Possible new border: Tindouf–Zouerat; new highway Choum–Tidjikja
 

Even if it is yet remote in time, it opens an interesting path:

https://www.dzbreaking.com/2017/10/1...-open-borders/

Especially for those going to Atar, etc.

Cheers,

Cutrex

Well. It is interesting. But it won't help adventure riders who can't even access Algeria's South territories. I think it is good news anyway, but for locals. ;-)

"linking Algeria’s Tindouf province to the Mauritanian city of Zouerat."

Zouerat is however almost a 1000 kms from Tindouf :)

Wonder what they would say if we showed up at the post with a fresh Algerian visa.
Problem is more that the whole northeast of Mauretania is declared a military no-go zone by maure government.

http://www.horizonsunlimited.com/hub...ia-unnamed.jpg

Yes, I agree. Moreover, arriving at the zone of Tindouf from, say, the entry port of Oran (there is a ferry Almeria to Oran) will not be easy anyway. But within the oscillatory dynamics of security in the region, this movement is in a convenient direction.

It might save one day in the trip to Atar from the Mediterranean, therefore we can caress that possibility.

Cheers,

Cutrex

Hello "Cutrex",

thank you for the info.
In January (2017) I followed the south part of the Med-Westafrika highway froum Choum via Atar, Tidjikja and Kiffa to Kankossa - nearly 100% new paved highway (driving time about 20 hours).
South of Tindouf and north of Zouerat I don't know the road conditions, but they will change quickly - if they (Alg- and Mauri authorities) will - in less then one year to an absolute speedhighway - no problem at all.
There was a public bus going from Oran via Tanezrouft to Niamey (50-100 years ago, nearly every day) in 48 hours on a solar lightend route by nighttime! and Oran ist also connected to Marseille by boats. So, from south France to the heart of Westafrika (50-100 years ago was a french colony) it was a 72 hour trip by public transport on land and sea (I made this route in 2009 by my own car in less driving time alone by night without any light - new moon, no elctricity on board for lamps).

The same will be with the Oran via Tindouf to Bamako road in less time in the future -Insha Allah.

Cheers
Ferdi

Interesting news. Many Sahara borders are open to locals only, and I'm sure this will be the same. Tindouf has been off limits to tourists since Polisario war.

I wonder if by building a Med-Westafrika highway via Tindouf to Mori (old French inland route from the 1950s to dodge Spanish Atlantic territories in WS; see map) the Algies are trying to undermine similar grand projects along the Atlantic Route in Moroccan WS.

Afaik, that route was last driven in 1959 by a nutter in a Ford Zephyr as the independence wars were reaching their peak.

Ferdi, is the road really nearly all sealed from Choum to Tidjikja?
That was quick.

https://saharaoverland.files.wordpre...nmap.jpg?w=400

Hello Chris,

between Oujeft and Ain Cevra there was in January this year one section of unpaved piste of about 50 km. The rest from Choum to Kankossa was 9 month ago finest tared road.

Cheers
Ferdi

(second photo is about 30km SE of Oujeft)

Amazing; thanks.
I see the new road 50km NW of Rachid on GE, but then the tile turns to dunes.
Never heard of/can't find Ain Cevra. Where is that?

I believe Ferdi might refer to 'Ain safra' (yellow springs).

In this case you will find it at [19°31'58.13"N, 12° 6'0.20"W]. More exactly, these are the coordinates of a road building base where in Nov-2016 we had to repair a broken axle of one of our cars (you should have seen the welder, protecting his eyes only with cheap chinese sunglasses). They were really kind, and to thank it I digitized in OSM the new paved road to Rachid, as well as the perimeter of the settlement. Just put 'ain safra mauritania' in the search box of OSM.

Cheers,

Cutrex

Yes, Ain Serfa is in the middle of the line from Atar to Tidjikja - a very nice oasis with very nice people. "Serva" is written on the plate of my photo, but it is the same. I visited that place 5 years before, coming on the old piste from Chinguetti - now new age - 200 km in 2 hours to Tidjikja, police control in Rachid included.

