Travel Morals (as we like to call them)

*Always carry multiple copies of your passport – for all of Morocco and Mauritania you need a good 10,15…maybe 20 copies! It will make gendarmerie and police checks (which there are a lot of) much faster as it means all they have to do is verify who you are and they can copy down your information later! Bus drivers and drivers will love you!!

*Carry a good supply of Euros on you as it is the best currency going and often the only thing you can change on the street

*Bring cash into Mauritania!! Lots of it…banks close at 1:00 and only one ATM accepts foreign bank cards – The Société Général de Mauritanie (check with your bank before travelling - BMO isn’t accepted in many banks)

*Arrange exact prices including bags, extra people prices….or at least expect that the day of traveling the prices might jump for all kinds of reasons! Be prepared to argue…

*Expect trips to take much longer than anticipated (and suggested by the locals) because of delays at police checks and delays to help other drivers’ broken down cars (we stopped 3 times to help other cars out)

*6 people travel in cabs in Mauritania! Two up front 4 in the back…

*Always carry toilet paper, soap, and water and small change for men or women who sit outside the bathroom and clean it, sometimes provide soap and TP

*If you have time to wait for rides, a free one might just crop up. Quite a few people travel down through Mauritania to Senegal…the fewer people you travel with the easier it will be to hitch a ride for free or for very little!

*You cannot change Moroccan dirhams in Senegal

*The Rosso border closes at 1 and opens again from 3 to 6:30

*If you squat low, pee facing the back wall, if you squat high pee facing the door – those of you who have seen the toilets will understand, those of you who haven’t will understand if you ever do see the toilets.


I am sorry that this retelling of the adventure ended up being so long! Turns out that a lot more happened than I realized and by writing it all down I opened the flood gates.

Thanks for those of you who sifted through this huge write up and I hope it was interesting to read. From now on my updates will be a little shorter…I promise!!

Ligeey Ligeey! A bientot!