Blog from Mauritania 4-6-08

I’m in a shared 7 seat Peugeot taxi now with 12 people in it heading from the border of Senegal, fresh into Mauritania, and off to the capital called Nakouchett. It’s now 11PM and I have been on the road since 6AM with at least 4 hours to go due to the constant military stops, police checks, and picking up and dropping off all sorts of colorful characters--another unforgettable African transport doozy in the works. More on this later…but first…

I’ll take you back in time a bit, to just after my last blog of the ride in Senegal. I was one sick puppy after the ride and headed right to the doctor when I crossed into English speaking Gambia. My new friend Ousainou who I met online at Hospitality Club was eager to host me. Despite being rear ended by a taxi and turning my rear trailer wheel into a minor taco, my first day in Gambia was great! The doctor set me up with some antibiotics and told me to take 5 days of rest. So I headed to an eco resort called Footsteps in S. Gambia and started my healing process.


A guest rider Mohamed who I rode w to Footsteps


"relaxing" at the Footsteps Eco Resort

I did take 5 days off but did not heal nearly as fast as the doctor said. Luckily, I got an unexpected visit from a friend Emma who I met over a year ago in Zimbabwe and we hit up a local music festival in S. Gambia together to do some filming with plans to ride together into Eastern Gambia afterwards. The festival was lovely with amazing dancing but not so great musicians, but the dust, long hours and attraction to the surf did not help my healing process. I need to learn to do nothing—not my strength. I was still coughing tons and was worried about going out filming and riding.


Emma arrives from the UK and off to Music Fest


At the music fest with Ousainou, Malik and Emma


Filming the action with a local gal


Some of the local talent!

Amazing percussions!


Lovely!



I scored some good waves in Gambia--very rare!

After the festival we decided to start our ride east with a stop in Brikama to film one of Gambia’s most well known traditional musicians with a new friend Steve Pile we met, a fellow Bay Area recording artist. On the way we were invited on the air of the national radio station where we did a ½ hour interview with several people calling in with a guest rider Tin-Tin and Emma on the air. It was a hoot! At the show I realized just how far I still had to become fully healed as my cough was just as bad as it was on day one and I had problems even talking at times. The next morning Emma and I decided it would make more sense to relax and heal than push a bad situation and we rode back to Footsteps Eco Lodge to seek refuge on their lovely grounds.


Emma on her mini-bike enroute to Brikama


Going on the air with Tin-Tin in Brikama, Gambia


Filming some amazing musicians in Brikama


Our "home" for several days at Footsteps Eco Lodge

The owner of Footsteps David and I had built a strong friendship and he treated us like family, giving us a place to stay for several more nights. Emma then came down with some stomach sickness from the food and water in Brikama and now the care giving shifted to me as she was vomiting and had major diarrhea for 24 hours. But we finally were feeling better and decided to head back to Dakar where Emma was going to fly back to UK and I was to make my way to Mauritania.

We returned to my favorite place in Dakar at Silvi’s house and we made our way to the Dakar hospital to get one more opinion on my chest infection. We were blessed to meet a cool young intern named “C” who treated us like family and rushed us through the normally long, expensive and complicated process of meeting with a specialist. I got my chest x-rayed and the doctors confirmed my guess that I had pneumonia and showed me the infection on my lungs and told me that the antibiotics that I was taking before would not take it down. So I was again given more medication to take and told to take about 5 days of relaxing.


Hitting the national airwaves at RTS

So Emma extended her flight and we took the doctor’s orders and did quite a bit of relaxing on the beach and sleeping in. We did have to make a trip into town to pick up some parts to my bike that arrived and stopped off at the national television and radio station RTS to see if they wanted to do a story on Peace Pedalers. We were told to return the next day and we would go on the national evening news. It was a hoot seeing myself and Emma on national TV speaking French to the nation.

The day finally came where Emma had to head home and I felt strong enough to make my way north into the Sahara Desert to Mauritania. I took Emma to her 3AM flight on the bike and hopped the crazy shared taxi to the border, which ended up breaking down and needing a 3 hour repair. This delay brought me to the border after hours where I had to wait, kiss butt, bribe and cry my way into the country since the office was closed.


Emma's trip to the airport and I'm off to Mauritania

I finally made it to the capital of Nakouchett at 2AM after paying way too much, being ripped off and lied to twice, and not feeling super good emotionally or physically. Mauritania is VERY different than Senegal or anywhere I’ve ever been, with folks walking around in long robes, speaking Arabic and a totally different vibration all together.

Now 36 hours after arrival I’m just settling into this new world and am going to be making some kind of plan. I met the promoters of a big music festival, Festival of Nomads http://www.musiquesnomades.com, that just happens to be going on from the 7-11 here in Nouakchott so I am considering staying around to do some filming and catching some truly legendary music from around the world. But the road is calling too, and I’m eager to get pedaling. We’ll see where I end up 

Over and out from the Sahara! Big love and hugs!

Jamie