Western Sahara Things to Do

  Place Oum Saad, Laayoune
by maykal
 
  • Place Oum Saad, Laayoune
      Place Oum Saad, Laayoune
    by maykal
  • Dunes, Laayoune
      Dunes, Laayoune
    by maykal
  • Near Dakhla
      Near Dakhla
    by lotharscheer
  • Near Dakhla
      Near Dakhla
    by lotharscheer
  • Near Dakhla
      Near Dakhla
    by lotharscheer
 

Reviews from VirtualTourist Members

Tarfaya: the Beach

by Pieter11

Like all places in Tarfaya, its beach is a very special place as well. Just to the north of the town you'll find a large sandy area that is definitely worth a visit. The area around Tarfaya is known as a very rough place for ships: many of them stranded throughout the years, and many of these shipwrecks were never taken away. I saw some pictures of a huge one on the beach near Tarfaya and we went looking for that one, but we ended up at another one that was a lot smaller but still an interesting sight. The road along the beach is still pretty for from the water and therefore it might be difficult to spot a shipwreck: pay attention and maybe even take binoculars: it's well worth the walk!But before you reach the coastline when you come from the road, you will have to cross some different worlds first. First there is a dry and rocky desert area, the last part is the real beach, and in...

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Tarfaya: the Seaside

by Pieter11

Walking along the "boulevard" of Tarfaya is a real treat for your imagination. Just like the boulevards in touristic places there is a blue sky above you, a blue sea in front of you and a beach between the sea and the boulevard. But in Tarfaya it still is slightly different.The first difference: here in Tarfaya the boulevard is almost completely covered by the sand that is moved by the wind every day. The pavement is only visible in a few places, and the benches are half-covered by the sanddunes that show up around them. There are no charming lampposts, nor any shops or terraces. You only see a bit of old rusty iron and that is it.What you do see is the old Spanish fortress just off shore. They built it during their period of colonialism here in Tarfaya to protect the bay of the town. Today the fort looks like a square-shaped rock in the waves: very rough and not a lot of details. As far...

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Tarfaya: Downtown

by Pieter11

Tarfaya is a strange town. Strange for its surroundings, for its seaside, for its atmosphere, but also for simple things like the things you see in the town centre. In Tarfaya there are probably about 4 roads that are paved, right in the centre there still are some roads that are only sand, but the worst parts are the roads that used to be paved: potholes everywhere and almost impossible to drive on.Along these roads there are some nice, old buildings that are -like all other buildings in town- plastered with a light yellow, light blue or light pink colour. Some other buildings however are completely abandoned, and can be found right in the middle of Tarfaya as well. At the same time there are other, used buildings, in the middle of the desert outside of town.And another thing that makes Tarfaya so strange is the fact that you hardly see any life on the streets. You hardly see any shops,...

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Tarfaya: Antoine de St-Exupéry

by Pieter11

In the first decades of the 20th century, France had a lot of colonies in especially West-Africa. Since good connections and good communication became more important by the day, the French decided to establish a mail-service by airmail in 1927. An important hub on this line was positioned in Tarfaya. The service was called the "Aéropostale" and the young Antoine de Saint-Exupéry was made leader of the base in Tarfaya. He stayed in the desert for 18 months.He was only a beginning writer when he came to the Tarfaya-base, but here in the desert he wrote his first big success: Southern Mail, in 1929. Lots of his books afterwards were influenced by this tough period, and his most famous book, Le Petit Prince (The Little Prince) is clearly influenced by the mysterious atmosphere of this area.In 1944 St-Exupéry disappeared after a planecrash, serving the French Army. Sixty years later, in 2004...

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Tarfaya

by Pieter11

Officially the small town of Tarfaya is not in Western Sahara, but in Morocco. Officially Western Sahara doesn't even exist actually, but Tarfaya is just north of the inofficial border. From historical point of view the town belongs to the Sahara however (it used to be a Spanish base), so I will count it in as well.Tarfaya is without a doubt one of the most bizarre places I've ever been. The French writer Antoine de Saint-Exupéry lived here for a few years, and used this as inspiration for his famous book Le Petit Prince. The surrealistic world that he discribes in his book is exactly what you see here. It is hard to explain what makes it so bizarre, but the sand that covers everything, the pastel colours and the fact that all people look at you like you're some kind of alien, surely are part of this effect.I'll try explain a little bit about the mystery of Tarfaya in the following tips,...

