To the Hinterlands (Dakhlet Nouadhibou, Mauritania)

Nov 29^th, 2010 - So we were off! Into the unknown! Into the desert! Into the chaotic abyss of Ahmed's mind! Buckle up. We covered roughly 300 km the first day, the majority of which was spent driving straight through the desert. Roads are for pussies...or pussies without a chauffeur. If you like the desert then you'll love Mauritania. About 75% of this country (roughly the size of New Mexico or Egypt) is either desert or semi-desert. 0.2% of the land is arable (able to grow crops) and only 0.01% has permanent agriculture. 

It's Old Macdonald's worst f***ing nightmare. On top of that there aren't so many folks living there, approximately 3.2 million (40% of which live in urban areas). I will be making numerous comparisons to the apocalyptic nature of Mauritania's landscape. It will probably get old. Get used to it.

If 'nowhere' is on your list of places to visit I must believe northwest Mauritania is, at the very least, on the way there. It is a land of enchanting desolation where even the 'nothingness' that surrounds you still has a 'somethingness' quality. This probably explains why I was not even the slightest bit bored sitting in a vehicle for hours on end staring into the desert void. Mesmerizing, captivating, and a whole slew of other adjectives that don't quite do it justice can be applied. Just plain awesome. It gets the highly coveted Rich Plumadore 'Fuck Yeah!' stamp of approval.