West-Sahara

We leave Tan-Tan Plage and cross into West-Sahara. The barren regions of the Atlas mountains and the rocky plains South of it are no comparison to the isolation of this deserted region. In Morokko there always were some people dispersed in the landscape - sitting by the side of the road, walking, or seen far away herding sheep - here in the desert there is no soul to be seen for hours, with the occasional exception of a car we pass. A certain feeling of danger creeps up in me.

Around this time of year the sun sets at about seven o'clock here, and to cover more ground we discuss driving for a couple more hours after sundown. A local advises against it because of the danger involved: With absolutely no street lights the night becomes so dark that it is too easy to get into an accident. Further North there was still a reasonable amount of traffic on the road until about nine o'clock in the evening, but here life stops abruptly with the dissapearance of the last ray of sun. Everything goes to sleep. Even the towns are swept empty, places that where bustling with people just half an hour earlier will be dead at sundown. Most of these days we set up tent just around six o'clock and like the locals are in bed by seven.

We arrive in Laayoune - with 190,000 inhabitants the largest city in West-Sahara - in the afternoon. The city is a military outpost with large contingent of UN troops, and soldiers are seen verywhere. After drinking the obligatory peppermint tea at a tea house we decide to stroll around the city.

We chat up with a local, who starts talking to us in Spanish. It turns out West-Sahara was a Spanish colony until the 1960s, after which it became an independent territory. Morokko has since been trying to take control over this sparsely-populated territory with mixed success. The Morokkans have provided infrastructure like paved roads and electricity, and given Morokkans tax incentives to move to West-Sahara, but the West-Saharan people are reluctant to be dominated by their Northern neighbors.

On a street corner we get asked for directions to the local camp site in English. To our surprise the guy is an American traveling through Morokko, West-Sahara, Mali, and Burkina Faso on bike. We are impressed, and we decide to meet up with Darren at the camp site 15 km outside of town in Laayoune Plage. The camp site turns out to be a parking lot with a few camper vans parked on it, no running water and toilet provided. We arrive there just before sunset and find the only other tent around to be Darrens. We enjoy chatting a little with him about Africa, but soon it is time to go to sleep.

tags: Plymouth-Banjul, Rallye, Paris-Dakar, Africa, West-Sahara