Choum - Atar

The 2^nd stop, 10 hours later, 1:30am, was our destination Choum. The great thing about Africa is you never have to worry about connections, there will always be someone waiting to drive you, show you their uncle’s cousin’s 2^nd brother’s hotel, etc. Alas, we got quite a reception on disembarkation, lots of men yelling & fighting for our business. Found a van quickly, chucked our bags in the back with the goats, but there was 1.5 hours of waiting, dropping into different houses, changing vehicles & other miscellaneous activties that Africans have to do at that time of night. When we finally hit the road for real, with the original price being tripled, it was a 4 hour bumpy & sandy ride to Atar.

The fun didn’t stop there. It took another hour walking around trying to find a hotel, which turned out to have closed down for the lack of tourists. Gateway to the desert, Atar used to be reasonably prosperous, especially with French tourists & direct flights from Paris. No longer so, it’s now a sad, quiet place, in terms of tourism anyway. The local vibe around the town is strong, but for me, walking through the markets, there was also desperation in the faces encountered.

We found, or rather were led to, a nice, simple, clean auberge on the outskirts of Atar. And here we encountered our 2^nd fellow traveler in Mauritania, a very interesting French man who is spending the next 2-3 years cycling around Africa, on the way eventually to Madagascar. He’s been on the road 6 months already from France. The guesthouse is hosted by another kind gentleman, who we’re heading out to the desert with in a couple of days.