Laâyoune-Sakia El Hamra
Today has been a fairly run of the mill day in overlanding. The main focus today was on getting as many kilometres as possible on the clock. This didn’t exactly work out as we hoped it would and the accumulation of today’s losses and yesterday’s losses means we’re about a day behind our schedule now.
As mentioned in the earlier post we stopped off at lunch in a lovely little town called Laavourne. I’m almost mortified to say this but we all trouped into a MacDonald’s and had MacShite for lunch. It was gorgeous.
We drove the whole afternoon with occasional short stops. We were stopped a few times by the gendarme and by the military because we are in a disputed area.
We are now in the Western Sahara officially and that part is claimed by Morocco and also by the people of the Western Sahara. There’s been conflict here for quite a while. So there’s lots of security around.
We are bushcamping at a beach area which is not too different from the place we were last night. The only difference is that this place is more wild. There are no houses around or any signs of human habitation at all. We went down a steep track off the main road and landed up on this huge deserted beach. That’s where we are camping now.
A bit like yesterday, it’s not very suitable for camping as it’s almost impossible to drive in out tent pegs. We used huge rocks to hold the tents down and I have, like last night, four huge rocks on the corner of my tent, on the inside. I’m not terribly happy about doing this because I’m concerned it might cause some damage to the fabric of the tent especially as we are really only at the start of our trip. This overlanding trip will be 90% camping and only 10% in hostels and hotels so I’m going to need my tent for at least 80 more occasions. I don’t want to get any harm done to it.
A great opportunity to work with one’s mental states and anger management etc etc etc is the fierce wind we have tonight. It really challenged all of us to pitch our tents with almost a gale blowing. I managed but I was so concerned that the strength of the wind would break the poles that I left the fly sheet off and used two guy ropes I borrowed from another guy to brace the two poles with huge huge rocks as anchors. It seems to work and the tent is more stable now but I’m concerned I might put too much strain on some of the tabs holding the poles onto the tent. However I’ve no choice. If I don’t do that, the tent won’t stand up and I have nowhere to sleep so needs must when the devil rides.
We’re getting near the border now of Mauritania and we’ll be crossing either tomorrow or the day after. All the guys and girls here are trying to get rid of all their alcohol so they can arrive at the border without any alcohol on the truck. Mauritania is a dry state and alcohol is forbidden so every drop must be drunk. The boys and girls are going at it with great gusto so they’re having a little party now.
We’re beginning to get to know each other a little bit better. It’s only a week or so since we’ve been on the road now and it takes quite a while for such a diverse group of people to form bonds and deepen interpersonal relationships.
Initially everybody forms into little clumps, usually age or temperament specific. Most of the younger folk hang out at the back of the truck and they have great fun while the older ones are in the front. We have fun of course but it’s a different type of fun. Some of us are fairly solitary. So, we’re still learning how to form a group conscience.
I was thinking a few days ago about Yalom’s thoughts on group formation. He states that when a group forms there are many stages until the group becomes a fully functional group and he relates these as forming, storming, norming, performing, adjourning and mourning. I think we’re in the forming and the storming stage now and we haven’t quite established a group norm yet. I guess that’ll happen in the next few weeks or so. There’s already tensions emerging and that’s the normal part of the storming phase so I look forward to seeing how it’s going to work out.
I like everybody on the trip and there’s nobody I don’t like or have a problem with. problem with. If I have a problem with them, it’s my problem, not their problem. Luckily I don’t have to put this to the test .
I’m writing this lying in my tent. Is it 9:30 and I’ll be going to sleep in about a half an hour. We’re leaving tomorrow at 7:00 a.m. with breakfast at 6:30 a.m. I’ll probably get up at 5:45 to give myself time to pack my tent away. Assuming that is at the wind hasn’t packed my tent away for me and it’s halfway across Mauritania now. Hopefully I won’t be inside if that happens.
It’s very windy inside the tent and is flapping around like a mad thing. I’m quite a bit out of my comfort zone here but I’m really enjoying the opportunity to be of my comfort zone because I’m confident it’ll be okay.
Some factoids from Wikipedia
Laâyoune-Sakia El Hamra (Arabic: العيون – الساقية الحمراء, romanized: al-ʿuyūn as-sāqiya l-ḥamrāʾ) is one of the twelve regions of Morocco. It is mainly located in the disputed territory of Western Sahara: the western part of the region is administered by Morocco and the eastern part by the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic. The region as claimed by Morocco covers an area of 140,018 square kilometres (54,061 sq mi) and had a population of 367,758 as of the 2014 Moroccan census. The capital of the region is Laâyoune.
Geography
Laâyoune-Sakia El Hamra borders the region of Guelmim-Oued Noun to the north and Dakhla-Oued Ed-Dahab to the south. It shares its eastern border with Mauritania’s Tiris Zemmour Region, and to its west is the Atlantic Ocean. The towns of Tarfaya, El Marsa and Boujdour are located on the Atlantic coast, and the Canary Islands are located offshore. The regional capital Laâyoune is located inland near El Marsa, and the region’s second-largest town Smara is located near its geographic centre. The Moroccan Wall runs through the region and the area to its east is under the control of the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic.
History
Laâyoune-Sakia El Hamra was formed in September 2015 by attaching Es Semara Province, formerly part of Guelmim-Es Semara region, to the former region of Laâyoune-Boujdour-Sakia El Hamra.
On 29 October 2023, the Polisario Front carried out an operation in the Es Semara Province of the region, dropping four explosive projectiles, killing one Moroccan civilian and injuring three.
Government
The first president of the regional council, Hamdi Ould Errachid, was elected on 14 September 2015. He is a member of the Istiqlal Party and previously headed the council of the former Laâyoune-Boujdour-Sakia El Hamra region.[8] His uncle Moulay Hamdi Ould Errachid is the mayor of Laayoune.[9] Yahdih Bouchab was appointed governor (wali) of the region on 13 October 2015.[10]
Please feel free to leave a comment or to subscribe for regular updates.
About Author
