VW to Dakar
 

Hi,
I did the Plymouth Dakar Challenge a couple of years ago in a 1972 1300 Baja Bug. The longest section without access to fuel was Dakhla to Nouakchott. We did the desert/beach route. I had the standard tank plus 3 ex MOD standard jerrycans and needed every drop of fuel.
Incidentally, the bug was the only 2wd I know of that had zero punctures and never got stuck in sand. Others all suffered multiple flats & were forever getting bogged down.
Cheers,
Pete

hey pete, glad to hear i'm not the only one to do the Sahara in a VW bug. how much petrol did you have? how far is Dakhla to Nouakchott ? brave to do it with a 1300, not much power or touque. was the car modified anymore? here are some of the old pictures and some new ones, showing the engine (2.5 L) the tranny after instalation and the disc brakes. hope you like them. car should be on the road the end of this month (sept/08) marko marko's space

Dakhla to Nouakchott
 

Hello

I can answer the Dakhla to Nouakchott distance question.

From the last cheap fuel station in Western Sahara (which is north of Dakhla at the top of the peninsula) to Nouakchott using the new tarmac road is approximately 350 - 400 miles.

It is a little less than this if you choose to go over the desert and down the beach (which is the old route before the new road was built), however fuel consumption will rise because of the soft sand.

You can fill up just outside Nouadhibou, but that takes you 30 miles or so west which might be in the wrong direction if you want to go directly to Nouakchott.

Many travelers stop off in Nouadhibou to pick up insurance, local currency etc. It is a grim little town, but there is at least one campsite.

Cheers

John

Thanks John, i actually plan on going from Nouadhibou to Atar then down to Tidjikja and on to Nema from there. I hope to stay off tarmak as much as possible. Ofcouse it will all depend on how well the car preforms in the sand. But i dont believe there will be a problem. thanks Marko

There are more petrol stations between Dakhla and NDB. At least 4. For example at the hotel about 80 km north of the Morocco-Mauritania border. Just about every 200 km, but sometimes more often. Fill up whenever possible, sometimes the next petrol station ran out and you don't want to get stuck out there.