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No Man's land Morocco-Mauritania - Dangers? No Man's land Morocco-Mauritania - Dangers?
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North Africa Topics specific to North Africa and the Sahara down to the 17th parallel (excludes Morocco)
Photo by Lois Pryce, schoolkids in Algeria

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Photo of Lois Pryce, UK
and schoolkids in Algeria



Trans Sahara Routes.

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  #1  
Old 11 Dec 2013
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Originally Posted by qwer1234 View Post
After researching a little bit about those 3-5 kilometers, it seems that it is not a 'walk in the park'.
It seems that after the Moroccan checkpoint and the Mauritanian one the piste has lot's of bifurcations and that every year several cars hit a landmine there. I have also heard that if one is stuck in the soft sand there and has to spend the night, he could be attacked by bandits.
It also seems that the Moroccan checkpoint is only open from 09:00 to 17:00 hours and that there is a hotel on the Moroccan side, which is awful.

Can somebody please give me exact information about this border crossing, as in autumn/winter maybe I will drive down (and probably back) alone with my car (an old Opel Astra - normal sedan/city car -not a 4x4-), as I don't want to die by hitting a landmine or getting stuck in a bandit area(actually I am more worried about this than the situation in Mauritania).

Some info that I found:
ARE WE THERE YET? - Buried In No Man's Land!
ExpeditionCamper: Marruecos-Sahara Occ-Mauritania-Senegal.
Hi there
We were stuck in the no mans land on Christmas eve 2011. We were refused on Mauri side to enter because we had no visas, in the mean time the Marocco border was already closed! So we make a tent near the Marocco border Point and slepped there. (ok, nobody can sleep - there was a lot of "traffic" during the night- People everywhere, cars with no lights etc). Maroccan soldiers brought us a nice dinner, we opened a bottle of champaigne which was brought from home - Slovenia and it was an unforgetable Christmas ever !!!!
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  #2  
Old 11 Dec 2013
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As Jose says, if you are unsure about the route through the landmine zone, just follow the large trucks. They will most likely not deviate from the main track as they are so large they don't want to get stuck in the soft sand.

The main track is hard piste, pretty awful rocky bumpy piste in places, but firm and compact.

It is alot more simple than it used to be. The main track is pretty obvious, I am actually surprised when people can't figure it out (I don't mean that to sound offensive, but it is pretty straightforward).

Don't listen to the touts, they will offer to guide you through and will quite likely take you on the wrong path!

As for reading travel blogs about how death defying and dangerous the crossing is, don't believe the hype! It really isn't like it would have been 20 odd years ago and actually not that exciting. Yes there are burnt out car wrecks, but goodness knows how long they have been there. Mines are still present but just stick to the now very obvious rocky piste and head towards the Mauri flag!
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  #3  
Old 11 Dec 2013
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I have driven through six times now. this January will be number seven.
I have found that if there is a choice of route, always take the left one and you will miss the soft sand. But if in doubt follow someone else.
All the wrecks in no mans land have been transported out of Morocco to avoid paying customs duty. If they had hit a land mine they would be even more wrecked than they are.
Last year there was a nice looking Discovery with plenty of parts, probably stripped bare now.
Richard
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  #4  
Old 28 Jan 2014
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It's a non-issue - don't worry...
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  #5  
Old 31 Jan 2014
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I can´t find from my books or google, where exactly is the "Danger Zone"?
Is it the whole Sahara Route in Western Sahara, all the way from Tarfaya to Nouadhibou? So do I have to stick on the main road about 1000km?

We´re planning to ride by two Super Teneres from Tunis to Dakar and up to Tanger, but now it´s seems there no border crossing between Algeria and Mauritania, so maybe we have to start from Tanger and ride twice in the "zone"...
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  #6  
Old 31 Jan 2014
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If there is a danger zone it is the few km either side of No Mans Land between Mk and Mori border posts. The warnings are clear, long established and well known. If you simply follow the dozens of vehicles crossing this border each day you will be fine.

More info including maps and waypoints in this old thread
http://www.horizonsunlimited.com/hub...ish-road-25887

And here: www.desert-info.ch :: Thema anzeigen - MA-RIM - Niemandsland/No man's land/Zone neutre

But all that makes it look far more dangerous than it actually is; handy for travel blogs ;-)

Another danger zone might be Western Sahara inland of the safe Atlantic highway, but few people go in there. A current discussion about the wisdom of doing so has evolved here.

And yet another massive danger zone appears on this FCO map which, while probably correct in the east and far north, has I believe been a little over zealous with the red ink in the west.

Short version: no dangers on the main routes in west Mori or Atlantic highway in Moroccan WS

Ch
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Old 31 Jan 2014
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Thanks a lot!
We´re on the startpoint of our planning, I got my copy of Adventure Motorcycling Handbook, latest Lonely Planets ( Sahara Overland is ordered, not yet on my table), maps and lot of great mood and coffee...
So all this information is very helpful and intersting!!!
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Old 11 Dec 2013
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Originally Posted by janeiro View Post
We were stuck in the no mans land on Christmas eve 2011... Maroccan soldiers brought us a nice dinner, we opened a bottle of champaigne which was brought from home - Slovenia and it was an unforgetable Christmas ever !!!!
Sounds good. As everyone else has written (on what is now a very old thread) there's nowt to worry about.

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  #9  
Old 25 Jan 2014
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Just went through and all together rather smoothly!
I got to the Moroccan border at 10 am and left the Mauri border at 6.30 pm in one piece , safe and sound.
Visa: Euros 50 for one month, 35 if you are African. If african, you must still pay in Euros!
The no man's land is very bumpy. My advice, if you are on 4 wheels, is to follow a truck or the track that looks as white as possible compared to the light brown path. When in doubt, go left. Why is that? White means rock, light brown means sand. The choice is yours!
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