Cheers
Ferdi

Thanks, I see it now buried on the Faraoun 200k sheet.
And prominently on the Bab Sahara map - should have looked their first.

This news kept on popping up persistently in the last years - personally I was a bit sceptical - but heeey Ferdi, this is really great news after all: Choum - Kankossa tarmac!
I guess it won't take long to upgrade the Bou Lanouar - Choum piste too.
Vrecha reports that Choum - Zouerat is tarmac also, with one minor section still unfinished.
Priffe: Zouerat - Tindouf is a long way indeed, but the piste is peace of cake, even lorries and semitrailers do it. Attachment 20279Attachment 20280
Which leaves us with the paperwork problem: if the border is truly opened, I guess it will be some kind of "escorte" arrangement, like we used to have on central Alg southwards route to Niger before "the war on terror" killed transsaharan travels.
Worth a try, anyway.

Water supply on way from Oujeft to Tidżikdża
 

Hi i will try cycling in Mauritania and i see on maps that between Oujeft and Tidżikdża is nothing. Do you know any spots where i could get water or use my filter?
Thanks.

I believe there are several villages along or off the road between Oujeft and Tidjikja where you can get water - certainly every day.
Or passing traffic if you're stuck.

thanks for answer
 

could someone who used this road can confirm there is 100% cover with tarmac between Oujeft and Tidżikdża? And how many cars pass this road a day in january?

Hello Burden,

I do not think so. The Bou Lanouar - Choum piste will rest in peace for a century or very much more. Why should "they" build a road from NDB to Atar or Zouerat?
The sense of the Oran - Bamako route is to bypass the international trafic from Marrocco. NDB - Choum is nothing - only for "NoSirlies" use (FJS) and they take the fabulous train ;-)

Cheers
Ferdi

Hey Cutrex, Ferdi !
Just a few weeks ago we were talking about the difficult dune / wadi exit on the route Tidjitja - Kiffa.
Are you now saying it is sealed all the way??? No dunes, no sandy, stony tracks?


Ali.

To link the main Mauri port (NDB), with Mauri spiritual capital (Atar) and Mauri economic powerhouse (Zouerate) ? The Algerians may be more interested in reaching the Atlantic (NDB) than Bamako I imagine. Besides the road to Bamako stops at Didieni these days, after that it's better to walk the remaining 160 km :oops2:.

Anyway, time will tell.

Oran to Niamey (3500 km cca.) in 48 hours half a century ago? If it was not a flying carpet, plain impossible. It would require a theoretical average speed of more than 70 kmph!
The Tanezrouft is fast

Attachment 20341

Attachment 20342

but not that fast :scooter: Down south it gets a little trickier

Attachment 20343

not to mention the numerous checkpoints, borders and all those baaandits.

Attachment 20344

Attachment 20345

Who or what are "nosirlies" & "FJS"?

Hello Ali,

this depends on which route from Tidjikja to Kiffa you will take:

One full paved is via Sangrave, the other via Bou M'deit only two or three dozens km tared road.

Greetings
Ferdi.

Sorry "Burden",

never saw a name or country of you. So, "fjs" is fjs: https://www.fjs.de/

And the "NoSirlies" are small black creatures coming out of the forest by crying "No Sir". The hunter fjs in Togo killed them. By coming home - a reporter asked him, what did you killed in Togo - Elephants, Hippos or what? (Togo was an anciened german colony). And he, fjs, told him, "NoSirlies" - a realistic "joke" - any other questions? I hope not.

Ferdi

Oh! Ok Ferdi, I've been on that road. Interesting but not at all exciting!
I assumed that other people are like me, always seeking more direct or wilder route and that this was the one now sealed!
I breath a sigh of relief.
So many places are being spanned by fast, sealed roads, encouraging more people to go to the open spaces where they disrupt the peace of nature. Soon there will be nowhere for wild-road lovers to go.


Ali.

