Across the Mighty Sahara.

Click to see photos of Western Sahara

The past week has been a long drive, through Western Sahara to the Mauratania border, from Morocco. We got up at sunrise every morning and drove until just before sunset, pulling off the road to find a sand dune to disappear behind and camp for the night. We have crossed some of the harshest, most sparsely populated, and dangerous landscapes, in the world. The Western Sahara isn't a place you want to hang around too long, get lost in, or break down in. It's dotted with landmines, shipwrecks along the beaches, and at the moment very unstable. At the last check point in Morocco the police seem confused why we would want to travel through this area, giving us a look of insanity.

There isn't much to see in Western Sahara, except the western edge of the grand Sahara Desert, meeting the blue Atlantic. The ocean cuts into the jagged sandstone and dunes of sand, forming steep cliff edges and sandy beaches. Only about 500,000 people live in Western Sahara, and most of them in the biggest town Laayoune, just south of the Moroccan border.

The path south, took us along and across small parts of the route the former world famous Paris to Dakar, rally race went along. It was an annual event that took place until 2009 when security became too much of a issue and they moved it to Argentina. This is the route that was supposed to happen in 2009.

Traveling though this country, you get that sense that this is a place dreams come to die. Nothing but sand as far as the eye can see. The wind seems to never stop blowing, sandblasting your body through the day. After just one day, I couldn't tell if i was getting tan or just dirty.

Since most of the days were spent driving, it allowed me to catch up on some reading. When the scenery became a bit monotanous, I tucked my head down from the roof and got lost in some other world or adventure. Then when something caught my eye, like a herd of camels or change in scenery, I would poke my head back out the sunroof, like a praire dog, and snap some pictures.

Since, I'm traveling with a group of others passengers, we have had to work together to keep things organized. When ever we stop for the night we search for firewood. Which was easy in Morocco but difficult in the desert. Most of the wood we brought with us, or found along the beach. We cook every meal over a fire, the group broken into 7 groups of 3, cooking all the meals of that day. When we arrive in a city, the cook group takes off to buy what they can from local markets. If it's not possible to find food, because we are away from any cities, we have lots of reserves tucked away in the truck. Mostly canned food, which we call dog food, so we try and get fresh stuff when ever possible.

Saftey is always on our minds. Everything that can open has a pad lock on it. When we stop in cities we rotate who will guard the truck. We have to always be alert. People always try to make there way into the truck. At night everything is locked up and someone always has to sleep on the truck, the rest of our tents, put up on the same side of the truck, close by, so we can keep an eye on them. We don't even put our sleeping bag in the tent till we are ready to go to sleep. As the driver stated. "This is Africa, anything that can be stolen, will be stolen if you don't keep an eye on it."

The instablity of Western Sahara and the countries we are heading to, has made the other passengers a bit on edge. But it has also brought us together, to look out for eachother. I have always been the type where when things get dicey, I get more excited, I'm loving every minute.

My favorite spot in the truck is a place called the beach. It's like the bunk in a camper, but you can open up the roof like a convertable, and allows you the best views with your head out the top, as you travel down the road. Luckily most of the passengers hate the front because it's windy. I on the other hand love driving down the road, with the wind in my face. It's amazing for photography and you don't miss anything that you pass. Everytime we come across a police check point or military post, I just duck down.

The first month has seemed to fly by. The longer the trip goes the more hardend I become to life on the move. I can sleep pretty much anywhere right now. My thermorest has so many holes in it, I don't bother to try and patch them. Just sleep with my sleeping bag on what ever surface we have to sleep on, with what ever criters that deside to cuddle up with me. My stomach could probably eat just about anything now. Have had no problem with the water or local food in the markets. After a week I have even started preferring the hole in the ground over the western toilets.

The craziest part of the last week was crossing from Western Sahara into Mauratania. Not only does it take all day, patrol officers searching through our truck, checking our passports, making us wait for no reason, and even having our truck go through a giant xray machine. We offered to sell off a Canadian girl for a few camels just to speed up the process.

After finally proceeding out of Moroccan control, our jaws dropped, one after the other repeated, "what the Fuck" The area betwen exiting Morocco control and entering Maurantania control was like entering noman's land. The 1-3 miles to the Mauratania border control, is the most abandoned places on earth I have ever seen. It's like time itself seems to have been forgotten. Abandoned cars litter the area like junk yards,mostly cars that were discoverd stolen by border guards. There is no road to the Mauratania border, just a path most commonly used to drive aross a landscape straight from a horror book. No country controls the area between so pretty much anything goes on. People stuck between borders try to jump on the truck, begging for help. Trash covers the ground. This definetly set the tone for entering western Africa. As we entered Mauratania, we were not only excited to enter another country, but anxious for what was ahead. What ever danger presents itself we are preparred for it with an amazing truck.

The trip so far has been a dream to photograph. I've been kept busy documenting the culture and lifestyles, along the trip. Though there hasn't been much wildlife to photograph along the trip, the experience it self has been unreal. I eagerly look forward to the next four months and where it takes us.

Tucked in behind a long sanddune.

Signs warn you along southern Western Sahara, of dangerous land mines. You don't venture far from the truck.

When ever we could find firewood, we made sure to take it along with us.

