Day 52: Wild camp towards Tichit – Wild camp towards Matmata

In the morning we are visited by a total of three cars with a lot of men in traditional clothing who are also on the way to Tichit and, if we interpret it correctly, meet in the middle of the way in one of the meeting houses.

As it is often the case in Mauritania, we are told that they think it's great that we're traveling here and that it's completely okay for us to spend the night in the desert. And it is clear to us that, like the nights before, everyone here knew where we were.

We'll recap how much time we needed yesterday and how much fuel. So we drive a little further east and then turn onto the other track. Bad idea. Hard to find, no traffic, slow and tedious. Probably the old track before the new route existed. And when a route is no longer used regularly, it quickly disappears. We are very happy that we are only a few kilometers away from the official piste at some point and switch to this route for the cross-country way back. Good decision.

We hit the 50 degree mark (!). The two of us use around 6 liters of water just for drinking. We stick and sweat. Everything melts, even the wax from the underbody protection, and the navigation systems runs hot.

Back in Tidjikjia we have to refuel again. Today it is another gas station that has diesel for us. We do some shopping and continue towards Matmata, where we want to watch crocodiles tomorrow.