Ahmed Kerfuffle of '10 (Ouadane & Guelb er Richat, Mauritania)

Dec 15^th, 2010 - (Nov 13th – 14th) We left Tanochert in the morning and continued through the desert to Ouadane, a desert outpost once a staging point for trans-Saharan trade. No one was particularly chipper. Ahmed was no exception. Had it not been for the consistent mesmerizing nature of the landscape I should think I would have been much more somber. However, not even Ahmed's relentless prevarications, protestations and bitchinations were enough to dampen my mood when presented with scenery that truly defies adequate description. Still, our cheerless leader gave it his all.

We arrived in Ouadane around 10 am in the morning and were under the impression that we would then be headed to the Richat Structure (Guelb er Richat). In fact, it was Ahmed who suggested this itinerary days before. However, after arriving in Ouadane he told us it was too late to head to Richat. According to him he normally leaves around 7 am to visit the crater and returns sometime around midday or early afternoon. Keep in mind that he once told us he never gets moving before 8 am. Why would he?

He was worried about going alone (i.e. one vehicle). He was also worried that the sand would be too hot making it difficult to maneuver through. Are you f***ing sh**ing me????!!!!! We had been driving through the 'hot' sand for six days. Not a word about this before and as far as the time of year was concerned November is relatively mild in relation to temperature. What the friggin hell was he talking about?