Cycling through the Sahara

As we have touched upon recently, we are making our way down through the Sahara to Mauritania, and then on to Senegal. That’s as far as our plan extends at present. In fact, we already know that at that point we face a bit of a conundrum. Without flying, which we choose not to do, we will probably find ourselves a bit hemmed in, with intense heat to the south or exiting again to the north as our likely options. We’ll see. For now, we have decided to postpone that decision and get on with cycling south through Western Sahara.

This is not something we have chosen to do lightly. We have read accounts that don’t paint a pretty picture and as we share many of Heike’s thoughts and wishes for life on the road, we weren’t exactly relishing it. Though we soon realised that we were lucky compared to Heike’s description, as the new road provides vastly more passing space than the old one. So far, this has led to a far healthier relationship between ourselves and the other vehicles we have encountered.

Wait?! Is this not at all what you were thinking of when we said we were cycling down through the Sahara? A big highway with sand either side? To be honest, it’s not the image we had in mind either and we’re still yet to use our barbecue skewers. Of course we knew this to a large extent before setting off but we are already longing for time off the tarmac again. There are potential options for off-roading in part but it’s considered pretty challenging, with various risks beyond the normal route finding and water refill issues, so we have decided the road route is challenging enough for us at this stage in our travels.

I thought I would try to provide a flavour of how it has been to this point. We’ve only traveled as far south as Laayoune thus far. We always planned to spend a few days here to explore the city and enjoy Eid al-Fitr with others. Soon we head south again and many of the themes of the past few days will return.

Wind

Wow, it sure can be windy. We are cycling north to south, which is generally considered sensible due to the prevailing wind (though the swallows heading north are a sign that we’re heading the wrong way!). We’ve made great progress on the days with the wind and less good progress on the days cycling into the wind.

Sand

As you can see from the above video, wind in itself isn’t the only issue. It turns the environment into a sandblaster. Of course we knew of this prospect and I even looked at some goggles before leaving Agadir but instead we are struggling on with our glasses, which so far seem to allow an annoying amount of dust into our eyes. Sand and dust will continue to be a theme. One that all mechanical parts of our kit (tent zips, bottom brackets, eye lids) will continue to curse.

Lack of shelter

Getting out of the wind and sun isn’t easy either. Luckily, temperatures aren’t off the scale currently and we’ve just about managed to find somewhere for the tent when we haven’t managed to make it to the next town.

Police / military

This route has already featured the all-seeing eye of the regular military posts along the coast and the police checks. Despite preparing thirty printed copies of our plans (fiches?) and our passports, we have yet to be stopped at a checkpoint. Though the police did check on us when we camped in the petrol station a few nights ago. We have been told to expect more checks in the next section.

One downside of the military posts in the last section we rode was that they were often ‘protected’ by dogs that chase us down. We’re pretty quick to get off our bikes now when that happens and that has so far resulted in the dogs backing down or losing interest.

Overall, it feels like we are being watched, but so far that feels like it’s in a way that has our interests at heart. The police didn’t even wake us the other night (though their lights did wake us up), they just spoke with the owner of the petrol station and then drove past us to check up. I am aware this could well be because we are travelling as a couple and one of us has a Y chromosome.

(Other) Animals

When I was checking out what the main risks to us were ahead of cycling this route, the conclusion was as predicted (spoiler alert: it’s drivers). But there is a risk from other things too, such as snakes and scorpions. As we get further south the risk from mosquitos also increases significantly. We have various ways of dealing with these risks such as looking ahead and treading carefully, not reaching into holes or turning rocks, repellents, anti-malarials, keeping our bags closed at night, zipping up the tent promptly, checking our shoes in the morning etc. We’ll see how we get on but one thing we have noticed is lots of tracks in the sand.

Some bigger…

And some smaller…

Litter

Despite these signs, which I find funny due to their emphasis on property over environment, litter is a thing along this route. There’s lots of it. Including loads of urine-filled plastic bottles. I guess at least we know that we are not that far from people should we need some assistance…

Endlesss (sic)

Despite all of this excitement—and our almost boundless ability to derive intrigue from our surroundings—cycling this route has already demanded a shift in our way of moving. Firstly, we are doing longer distances than usual. Even on headwind days we have been doing more than our normal 50ish kilometres. On tailwind days we have ridden over twice this. This is partly to make the next place where we can find shelter, food and water, and partly because there’s not a whole lot to stop for. This has led to a second change in our approach, which is that Beck and I have stopped talking as much while we are riding. There are only so many times you can say, ‘woah, look at that sand dune’ (impressive as they are!). That said, we are sanguine about it. It feels like a necessary part of our journey and it feels like it will shape the world that we reenter into once we reach the other side. I think we’d both rather be back in the Atlas, or cycling more directly through the desert but as it goes, so far, we are managing to lean into it. Here’s to the next leg!

Encouragement

Our days cycling in Morocco have been shaped by the kindness of others but this has taken on a slightly different complexion in the desert. People seem to be really willing us on. This has ranged from regular honking and waving from lorry drivers, people stopping to check we are ok, and even stopping us to give us gifts to keep us going. It’s really welcome and keeps us pedalling!

Lastly…

Me being me, I often imagine what pieces of music best represent the places I am cycling through. On a good day, and maybe off the tarmac, this feels like a Necks piece. Let’s go with Aether.

In reality, it’s more like Bieberx800 so far, but it could be a lot worse…like Bieber not x800 :))