Click to see photos of Western Sahara

The past week has been a long drive, through Western Sahara to the Mauratania border, from Morocco. We got up at sunrise every morning and drove until just before sunset, pulling off the road to find a sand dune to disappear behind and camp for the night. We have crossed some of the harshest, most sparsely populated, and dangerous landscapes, in the world. The Western Sahara isn't a place you want to hang around too long, get lost in, or break down in. It's dotted with landmines, shipwrecks along the beaches, and at the moment very unstable. At the last check point in Morocco the police seem confused why we would want to travel through this area, giving us a look of insanity.

There isn't much to see in Western Sahara, except the western edge of the grand Sahara Desert, meeting the blue Atlantic. The ocean cuts into the jagged sandstone and dunes of sand, forming steep cliff edges and sandy beaches. Only about 500,000 people live in Western Sahara, and most of them in the biggest town Laayoune, just south of the Moroccan border.

The path south, took us along and across small parts of the route the former world famous Paris to Dakar, rally race went along. It was an annual event that took place until 2009 when security became too much of a issue and they moved it to Argentina. This is the route that was supposed to happen in 2009.

Traveling though this country, you get that sense that this is a place dreams come to die. Nothing but sand as far as the eye can see. The wind seems to never stop blowing, sandblasting your body through the day. After just one day, I couldn't tell if i was getting tan or just dirty.

Since most of the days were spent driving, it allowed me to catch up on some reading. When the scenery became a bit monotanous, I tucked my head down from the roof and got lost in some other world or adventure. Then when something caught my eye, like a herd of camels or change in scenery, I would poke my head back out the sunroof, like a praire dog, and snap some pictures.

Since, I'm traveling with a group of others passengers, we have had to work together to keep things organized. When ever we stop for the night we search for firewood. Which was easy in Morocco but difficult in the desert. Most of the wood we brought with us, or found along the beach. We cook every meal over a fire, the group broken into 7 groups of 3, cooking all the meals of that day. When we arrive in a city, the cook group takes off to buy what they can from local markets. If it's not possible to find food, because we are away from any cities, we have lots of reserves tucked away in the truck. Mostly canned food, which we call dog food, so we try and get fresh stuff when ever possible.

Saftey is always on our minds. Everything that can open has a pad lock on it. When we stop in cities we rotate who will guard the truck. We have to always be alert. People always try to make there way into the truck. At night everything is locked up and someone always has to sleep on the truck, the rest of our tents, put up on the same side of the truck, close by, so we can keep an eye on them. We don't even put our sleeping bag in the tent till we are ready to go to sleep. As the driver stated. "This is Africa, anything that can be stolen, will be stolen if you don't keep an eye on it."

The instablity of Western Sahara and the countries we are heading to, has made the other passengers a bit on edge. But it has also brought us together, to look out for eachother. I have always been the type where when things get dicey, I get more excited, I'm loving every minute.

My favorite spot in the truck is a place called the beach. It's like the bunk in a camper, but you can open up the roof like a convertable, and allows you the best views with your head out the top, as you travel down the road. Luckily most of the passengers hate the front because it's windy. I on the other hand love driving down the road, with the wind in my face. It's amazing for photography and you don't miss anything that you pass. Everytime we come across a police check point or military post, I just duck down.

The first month has seemed to fly by. The longer the trip goes the more hardend I become to life on the move. I can sleep pretty much anywhere right now. My thermorest has so many holes in it, I don't bother to try and patch them. Just sleep with my sleeping bag on what ever surface we have to sleep on, with what ever criters that deside to cuddle up with me. My stomach could probably eat just about anything now. Have had no problem with the water or local food in the markets. After a week I have even started preferring the hole in the ground over the western toilets.

The craziest part of the last week was crossing from Western Sahara into Mauratania. Not only does it take all day, patrol officers searching through our truck, checking our passports, making us wait for no reason, and even having our truck go through a giant xray machine. We offered to sell off a Canadian girl for a few camels just to speed up the process.

After finally proceeding out of Moroccan control, our jaws dropped, one after the other repeated, "what the Fuck" The area betwen exiting Morocco control and entering Maurantania control was like entering noman's land. The 1-3 miles to the Mauratania border control, is the most abandoned places on earth I have ever seen. It's like time itself seems to have been forgotten. Abandoned cars litter the area like junk yards,mostly cars that were discoverd stolen by border guards. There is no road to the Mauratania border, just a path most commonly used to drive aross a landscape straight from a horror book. No country controls the area between so pretty much anything goes on. People stuck between borders try to jump on the truck, begging for help. Trash covers the ground. This definetly set the tone for entering western Africa. As we entered Mauratania, we were not only excited to enter another country, but anxious for what was ahead. What ever danger presents itself we are preparred for it with an amazing truck.

The trip so far has been a dream to photograph. I've been kept busy documenting the culture and lifestyles, along the trip. Though there hasn't been much wildlife to photograph along the trip, the experience it self has been unreal. I eagerly look forward to the next four months and where it takes us.

Tucked in behind a long sanddune.

Signs warn you along southern Western Sahara, of dangerous land mines. You don't venture far from the truck.

When ever we could find firewood, we made sure to take it along with us.

Click to see photos of Western Sahara