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Dchira: Spanish Fort

by Pieter11

The mainattraction of Dchira is the Spanish Fort, or actually the ruins of the Spanish Fort. This was the base that was attacked by the Liberation Army of Sahrawi in 1958. The Spanish were beaten here by the Army that was a collection of different tribes who were fighting to end the colonialism in their country. 17 years later the Spanish were finally defeated, but this was also the start of a new period of imperialism: this time by the Moroccans.The remains of the fort of Dchira are impressive when you imagine what took place here. The views from here are great, with the dry canyon right below you. The fort consists of some severely damaged walls, guardtowers on the corners, and some old abandoned buildings inside the walls.When you have a good look at the walls you can find some political carvings, most of the in Arabic, but a drawing of the national flag of Western Sahara is a clear...

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Dchira: Scenery

by Pieter11

When you are on your way to Dchira, you will get a good view of what the real Sahara looks like. It is not all the big pile of sand that most people think of, and not only dunes of a few dozen metres high. In reality the Sahara can be a very rough landscape with mountains, valleys, rocks and dust. And yes: there is some sand as well.One stereotype is absolutely true: camels are everywhere. Some are guided by a shephard, some walk around freely enjoying the small camelgrass bushes that you find everywhere. When you want to stop to take pictures: watch out that there are no very young ones in the group, because their parents can get agressive out of protectionism.And then the landscape: Dchira is built right next to a (mostly dry) riverbed. The river that floats here from time to time created a true canyon in the desert, offering great views from both sides of the valley. On the canyons...

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Dchira

by Pieter11

When you drive into the desert straight towards the east Laayoune you'll end up in the tiny goast-town Dchira. There is a small road leading there along a dry riverbed that is just good enough for a normal car. The scenery along the way is fantastic and the place where you're ending up is just as bizarre as breathtaking.Dchira is a famous town in the history of Western Sahara. In 1958 a liberation army, that existed of soldiers of all different tribes of the Sahara, fought in a heavy battle against the Spanish that were positioned here in Dchira. The Sahrawi won, although many of them were killed. This was the beginning of the end for the Spanish in their Sahara-province. 17 years later the Green Marsh was organised by the Moroccans, finishing the work that was started in Dchira.What remains in this town are the ruins of the Spanish fort that was attacked here, and just a few houses that...

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Laayoune-Plage: By night

by Pieter11

Western Sahara is a mainly islamic country, especially since the Spanish left. This results in a situation where tea is basically the strongest drink you can get when you go somewhere in the evening. Laayoune-Plage is slightly different from this: here there are more foreigners and quite some Spanish people who stayed here. The result: alcohol!Don't think I'm such an alcoholic that I would drive 15 kilometres to get a beer; Laayoune-Plage basically has a very nice place to hang out and meet friendly people. This place is called "Josephina's", a restaurant/bar that is owned by an old Spanish man. English, French and Spanish are all spoken here and the public is international. The local people that come here are progressive people that often have an interesting opinion about the status of Western Sahara.You can have great seafood meals here as well as beers and red wine. And because there...

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Laayoune-Plage: The harbour

by Pieter11

Western Sahara is not a rich country, but still they have quite some export. Almost all of this export goes out from the harbour in Laayoune-Plage. Officially this harbour is closed for public, but if you go with a local, or if you ask kindly they might allow you to have a look. The biggest part of the harbour is occupied by the many fishing boats on the docks. Fish is a popular product in the area (something you should really try here!) but it is also exported a lot, although the export to Morocco is officially not "export" but national transportation. When you come here late in the afternoon you have a good chance of seeing some fishermen with they freshly caught fish and shrimps. When you are interesting in buying some: you cannot get it any fresher!A bit further in the harbour you can see the bigger boats where they load minerals that are found in the desert, and where they transport...

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Things to Do: Cities in Western Sahara
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Questions and Answers

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Q:  Hi, I´d need to know if there is still a ferry service going from Cran Canaria to the area of Western Sahara in... 

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A: Even the cargo service is interupted at the moment, relations between Morocco and Spain not being at their best. Other than that no normal type of ferry service in... 

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