Mauritania

W e s t A f r i c a ~

M a u r i t a n i a

While in St. Louis, Senegal, a group of us decided to travel up to Mauritania, which was just a few kilometers walk from where we were staying. Of course, we didn't bother getting visas or permission to cross the Country's border, and we set of blindly for the small oasis of trees that you can see in the photo above.

After following the coastline, past the fishing boats of St. Louis, we trekked up to a spot we "figured" was well into Mauritanian territory. Not long after the photo (above) of our group was taken, we were indeed informed that we had reached Mauritanian soil.
"Oh my God," I believe was the expression used by one of the group when he saw two military soldiers armed with machine guns, approaching us from the dunes that surrounded us on the horizon.
Mauritania is a French speaking Country, aside from the indigenous African languages. As luck would have it, one of the group who decided to tag along at the last minute that day was a Frenchman, whose name, I believe is Louis.
Once the soldiers arrived and were basically wondering what this group of white foreigners were doing taking a siesta on their beach, our French friend chatted our way out of certain monetary compensation or jail time for not holding the appropriate papers.
The soldiers did, indeed ask for a "bribe" of some sort, in the way of money, however, our Louis told them we travelled this day without any.

The photo to the right, is a bit difficult to decipher, however, I quickly snapped it, without framing up, as the two soldiers (middle two dark figures) were walking back to their post, empty-pocketed, thanks to Louis. They graciously allowed us to stay at our shaded oasis for a few minutes longer, then leave, and never come back.