Transition

Last week - the desert
This week - Paris

Chinguetti

On our last day, our guide Baba took us to see the historic texts that we'd heard so much about.
We were expecting a library of some sort, but it turns out the books are in the hands of private families who have cared for them for generations. Conditions are not always easy for adequate preservation.
Other texts are still in remarkably good condition.
A last look at the town with its shops and residents
Then back to Atar where our plane was waiting to take us back to the cold Paris winter.

Ouadane to Chinguetti

Imagine my surprise when we set off for Chinguetti by heading straight into the open desert. We were a convoy of about 35 trucks - mostly Toyotas - but once we started, all notions of staying together fell by the wayside. Our driver seemed particularly aggressive, driving as fast as possible and refusing to follow in the tracks of those in front of us. Boy, did we bounce all over! I sat in the middle seat in the back - no seatbelt, no room for my legs, but at least I had people on either side of me to cushion the shocks from side to side.
No roads, no maps, no GPS, no signposts or landmarks - just the (divided) opinions of the guides. . . This is no place to get lost!
Oops, no shovels either. Everybody out to push.
Some hours later, we made it to the oasis of Tenourcherte where the nomadic families cluster around a well.
After a break at the oasis, and at least one episode of backtracking when our route was blocked by the dunes; we finally found our way Chinguetti. We arrived at sunset and were happy to rest our tired bodies.

Ouadane - ancient walls

Ouadane was founded in 1141. Its name in Arabic means "junction of two riverbeds." One riverbed was called the "riverbed of dates" (the kind you eat) and the other the "riverbed of science." Largely abandoned after the 18th century, not much remains today. Below, the remains of the original mosque.


After visiting the ruins of the ancient city, we stopped in to see a collection of holy texts. It turns out that the collector of old books collects just about everything.


Ouadane is not a ghost town - yet. And there are reminders of the modern world.



Tomorrow - the crazy drive across the desert from Ouadane to Chinguetti

Ouadane

Why the sudden trip to a place that no one has ever heard of? Less than a month ago we received an invitation via email from a friend of a friend of Patrice to join a group of 130 journalists, travel agents, and tourists for a four day visit to Mauritania. The area we visited now falls in a "red zone" where all travel is discouraged due to terrorist activities over the last few years by Al Quaeda in Magreb (AQIM). The country has suffered greatly from this designation. While never a major tourist destination, the ancient cities of Ouadane and Chinguetti did have some historical significance as trans-Saharan oases, and used to receive about 10,000 tourists per year. A visit by one tourist brings in enough money to feed a local resident for one year. The town of Ouadane saw zero tourists in 2011. This visit was a desperate effort to remind French tourists not to forget about Mauritania and to demonstrate that the area is safe to visit and does not deserve its "red zone" status.

We always felt very secure, and we enjoyed tremendous hospitality by the Mauritanian people. The President, Mohamed Ould Abdel Aziz, even greeted us personally. We felt like visiting dignitaries rather than simple tourists.

After greetings and lunch, we loaded into a fleet of Toyota 4x4s and headed towards our camp in Oudane.

We stopped a few times along the way, and during one of these breaks I noticed that a few of the guides took off their shoes when they stopped to pray.
We finally arrived at our camp and claimed a tent.

Our tent even had electricity and nearby facilities:
The kitchen consisted of a tent similar to ours along with a wood fire for cooking. The food was quite good - considering. We had lamb the first night. And camel the second night . .
I certainly hope that this camel was not the one we had for dinner.
Tomorrow - a visit to the old city.

Mauritania

Patrice and I are preparing to leave the frigid cold of Paris to spend four days in Mauritania in West Africa. We have been invited to attend the Festival of Ancient Cities in Ouadane and Chinguetti. These ancient towns were once caravan stops for those crossing the Sahara desert. They were also centers of learning with libraries housing sacred Islamic texts. Today, these towns have been designated UNESCO World Heritage sites and are gradually being buried by the encroaching sands of the Sahara.

We hope to return with plenty of photos and stories of our adventure. We will be back online around the 9th of February.

Canterbury

Canterbury Cathedral is the oldest and best known of Christian churches in England. It was first founded in the year 597, and was modified and extended several times. Here is the view from the west gate.

and the view from the cloisters

this is the pulpit

Uh, even cathedrals need to be cleaned and vacuumed . . . .

A pivotal moment in the history of Canterbury cathedral was the murder of Thomas Becket in 1170 by knights of King Henry II. The sculpture below is part of a shrine to Thomas who was canonized shortly after his martyrdom.
The ghostly shadow on this pillar in the crypt is said to represent the murdered Thomas . .