west coast route update

[slartybartfast]

Hi fellow travellers just a few impressions/hints from someone just back from Dakar by motorbike.
the Mauritania visa can be bought quickly on fridays but watch out the consulate official inspite of my request for a multiple entry visa put a single entry one in our passports requiring a 500 mile round trip and 2 days in dakar while we bought another visa.
Rosso is now almost dangerous it took me 4 hours and about 120 quid to get our passports back from the fixers we were told to use by customs officials.
Use branded petrol stations in Mauritania, we were sold something evil in Nouabidou and it resulted in one of the bikes breaking down on the way home(luckily barcelona so we should get it back)
Diama barage is a far safer crossing but if it rains the track out is almost impassable
Take lots of photocopies of your passport i estimate we gave out around 60 in our 3 weeks on the road in africa
expect the corruption and ,ineptness of the regimes to worsen the further south you travel this also applies to the level of poverty and begging

yours weary