A group of us congegrate to watch the sunrise which is a magnificent spectacle as the sun quickly rises above the horizon and paints the sky hues of red and yellow as it brightens from black to blue-grey to blue in only a matter of minutes, although it remains bitterly cold at first. Despite the beauty of nature and the magnificence of creation, Andrew is still not a happy camper.
A camel herder who had also taken advantage of our police protection during the night moves his herd off, but not before I get the chance to sample some fresh camel's milk (bit like goat's milk but nutty in flavour and a bit gritty, but then so is everything out here...)
Idamo, Julian's representative in Mauritania, explains that we have two choices today, either head straight for Nouakchott on the main road or go off-road into the Parc National du Banc d'Arguin and camp on the beach. We are a little concerned for Phoebe's well-being if we go off-road, but then she did have a new clutch fitted before we left, she's no longer overheating and the suspension held up ok in no-man's land, so along with the majority of the group (a couple of teams give it a miss) we decide to go for it.
It's about 90km to the beach cross-country and off-piste and to be honest I don't believe the majority of us really understood what that would entail. At first it goes well and everybody is soon exuberantly haring along at about 70 kmh kicking up clouds of dust and riding 4 or 5 cars abreast - just like something out of Mad Max.
That is until the first really sandy bit where everybody comes to a wheel-spinning halt as just about the entire convoy bogs down in the soft sand. It's 13:00 in the afternoon, the sun is at its' zenith and we spend the next hour in the broiling heat (it's well over 40 degrees) digging the cars out and getting a crash course in real desert driving from Sidi; Let your tyres down to about 20 psi, don't use the brakes but ride the clutch instead, keep the wheels as straight as possible as you will dig in if you make sudden turns on the wheel, use momentum to keep you going, accelerate and drive around anyone who bogs down in front of you, don't drive in someone elses' tracks and never spin the wheels but use second gear, slip the clutch and rev the nuts off it to get out if you get stuck. Teamwork is paramount, if someone gets stuck then all teams should find some hard ground and help the stuckees get moving again.
Andrew masters the technique remarkably quickly and Phoebe does exactly what's asked of her and we do not get stuck again all day. But others do from time to time and the whole group comes to a halt to get them out again, so by mid afternoon we are hot, sweaty, tired and incredibly filthy and dusty from the huge clouds of choking yellow-orange dust that get kicked up and that finds its' way into every nook and cranny. On arrival at Cap Tagarit the first thing everybody does is jump into the clear blue waters of the Atlantic ocean, some fully clothed.
A campsite has been prepared for us on the edge of the beach on a bay under impressive cliffs with traditional local tents and inside we find carpets, matresses and pillows for 4 to 6 persons - absolute luxury compared to the last two nights.
Brim and Jenks invite me for a quick spin down the beach in the Black Pearl, Brim driving and Jenks up on the roof. As Brim is tanking it down the beach he drifts into the waters' edge and a sheet of water goes flying up and over the Pajero, eliciting screams of outrage and wild threats of extreme pyhsical violence from up top. of course, this is as a red rag to a bull as far as Brim is concerned and he endeavours to find deeper water for a fuller effect. By the time we get back to the campsite all three of us a unable to stand up through laughter.
Brim finds some more unwary victims and is soon giving others the Black Pearl shower experience. Sidi strolls up just as Kiera and Cassie get up into the hot seat on the roof and asks whats going on, I explain and he gives a shout of laughter and does a little jig of delight. As we watch the Black Pearl start tanking down the beach with the girls hanging on for dear life his face shows concern. "Will they be ok?" he asks. The words "Sure, he knows what he's doing." die on my lips as it occurs to me that this is Brim we're talking about here.
There's a gap of about an hour and a half between sunset and moonrise and in that short space we are treated to a night sky like none of us have ever seen in our lives before. I'd heard about the night sky in the desert and it was one of the things I'd been looking forward to on the trip, and it does not dissapoint.
A group of 5 fellow stargazers stand there all with our heads back, staring at the sky in silent awe. Wth no light pollution within hundreds of miles the sky is chock-full of stars I never even knew existed. We even have difficulty finding the belt of Orion, which usually stands out, as they are just a few slightly brighter points in a tapestry of stars. Rather than just being a cloudy smudge, the Milky Way is clearly defined and stretches from horizon to horizon. The rambling discussion about astronomy, the nature of the Universe, the origins of religion, ancient civilisations and the fragility of human existence is brought to a halt as the moon rises and spoils it all. We turn in and everone is fast asleep in minutes.
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