Harmen is feeling a lot better today and we get ourselves on the beach ready to go. We take the opportunity to get some more lovely pics. To get them you run towards the sea when the waves go out take the picture and run back in before you get wet. I get a sodden leg as I wasn't quick enough.
We are given instruction on driving on the beach and where to head to make sure we don't bog down of float away. Its a great laugh and we run the edge of the surf hitting the occasional wave. I mange to hit a slightly bigger than expected wave and the water comes over the top of the car and comes in the drivers window. Colin is less than impressed and reminds me that if we get water in the engine its game over.
We are canning it along listening to the Fugees "The Score" and life feels great. We come across another P2B car that looks abandoned. We are about to rob / scavenge / borrow kit and are calling the teams on the working mobile when a Merc pulls up with beefy locals in. They inform our guides that the car is now owned by them and they were the guides for the team that left it. Luckily at that point I hadn't actually started to strip the car for parts as these guys look like they would have a massive humour failure. We are told that the vehicle has a busted clutch and is non drivable.
We push further on and get a good run in till Harmen informs us that the tides have changed and we have to adapt the route and get off the beach. We get back upto speed and then suddenly we try to exit the beach. Later we find out he suddenly went left. Paul was driving at the time and said "you mean stop" he gesticulates he means left not stop so Paul does it and they make it through by the skin of their teeth. Then us and the BBs bogged down. The Audi makes it through and waits with the bus. After we are dug out we pull back for a very long run up and clear it. The BBs are pushed and towed back and do the same. The CHs have no problems but that's to be expected. Above Us The Sky float across the soft sand and make it look effortless.
We regroup and use a can of tyre weld on the Minty. Unfortunately due to the bouncing around or a fault with the can the valve system breaks and showers Colin and Paul in Foam. Its like it is snowing in the desert, but Paul is less impressed as it is all over his gilabert. As we finish the job the merc comes off the beach followed by the citron. It sit rather uneasy with us and our guides wont be drawn on it.
We head on on good running with intermittent soft sand. We later find out the guides think D is giving odds on us getting out "Soft Sand Soft Sand" sounds like 66 in French when said fast. With the good running we are able to get up to 80 kph and it feels like warp speed compared to what we have been doing and we get to tarmac. We are told not to re inflate the tyres which seams strange till we hit a couple of dunes across the road. After the guides taking a look and working out the best route we go for it. There are some great sequence shots of the cars doing the run up and going over the top. Above Us the Sky look like they leave the ground as they crest the second dune. We managed to definitely get the cars backside in the air on the first one but no one got a shot.
When we reach the road and clear the first police checkpoint we stop to refil the tyres. The operation takes about 30 min and we move the electrical compressors round the group. CH manage to break their footpump and our compressor appears to put out the same amount of air as a wheezing asthmatic. We are soon on our way again and heading towards our overnight stop. Nouakchott is another shock to the system after driving for so long with no one around. The place is non stop and vehicles come from every direction. At least however there are loads of fuel stations we can use in the morning.
We go past lots of hotels in various price bands and states of repair / building and end up heading into what looks like a residential area. After all this way we nearly end up stuck in the soft sand on a road junction, the BBs do and with a quick push are soon moving again. The guides take us to the hotel and its a gorgeous place called <<cant remember the name will insert later, number 16 on lonely planet>>. We say good bye to our guides and pay the remaining money, we have been really lucky to have them and they have made the crossing something completely unforgettable. I would recommend them to anyone and will get the contact information put up on the blog. They go home to their families and we will call them in the morning if we require their assistance on our onward journey. As the other teams get themselves settled in we work on the car. It has taken some massive hits and is looking rough. We shuffle the kit around again and attempt to get the some of the sand out as well as bend the sump guard away from the engine. For anyone doing something like this in nearly any vehicle a sump guard is worth its weight in gold. Whilst we are doing this the others catch up with a kiwi that started the P2B who is staying at the hotel.
His original car made 15km in Europe before failing completely. They then got a second car that got them further down but went the same way. He has subsequently made his way down to Marrakesh and Mauritania on mixed forms of transport. The rest of his team had decided to go home.
We rigged up the filtration system so as the evening progresses we can refill the 50L we are carrying, which is okay till one of the containers falls over and we loose 25L, way it goes. As their isnt enough available rooms in the place we double up and David, Colin and Myself stay in the front room of the apartment that De and Adrian have. Food takes a while in the evening and by the time it arrives we are really ready for it, in retrospect it may have made more sense to go out for food but not moving was the best option at the time.
There is wifi and the laptop is used heavily by people checking emails and world events. I am too tired to do any more than upload the last batch of blogs. I do however take in the view of the city from the roof top veranda, unfortunately the camera is woefully unable to capture the lights and breath taking view. The stars have been so clear and even in the city with the lights you can see so many it makes you feel insignificant.
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