Was there no possibility of getting more than 3 days? Do you recommend I head to Rabat?

Peter, nope, three days was the best we could get. But I’d keep on eye on what happens over the next few days / weeks. Now that the elections are over, there’s a good chance they’ll start issuing full visas at the border again. But, if not, yep, I reckon a detour to Rabat is your best option. The visa is valid from the date it’s issued in Rabat (at least ours was, despite us asking for the start date to be delayed) and we were given two months. They said we’d be able to extend it at the border, if we got there within two months. It took 48hrs.

Another option is to believe what many Mauritanians say: that it doesn’t matter if you get a three day visa and turn up in Nouakchott a few days late to extend it – it wasn’t a risk we were willing to take (especially not knowing who would be in government when we got there) but others might be.

Vero, heh, yes the music is fantastic – hoping to record some soon!

The weather. Somebody told us it was 54 degrees C in central Mauritania yesterday… It’s not quite so hot near the coast but hot enough for me :)

Was there no possibility of getting more than 3 days? Do you recommend I head to Rabat?

Peter, nope, three days was the best we could get. But I’d keep on eye on what happens over the next few days / weeks. Now that the elections are over, there’s a good chance they’ll start issuing full visas at the border again. But, if not, yep, I reckon a detour to Rabat is your best option. The visa is valid from the date it’s issued in Rabat (at least ours was, despite us asking for the start date to be delayed) and we were given two months. They said we’d be able to extend it at the border, if we got there within two months. It took 48hrs.

Another option is to believe what many Mauritanians say: that it doesn’t matter if you get a three day visa and turn up in Nouakchott a few days late to extend it – it wasn’t a risk we were willing to take (especially not knowing who would be in government when we got there) but others might be.

Vero, heh, yes the music is fantastic – hoping to record some soon!

The weather. Somebody told us it was 54 degrees C in central Mauritania yesterday… It’s not quite so hot near the coast but hot enough for me :)