From Touba we journeyed north to the coast and the Langue de Barbarie National Park, located on a long peninsula just south of the mouth of the Senegal River. This park attracts a huge variety of migratory birds, and we were lucky to see a few during our stay here.
A short drive from here took us to St Louis, the former French colonial capital on an island in the river Senegal. Here we stayed near the busy fishing community of Ndar along the sandy peninsula.
The fishing market is always an impressive sight, as fridge trucks are loaded up with fish brought ashore on horse drawn carts, to be sent all over Senegal and beyond.
The fleet of colourful pirogues pictured below stretched for hundreds of metres, but it was difficult to take photos that did the colour justice as the harmattan is currently in full swing. As a result the St Louis sky turned orange with sand blown in from the desert, giving some hazy photos!
Below shows some of the fading colonial architecture in the old colonial quarter of St Louis. Though usually a thriving town the old city centre was eerily quiet when we visited!
From St Louis a short drive took us to the border with Mauritania and the town of Rosso, where a ferry across the river Senegal awaited us. Crossing this particular border is not the most relaxing of experiences, but fortunately there is less hassle from the officials these days than there used to be!
Above are some shots from the market in Nouakchott, the Mauritanian capital. It's a rather unusual city located close to the coast but surrounded by desert. The busy traders and colourful market more than make up for the sand storms that regularly affect this city.
Mauritanian tents have a plain exterior but a beautifully patterned interior, as shown in this photo in the market place above.
Located just a few kilometres from the city centre, Nouakchott's 'Port de Pêche' (or fishing port) is vast. It attracts fishermen from all over West Africa and the fish market it supports continues for several kilometres along the sandy beach.
The catch is very varied, with some fish being caught in the shallow water and others on long and arduous journeys further out into the Atlantic.
Jase went to check out the surfing possibilities but it turned out the coastline was rather busy!
North of Nouakchott stretches hundreds of kilometres of Sahara desert, though it must have seen a little rain within the last few months as there was some surprisingly green and fresh looking vegetation about.
Shortly before the border with Western Sahara we crossed Mauritania's only railway, below, which carries iron ore some 700 kms away from a mine in Zouerate to the Atlantic port of Nouadhibou.
Crossing the border between Mauritania and Western Sahara was surprisingly swift, though the land mines that litter no-mans-land allowed neither photos nor pee-stops! Above is a photo of Lexi at our first night stop in Western Sahara, which is perfect for bush camping with miles of space all around and perfect seclusion.
As always the coastline was absolutely stunning, with the main highway often running close to the steep cliffs.
Above is a group shot taken en route. From left to right are Ian, Will, John, Nathan, Hiro, Lexi, John, Jase, Fred, Jan, Zoe, Rowan, Pauline, Ida, Alice and JP.
Below is a photo of Zoe, Fred, John, Ian and Will.
Above, Al and Alice, near the edge!
On the way we passed lots of camels, though most were a little camera shy!
Dakhla is the first town of any significance you get to after crossing from Mauritania, located on a small peninsula and a popular destination for kite surfing holidays. It was rather surreal to see all the colourful kites on parade after miles of empty desert!
Above, Ida, Rowan and Zoe prepare to wash their feet, whilst the boys enjoy a sunset beer below!
We were treated to some stunning sunsets whilst bush camping on our journey through Western Sahara The one below was particularly special, lighting up almost the whole sky as Al and Alice stood by Aminah.
Above shows the Bedouin camp we stayed at in the desert for 2 nights. In the foreground is a salty seasonal waterfall which feeds the Sebkha (salt lake) of Oum Dba.
Below, Nathan standing above the Sebkha.
Many of us spent the day exploring the Sebkha. Above is a photo of Fred, Hiro and John wandering among the sand dunes, and below, of Al at the top of Mount Gara in the middle of the Sebkha.
Above is Will at the dunes some distance from our camp which he visited on a 4x4 tour. Below shows Al in front of Mt Gara.
Above is Lexi and Zoe at the top of Mt Gara, whilst Jan enjoys fresh camel milk with nomadic camel herders below.
Some of the group visited an area of salt production at the far end of the Sebkha, as shown above with Ian, Will, Alice, Nathan and Jan.
To extract the salt, deep channels are dug into the ground and flooded with water. This salty water is then extracted, and evaporated off to leave salt.
To extract the salt, deep channels are dug into the ground and flooded with water. This salty water is then extracted, and evaporated off to leave salt.
Above, a Bedouin tent some of us stayed in, complete with feline company!
Below, Al, Nathan and John enjoy camel and date tagine.
From here we continued north to Tarfaya where we saw 'La Casa del Mar' (above), a former British trading post from the 1880's, renamed as such when this territory became Spanish Sahara.
We also passed Tarfaya wind farm, currently the largest in Africa with 131 wind turbines.
Above is Naila Lagoon, known for its fish and also flamingos which we saw in the distance.
Once we headed north of TanTan the scenery began to change as we left the coast behind and started our approach to the Anti-Atlas mountain range.
Our next bush camp was in a cracking spot with sand dunes rolling off into the distance. The hill behind us did its best to shelter us from the wind!
Above, Ida enjoys sunset over our camp spot. Below, the road to Tafraout, in the Anti-Atlas.
A couple of nights in Tafraout gave us the chance to stretch our legs and head off for some trekking, as shown above with Lexi, Hiro, Will, John and Zoe.
The area around Tafraout is known for its hillsides scattered with granite boulders. We also saw some prehistoric rock carvings.
Above, Nathan, Jan, Fred, Zoe, John, John, Will and Alice rest in the shade of a boulder whilst out trekking.
Below is a photo of 'Les Pierres Bleus', the work of Belgian artist Jean Veran.
Below is a typical street in Tiznit where we stopped for a few hours. Tiznit is famous for the work of its silver smiths and jewellers and made for an interesting stop en route.
Our next stop was Taroudant in the Sous valley. Almost the entire city lies behind its protective walls. Here there is an Arab and a Berber market, both of which are well-known for their leather work, jewellery and carpets.
From here we returned to the Atlantic coast to visit the famous town of Essaouira, which will feature in the next blog in a couple of weeks time, as this trip to Marrakech comes to an end and we start our final trip of the season up to Tangier.
Many thanks to Lexi and Alice for sharing many of the photos in this blog!
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