No Man's land Morocco-Mauritania - Dangers?

[Tim Cullis]

Originally Posted by janeiro

We were stuck in the no mans land on Christmas eve 2011... Maroccan soldiers brought us a nice dinner, we opened a bottle of champaigne which was brought from home - Slovenia and it was an unforgetable Christmas ever !!!!

Sounds good. As everyone else has written (on what is now a very old thread) there's nowt to worry about.

[voyagelatino]

Just went through and all together rather smoothly!
I got to the Moroccan border at 10 am and left the Mauri border at 6.30 pm in one piece , safe and sound.
Visa: Euros 50 for one month, 35 if you are African. If african, you must still pay in Euros!
The no man's land is very bumpy. My advice, if you are on 4 wheels, is to follow a truck or the track that looks as white as possible compared to the light brown path. When in doubt, go left. Why is that? White means rock, light brown means sand. The choice is yours!

[Sam Rutherford]

It's a non-issue - don't worry...

[yrjana salmela]

I can´t find from my books or google, where exactly is the "Danger Zone"?
Is it the whole Sahara Route in Western Sahara, all the way from Tarfaya to Nouadhibou? So do I have to stick on the main road about 1000km?

We´re planning to ride by two Super Teneres from Tunis to Dakar and up to Tanger, but now it´s seems there no border crossing between Algeria and Mauritania, so maybe we have to start from Tanger and ride twice in the "zone"...

[Chris Scott]

If there is a danger zone it is the few km either side of No Mans Land between Mk and Mori border posts. The warnings are clear, long established and well known. If you simply follow the dozens of vehicles crossing this border each day you will be fine.

More info including maps and waypoints in this old thread
http://www.horizonsunlimited.com/hub...ish-road-25887

And here: www.desert-info.ch :: Thema anzeigen - MA-RIM - Niemandsland/No man's land/Zone neutre

But all that makes it look far more dangerous than it actually is; handy for travel blogs ;-)

Another danger zone might be Western Sahara inland of the safe Atlantic highway, but few people go in there. A current discussion about the wisdom of doing so has evolved here.

And yet another massive danger zone appears on this FCO map which, while probably correct in the east and far north, has I believe been a little over zealous with the red ink in the west.

Short version: no dangers on the main routes in west Mori or Atlantic highway in Moroccan WS

Ch

[yrjana salmela]

Thanks a lot!
We´re on the startpoint of our planning, I got my copy of Adventure Motorcycling Handbook, latest Lonely Planets ( Sahara Overland is ordered, not yet on my table), maps and lot of great mood and coffee...
So all this information is very helpful and intersting!!!

[Gipper]

This was no mans land 2003 in our D90 and my friends TLC, too late in the day to enter RIM, was actually one of the best camping spots of our trip, its rather quiet there at night!

That map of RIM on the FCO website is an absolute joke as usual, why don't they just say:

'to ensure your safety never leave your house again'

As Tims photo shows theres lots of bedrock with a short stretch of softer sand, no problems.

[priffe]

When I crossed last time there was no treaffic; and for once I felt a little lost and veered to the right. Mounted a hill and saw the Mauri post further inland.
There are people camping in the nomansland, sometimes for weeks. Some of them are (car) dealers mostly European, awaiting the Mauri douane to soften up and let them in.
As I approached the Mauri post, there was a wildeyed white man hailing me to stop; I went on and he was mad because I didn't stop, but I had no desire to talk with him.
Later I heard he was actually Swedish, and had 'lost it' between the border posts where he may remain for a long while.