on the track again...

The last week has seen the transformation from an African fence sitter, while both researching the coming trip and writing a paper for the summer school (it was about the electrical grid integration of wind farms if anyone cares), to an African traveller.

Having satisfactorily completed the requisite visa rigmarole it was time to hit the long road from Casablanca down to Nouahdibou. 70 hours of travel time later, not including the stops between vehicles i was sitting in a Saharan oasis admiring the day rolling by while drinking fresh water dripping from the heavens. The country is Mauritania, by GDP it sits at about 147 of the 181 recognised countries in the world so its pretty poor, the oasis is called Terjit and the temperature is hot, very hot.

The journey included riding what is reputedly the longest train in the world, and definitely the longest free train ride that i have ever seen. From one end (steel mill at the Atlantic coast town of Nouadhibou) to the other (mining village, Zouerate) it takes 18 hours to cover the 600 odd km's on the 500 piece, 3km long train. The carriages available for the free journey are the wagons used to transport the iron ore so they are filthy dirty. However, nothing could put me off doing the journey on the wagon as my to-do list has long included riding on the roof of a train, after being denied throughout Asia and Europe i wasn't going to let a little dirt and sand put me off.

Michel and I, Michel being a French bloke i met waiting for the train, spotted our opportunity to board, nay climb into, the perfect wagon, one being loaded by some local men with four big piles of foam. After helping them load we took shelter from the sun on one side and it began to dawn on me what i was install for as the first jolt crushed my spine against the inside wall and the first grains of sand started the process of saturating each and every pore of my body. However it turns out the sand storms and filth were not too bad, but the most difficult part being the previously mentioned jolts. The wagon couplings are not like the ones used for passenger carriages, they are rigid cargo spec joints with no damping so the soundtrack for the entire journey is the roaring thunder of steel on steel propagating down the line of carriages as they consantina at regular intervals. Definitely loud and forceful enough to wake each and every passenger and often adequate to add to the fill the underpants.

I did manage to make a bed on top of about 2 metres of foam which had me just under the top level of the wagon. Lying in the fetal position for the night with limbs tucked into my hoodie i was just high enough to be attacked by sand storms and fumes. The smile still couldn't be wiped off my face however, it was exhilarating seeing the changes through the desert and conversing with the local men drinking tea.

A word about the destination, Oasis Terjit, being my first Oasis it has absolutely blown my mind. The temperature difference between inside and outside is significant and severe, fresh dates litter the ground like hidden candies, fresh water drips from stalagmites and the bathing pool is beyond description.