Day Thirteen: Off road and loving it

The Mauritanian border turned out to be quite easy; it was getting out of Morrocco which turned out to be a terrible chore. The sandstorm wasn't a good start, but the border must be a punishment posting for the police, army and customs officers who staff it, so they're mostly bad-tempered, corrupt, or both. It took over an hour to officially leave Morrocco, and the struggle started with a policeman demanding as a 'petit cadeaux' our game of travel Monopoly, which we'd only just started playing while we waited in line. I must remember to write to the king of Morrocco when I get back! By contrast, the Mauritanian border people worked from a set of ramshackle huts and old caravans, and if not friendly, were quite efficient and didn't rip us off.

We got our first off-road experience crossing No Man's Land, a 4km stretch of wasteland between Morrocco and Mauritania, with sand, rough rock and broken road conditions. Our guide, Sheikh (no, it's really on his passport), took us through, but we still managed to ding Titich's sump, so in Nouabidhou we found a mechanic to perform a little meatball surgery. He managed to jack up the front wheels by a few inches in exchange for 50 Euros and a set of overalls. Money well spent: meet Titch Extreme.

So at last we got to the off-roading. Sheikh took us around the Nouabidhou peninsula to the mainland, and into the desert for an exhilarating, exhausting day on all kinds of sandy and rocky terrain. Titch Extreme has variously bounced, danced, skipped and even flown through, getting stuck just the once while I got the hang of a very different driving style. I could hardly wipe the grin off my face for the first few hours! Tomorrow it's Sylvia's turn, so I hope I haven't whacked it too many times today.

Camp tonight is is in the desert under almost clear skies, with a barbecue of freshly-killed goat. Tasty!