Western Sahara - Atlantic Route Fuel Stations

[ButtonMoon]

After looking for fuel stations for Western Sahara I found this link on HUBB, sorry if I'm posting what you all know. I've loaded into Tyre and it's a good file


http://www.desert-info.ch/download/p...l-Stations.zip

Here's the GPS file:

 

[Fanum]

I would strongly suggest that you regard those locations as places where there MAY be fuel, and plan accordingly

 

[ButtonMoon]

I would strongly suggest that you regard those locations as places where there MAY be fuel, and plan accordingly

Yes I agree. When I loaded it into Google maps some of them didn't even have buildings near them. However it looks doable, but if I'm honest in the 4-5 weeks I've got I'd rather see the places and people further North. I was just thinking aloud. Cheers


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[Fanum]

Yes I agree. When I loaded it into Google maps some of them didn't even have buildings near them. However it looks doable, but if I'm honest in the 4-5 weeks I've got I'd rather see the places and people further North. I was just thinking aloud. Cheers


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TBH that's what I was thinking when I read your other thread about the ship.

There ARE some places worth seeing in the WS, and I'd definitely say it's worth taking 3-4 days to get yourself down as far as Tarfaya, then down the coast road as far as you fancy....The next stop is Laayoune which is a depressing port largely placed to a) provide Morocco with a population figure to justify their claim after the "Green March" and b) as a base for phosphate mining and miners.

There are some stunning ocean views from the cliffs, and you can camp up there, maybe even buy some freshly landed fish to fry up that evening for a few pennies, but it's a bloody HUGE area and apart for that fact and the feeling of isolation and 'smallness' that it can give you, there's not really much to write home about.

You will find quite a lot of what we called "Bullshit towns"...again, Moroccan claims to the WS are largely based on them.....small towns, often not even built but with the grids of the roads laid out and electricity out to the street boxes.....You'll even find you'll have a mobile signal in places where you literally cannot see any structure or person from one horizon to the other...Again, the Moroccans point to the infrastructure and the degree that they've 'civilised' those areas and use that as part of their alim on it.

I think it was in Laayoune that we saw a camel in the back of a Landy 110, head and neck out the back window

 

[ButtonMoon]

Cheers for that ! Mind made up now. I will see WS but not so far south, that can wait for another time.

Again thanks for your input on this ! You've just saved me a stack of time now that it's in perspective


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[oblertone]

Check your maps and location Very Carefully in WS; we didn't and ended up camping (for a very short while) in the third largest minefield in the world, and most of it is uncharted because they're laid in sand; but they still work

 

[Tim Cullis]

I don't have a record of the fuel station at N28 10.472 W11 52.922. However there's one not shown at Tarfaya at N27 56.852 W12 53.210. I didn't see one at Tah (old Western Sahara border town) at N27 40.465 W12 57.449 and I passed through there only last week. So on balance I would say don't trust the file.

Things you might want to see include the Goufre d'Akhfenir which is about 2km NW of the town of the same name. It's a sea cave with a collapsed roof. You can see the safety posts and rope from the road next to the coastguard building. See http://www.morocco-knowledgebase.net/forum/showthread.php?t=191

Since the photos were taken on that thread the 'gate guardian' camels at Tan Tan have been relocated to a roundabout, and Villa Ocean seems to have closed. Tarfaya is worth a detour to see the fortress of Port Victoria built by a Scot, and the sadly neglected memorial to Antoine Saint-Exupery.

The Cascades of Oued Khawi Nam are impressive but 60km south on pistes from Akhfenir.

As Fanum writes, it's a very big empty area. Not much of interest. The best hotels in Laayoune are still block booked by the United Nations who seem determined to ignore Morocco's fait accompli as far as nicking the territory.

 

[ButtonMoon]

Tim, S10 Carry on Daker is great thanks!