Hello Aliprovidor,

yes, I am always seeking new pistes. 6 years ago I made the similar route in 10 days, this year in 3:

https://www.wuestenschiff.de/phpbb/f...11-t44819.html

And in July this year I drove the horrible piste between BayanTes and Mörön - never ever! The rest of the mongolian paths were ok, but that? 10 hours of stupid driving.

Cheers
Ferdi

Ferdi,
I am sorry for you! The big problem is information! Why did you go that way? Let me guess! The map showed that it was the way; the main road!


But there are other ways to Morun that are beautiful and much shorter!
The maps are Merde. Only Russian maps are to be believed here. The maps made by Mongolia are very much not to be believed.


This is why I ask many questions of knowledgeable people regarding things in Africa. I have many good maps but still the experienced person has the best information. Even then you must filter the information. What is "Good" to them or "Terrible" may to you, with your experience, be the opposite.
It is not easy.
Better luck next time!


Ali.

Sososo Fredi, FJS is Franz Josef Strauss, aka die Fratze?
Attachment 20363

Attachment 20364
Never thought this fine gentleman would make it onto the pages of this forum. Wonder whether the second pic was taken before or after he went hunting for "small black creatures" in Togo who must've been economic migrants from Ghana, given their cosmopolitan language skills.
So you say the Bou Lanouar - Choum piste only for Franzl and blacks. Duly noted.
Further questions?
No sir :thumbdown:

Wow, I didn't know Frans Josef had African blood. Like Pushkin and Beethoven then.
Learn something new every day. ;)

Why leave Carl XVI Gustav behind - the ultimate black stud :innocent:
Which brings us back to Algeria: Sven Lindqvist - Exterminate all the brutes. Lindqvist apparently did some field research in Bechar and Tindouf too.

"Exterminate all the brutes!" colonel Kurtz exclaimed.
Lindqvist was a fashionable maoist and cultural attaché to Beijing at the time.
He also wrote "Desert divers" 1990, about the Sahara.
Visited Algeria and Mauretania.
Nouakchott: "tents are now made of concrete"
https://www.bokus.com/bok/9781862075078/desert-divers/

The man wrote some truly outstanding books ... besides, being a maoist doesn't seem to be all that bad - they 're winning :)

Only 40km of piste they say between Zouerate and Choum now.

And 80 between Atar and Tidjikja

This is such a no-brainer and the equation looks something like this: Algeria+Mauritania = China - Morocco. Didn't China just build a whole new port on the Atlantic coast? They'll buy all the stuff DZ & Mori can dig out of the ground. And the Tlemcen mafia can sing "up your bum" to Rabat. Simples!

As for the article which mentions a crossing at "Cheggat" do they mean Chegga? Isn't that a bit off route for Oran? And actually leads nowhere useful. My friends in Mori with the green number plates say there is a military post at Chegga where they amuse themselves taking pot shots at passing traffickers.

The investment is certainly not primarily for tourism or adventurous 4x4 types. All the other anecdotal chit-chat on the ground from my recent visit is just about exporting natural resources and pushing Morocco off into the sea ;)

Indeed there is a lot of goudron between Choum and Zouerat now, and they are working on it. Lots of roads being built in Mauretania.

Going south from Atar, nice goudron all the way to Oujeft
https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/rh...4=w762-h571-no

Then it gets patchy. Chinese, French and Mauretanian companies building, but at a standstill at many places. 4wd recommended to reach Tikjidja
https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/ga...P=w762-h571-no

And the companies are paid for construction, but noone is paid to keep the road open
https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/ud...U=w762-h571-no
https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/tf...Y=w623-h571-no

Even trucks having tlo be dug out on the new goudron
https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/Be...=w1318-h568-no

Some of the bumps look innocuous but packed sand can ruin your suspension so go easy
https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/0r...G=w762-h571-no

stuck - front and rear in the shit
https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/X3...z=w762-h571-no

some nice stretches, with no traffic whatsoever - how is it paid for?
https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/FS...q=w762-h571-no

rondpoints
https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/wV...=w1318-h474-no
https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/ka...C=w360-h571-no

From Tikjidja going south still some 200 kms nice sandy piste, then the last 100 kms to Kiffa is new goudron.