Lazy Daze in Atar
A day of lazing around on armchairs with a few others while the rest are away viewing the old Islamic sites I mentioned yesterday. I had originally intended to go until I heard that it would mean a 6 hour drive in 4×4 pickup trucks. I then changed my mind. Anyway, I’ve seen a hundred Islamic sites and, with the exception of Central Asia, they’re pretty unimpressive.
There were 5 of us left on the campsite and it was great to hear the sound of silence. I spent the morning filling in the gaps in my journal and spell-checking; difficult to do on a small screen.
I don’t seem to have a thirst reflex. The weather is scorching and although I’m in shade all the time, I still sweat buckets. Whenever I venture into the sun, it’s like stepping into a furnace. I drink copious amounts of water, provided for free by the campsite. I don’t know the source of the water but the tap is labelled ‘drinking water’. Sometimes what is drinkable for the locals causes stomach problems for westerners. A few of the guys said they had the runs. Touch wood, my guts are holding out and everything is solid, if you get my drift!
I rarely feel thirsty and what drives me to drink is the thought that I really should get some liquid into me as I’m sweating a lot of liquid. Yet, I hardly ever pee and if I do, it’s a minuscule amount.
I think I could easily get seriously dehydrated. Indeed, I only know I am when I begin to get symptoms. Doh, as Homer Simpson might say. One symptom is foggy thinking. For example, I never lose things. A few days ago, I went into the loo and walked out and left my phone on the floor. I’ve never done this before. Mercifully, it was nearly out of charge and I was going to plug it into my powerbrick when, to my horror, I noticed that it was no longer in my pocket. This was just a few minutes after I left the loo so I charged back, heart in mouth, so see if it was still there. It was! Phew.
Another symptom is an increase in disorganisation. I’m struggling to remember things I should know. This is mild and probably wouldn’t be noticed. But I noticed it. My spatial orientation is usually excellent so I notice this change. I have a good system of storage so I can put my hands on things immediately. I’ve started to put things in the wrong packs.
Other symptoms include lassitude and cramps. Again, very mild. My solution is to drink a lot more water than I usually would and take some rehydration sachets I brought with me. That and laziness.
One consolation is that I’m not the only one. I have heard others say something similar.
Of course, it could also be a side effects of the antimalarial meds I’m taking.
One of the hassles, or opportunities, of overlanding is getting visas. I visit 11 or 13 countries, not sure which yet. Every country demands a visa to allow entry into their country. Every country has a different way to apply.
These are applications at your home embassy where you take, or post, your passport and application form to the embassy of the country you’re visiting. They process the paperwork, place the visa in your passport and post it back to you. When you arrive at the border, you sail through. In theory! The only country on my route who offers such a Visa is Ghana. I have their visa in my passport already.
A visa on demand is where you apply and get the visa at the entry border. This is what happened at the Morocco/Mauritania border. This can be very time consuming as there’s a lot of paperwork to process.
An increasingly popular method is online application where you apply online and collect the visa at the border. I used this method in some middle eastern countries. It can still be bureaucratic though.
Finally, apply at the country’s embassy in another country where the visa is placed in your passport. This is what we will be doing for the next few days in Nouakchott, the capital city of Mauritania where the embassies are located.
Another option which isn’t really an option is to enter a country where no visa is required. The only example of this was flying into Morocco where I got an entrance stamp in my passport. I didn’t need a visa.
We leave tomorrow morning and have a long drive. Then we book into a campsite for 3 days. I have chosen to upgrade to a hotel room with a bathroom and air-conditioning. It’s not cheap but not excessive either.
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