I hope you all are doing well. Flight went well 06h 30 minutes flight. I took lots of picture while approaching this place, though once on the ground, the environment prevented me from taking many more. It looks very nice from above surrounded by sand everywhere (most of the landscape here is desert). I plan on leaving the Western Sahara for the capital of Mauritania the day after tomorrow.
Seeing the vastness of the Sahara Desert is something that I have been dreaming of for a long time. I was absolutely fascinated when I set my eyes on this great landscape for the first time. The beauty of our planet has a lot to offer to humanity. The many picturesque landscapes (mountains, rivers, oceans, deserts, etc.) that dot our planet all have something to offer to humanity. These landscapes are something to really be happy and proud of what we have.
Though the landscape is phenomenal, the Western Sahara has had some political difficulty in recent years in regards to its own independence. In fact, I was certainly surprised upon arrival to find police and military on nearly every street corner. After spending a few days here, I quickly learn why this is the case.
This country has a long history of occupation, first by Spain and then by Morocco. And, though it has been formally recognized by various countries around the world, there is also recognition from other countries of it being part of Moroccan territory. Regardless of the facts at hand, I learn quickly that there has been a long struggle here of it’s people fighting to be an independent nation.
The Western Sahara people are absolutely amazing. They are very friendly, family oriented and dedicated to taking care of their own people. It soon became clear to me that many people here share a common vision. That is, to be independent and have their own identity.
One interesting side note is that I quickly learned that people here do not enjoy their picture taken at all. So I promptly put my camera away and opened my ears to their stories. I’m glad that I did because I ended up making many good friends here during my short visit and learned a tremendous amount of information about these wonderful people, their history and their ongoing struggle. I will make sure to come and visit them again in the future.
My next flight is to Nouakchott,Mauritania, which will be a very long flight through the vast and empty African desert.
Note: On November 7th, 2010, Morocco and Polisario began informal talks regarding the situation in Western Sahara. Around this time, violent clashes between Moroccan security forces and Western Sahara protesters ensued, resulting in conflicting reports on the number of casualties.
