2011
14
paź
The last river crossing?!
Mauritania, Khabou
Przejechano 16581 km
THE SPONSOR OF MY BICYCLE SPARE PARTS IS COMPANY PRODUCING FINE BICYCLE SADDLES www.abi.com.pl
Is this the really last river crossing in Africa? It looks like it is… There will be no more rivers further in the Sahara! In Mali, the gendarmerie didn't even have a stamp to put it in my passport, but they let me go. I crossed Senegal river using a small pirogue and here I come, Mauretania!
But not so fast, my friend!
It was a Friday afternoon, so I had to wait half an hour until the pray in the mosque would be finished. Next, I had to wait for a some guy. When he came, it took him around 20 minutes to check all the pages in my passport, then he made a phone call and the next fellow showed up. The situation seemed to be quite normal until the third guy came, who looked like the last one and the most important. They were talking and talking, the second guy was writhing down some details of my passport and, finally, the big stamp appeared my passport! Officially and legally, I am in Mauretania!
The police were all the time assuring me that I was save and there was "no problem" in Mauretania, but it looked like they were more anxious about my safety than I really was. They had been extremely slow with all the procedures to put a stamp in the passport; however, when it was all over it, they speeded up with everything to get me out of the place as soon as it was possible. But I wasn't in a hurry. They already took two hours of my time, but I had to eat lunch and exchange money, so immediately I got an personal assistance, which showed me a place to eat and a place to exchange money. I believe I was served there as best they could if the police stood by me!
In the afternoon I left the place with a guidance of the gendarmerie chief along not well-defined way to Selibabi. The landscape was getting very beautiful with its baobabs and grass turning green. Midway to Selibabi I was stopped by the chief insisting to load me bike on a Toyota Pick-up and drive me to town.
It ended so I had to stay overnight in a nearby village to continue my journey the following morning. The big boss arranged my stay at a local Maur so I could relax!
Well, it was better than going further since I had been on malaria pills and didn’t feel too well anyway. This malaria was my 6th in Africa and I must admit that maybe it is not as fierce as in the 19th century for all the early explorers of Africa, but it still gave me that kind of feeling. It was hot, hot outside, hot inside. I was feverish, I had no strength in my legs but still had to move forward, still had to be conscious and I was still the only one who cared!
I wasn’t delirious, I wasn’t unconscious, but now I know how it had been those days when a number of Europeans had been struggling to get to Tomboctou, for an instance; and they hadn’t managed because of malaria. I'm sure I would be dead too if it wasn’t for the modern medicine! I did get out of there and continued up to Kaedi, but it wasn't easy. 
Is this the really last river crossing in Africa? It looks like it is… There will be no more rivers further in the Sahara! In Mali, the gendarmerie didn't even have a stamp to put it in my passport, but they let me go. I crossed Senegal river using a small pirogue and here I come, Mauretania!
But not so fast, my friend!
It was a Friday afternoon, so I had to wait half an hour until the pray in the mosque would be finished. Next, I had to wait for a some guy. When he came, it took him around 20 minutes to check all the pages in my passport, then he made a phone call and the next fellow showed up. The situation seemed to be quite normal until the third guy came, who looked like the last one and the most important. They were talking and talking, the second guy was writhing down some details of my passport and, finally, the big stamp appeared my passport! Officially and legally, I am in Mauretania!
The police were all the time assuring me that I was save and there was "no problem" in Mauretania, but it looked like they were more anxious about my safety than I really was. They had been extremely slow with all the procedures to put a stamp in the passport; however, when it was all over it, they speeded up with everything to get me out of the place as soon as it was possible. But I wasn't in a hurry. They already took two hours of my time, but I had to eat lunch and exchange money, so immediately I got an personal assistance, which showed me a place to eat and a place to exchange money. I believe I was served there as best they could if the police stood by me!
In the afternoon I left the place with a guidance of the gendarmerie chief along not well-defined way to Selibabi. The landscape was getting very beautiful with its baobabs and grass turning green. Midway to Selibabi I was stopped by the chief insisting to load me bike on a Toyota Pick-up and drive me to town.
It ended so I had to stay overnight in a nearby village to continue my journey the following morning. The big boss arranged my stay at a local Maur so I could relax!
Well, it was better than going further since I had been on malaria pills and didn’t feel too well anyway. This malaria was my 6th in Africa and I must admit that maybe it is not as fierce as in the 19th century for all the early explorers of Africa, but it still gave me that kind of feeling. It was hot, hot outside, hot inside. I was feverish, I had no strength in my legs but still had to move forward, still had to be conscious and I was still the only one who cared!
I wasn’t delirious, I wasn’t unconscious, but now I know how it had been those days when a number of Europeans had been struggling to get to Tomboctou, for an instance; and they hadn’t managed because of malaria. I'm sure I would be dead too if it wasn’t for the modern medicine! I did get out of there and continued up to Kaedi, but it wasn't easy.
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