German in my case).
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  #40  
Old 19 Jul 2023
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I have never used or been asked for an IDP in West Africa.
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  #41  
Old 22 Jul 2023
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Quote:
Originally Posted by dunz View Post
Morocco, Ws & Mauritania - how often will i come across wells? If i do, is it safe to drink the water if i put it through a filter? Any well known wells across these areas?
There's no single answer. Most wells are on the outskirts of small villages/towns, but you may not know they exist unless you know where to look. Water quality/safety is going to be all over the place. Unless you have a filter that removes pathogens, its a high risk. Bottled water is not that hard to find in most "real" towns. I'd not want to rely on finding wells in a country where water sources are limited & difficult to locate, unless you speak the language.
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  #42  
Old 28 Jul 2023
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Series of questions concerning mauritania
After re provisioning and resting a day or two in Nouakchott I plan on making my way to atar and its surrounding areas. I've got the fuel capacity to make it to atar without needing to re-fuel; if I have the opportunity to refuel before I most certainly will. How accessible is 95 in atar and its surrounding areas?

Once i've travelled through that side of mauri i'll make my way back down to Nouakchott where i'm contemplating travelling east to nema, north to Walatah (if possible) and then west, back to Nouakchott. Safety and fuel availability are my two concerns. I'm willing to accept a certain level of risk; i've read that east mauri isn't the "safest", relative to other places in the country? Quite frankly is this, near 1,000km route (nouakchott to nema) even worth it? Does fuel availability make this route do-able or not?

Thanks, leo.
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  #43  
Old 29 Jul 2023
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Quote:
Originally Posted by dunz View Post
After re provisioning and resting a day or two in Nouakchott I plan on making my way to atar and its surrounding areas. I've got the fuel capacity to make it to atar without needing to re-fuel; if I have the opportunity to refuel before I most certainly will. How accessible is 95 in atar and its surrounding areas?

Once i've travelled through that side of mauri i'll make my way back down to Nouakchott where i'm contemplating travelling east to nema, north to Walatah (if possible) and then west, back to Nouakchott. Safety and fuel availability are my two concerns. I'm willing to accept a certain level of risk; i've read that east mauri isn't the "safest", relative to other places in the country? Quite frankly is this, near 1,000km route (nouakchott to nema) even worth it? Does fuel availability make this route do-able or not?

Thanks, leo.

That sounds like a fascinating route, and I wish I could join you. That said, I've heard mixed info on whether its viable or possible for a foreigner to go that far east and that deep into the desert. This guy seems to have pulled it off early last year, so maybe?

https://wildmanlife.com/
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  #44  
Old 29 Jul 2023
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Only one way to find out. Will definitely take a look at his work, it's a great resource.
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  #45  
Old 29 Jul 2023
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Having a mission can make the trip more interesting.
Like looking for crocodiles in Sahara.
Iirc they have found 79 locations with relict populations of crocs in Mauretania.
Which is astounding since the rivers and lakes where they once thrived have been gone for thousands of years.
https://journals.plos.org/plosone/ar...l.pone.0014734
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jAYsowaYCV8
Having a croc keyring to show the locals may help you find them
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