Leg 68, Kaedi, Mauritania via Senegal to Rabil, Cape Verde
DAY10_29.PLN (5.8 KB)
I’ll apologize in advance for the amount of screenshots, I went into the good part of the desert again. So many amazing views, well worth the ‘detour’.
10-29 Kaedi GQNK 4:31 AM
10-29 Kiffa GQNF 5:26 AM
10-29 Aioun-El-Atrouss GQNA 6:18 AM
10-29 Tidjikja GQND 7:23 AM
10-29 Letfotar GQNL 7:49 AM
10-29 Akjoujt GQNJ 8:56 AM
10-29 Akjoujt GQNJ 10:02 AM
10-29 Oumtounsy GQNO 10:51 AM Intl airport missing, just dirt strips
10-29 Nouakchott GQNN 11:00 AM
10-29 Podor GOSP 11:41 AM
10-29 Rosso GORO 12:04 PM
10-29 St Louis GOSS 12:24 PM
10-29 Thies GOTH 12:58 PM
10-29 Blaise Diagne GOBD 1:06 PM
10-29 Leopold Sedar Senghor GOOY 1:24 PM 323nm next
10-29 Rabil GVBA 3:25 PM Virtual vision landing
Flight time 9:48 14 stops
First up, the way to Kiffa from Kaedi, starts tame enough
Kiffa, large spread out town with a photo featuring Niagara falls on Google
You can’t fool me, this is the real Kiffa
Carrying on to Aioun-El-Atrouss
The desert colors are coming back
Too bad the height map resolution doesn’t match the ground detail, this is what it looks like around Aioun-El-Atrouss after some rain
On to Tidjikja, a long stretch of empty desert to cross first
Until getting to the Tagant Plateau
Across the lonely road
Hopping up onto the Tagant plateau
Approaching Tidjikja
Tidjikja, capital of the Tagant region and is known for its palm trees
On the way to Letfotar
The landscape is getting more and more varied
Letfotar, maybe. The nearest settlement is unnamed, closest named town is Moudjéria, 12 miles away.
Continuing on to Akjoujt
Lake El’Aleib (maybe, unnamed on Bing, kinda questionable name placement on Google)
Names are sparse, but you can see a picture of what’s on the shelves in a local shop
Then follows a lot more desert with lovely sand dunes
The ground is starting to show patterns again
And then the scenery goes wild on approach to Akjoujt
To put the actual town in a rather mundane spot
Strange form of advertising, a local grocery store (Epicerie Tasamouh) has one picture up of a heavily bandaged guy hanging out on a chair in front of (blocking) an open steel door, taken from inside a Toyota that’s stopped in the middle of the street or driving by. Also the only contribution of the poster. I feel there’s a story here.
There was a good picture of Akjoujt as well
On the way Oumtounsy
Autoroute Akjoujt N1, long straight drive
A lonely grocery store down below with pictures of the inventory posted
More sand dunes along the way
Oumtounsy is the name of the airport at or rather in Nouakchott
Nouakchott is home to Mosque Saudique
There is also a fish market nearby with the colorful pirogues to fish with
Arriving at Podor along the river Senegal which forms the border between Mauritania and Senegal
Street view is (sporadically) available in Senegal, horse and buggy seems to be the popular form of transportation in Podor.
On to Rosso, That looks like a hand with a skull drawn in the thumb
Richard Toll, named for the park of the Château de Baron Roger, laid out by botanist Jean Michel Claude Richard. Senegal looks very much like France from the road signs to the style of concrete hydro poles. Senegal gained independence from France in 1960, not very long ago.
Quite busy on the streets, bustling town.
Arriving at St Louis
Another coastal town with lots of colorful boats
Thies, a major industrial city
And lastly arriving at the capital of Senegal, Dakar
Home to the African Renaissance monument and mosque of the divinity
I’m amazed I’ve never heard of this monument before. The first picture I saw of it was a few days ago posted in a small town in Guinea. I thought it was a joke picture, it’s a real thing. It is rather new, 2010 unveiling. 52 meter high bronze statue designed by Senegalese architect Pierre Goudiaby and made by Mansudae Overseas Projects in North Korea. For comparison, Christ the redeemer is ‘only’ 30 meters high.
I did know of Dakar from early on, Paris Dakar rally pc game from 1990. The rally is still going
Although the last time it went to Dakar was in 2007. From 2008 to 2019 it was held in South America due to security concerns in Mauritania and this year it was held in Saudi Aribia.
From Dakar I (or rather the plane) flew on to Cape Verde. I took a couple pictures of the sun getting low before letting it continue on its own. Near full moon today
I like how it lights up the logo on the wing
Taking a back seat for the rest of the flight
Cape Verde has no runway lights but does have a big runway in the G1000, virtual vision landing made easy. Tomorrow island hopping! I survived patch day, the game still works 