Community | November 06, 2007 | 3 comments

Shipwrecks of the Sahara

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mateowillis
“ Welcome to Mauritania. Where is my present?” asked the border guard as he stamped our passports.

My brother and I had were standing inside a little shack, in the middle of a minefield that marked the border between Morocco and its southern neighbor. This wasn’t quite the welcome we were expecting. But in a way it was to foreshadow our experience of Mauritania; challenging, exciting, unpredictable….and lawless.

We were here to make a film about shipwrecks as I had heard stories of trawlers, container boats and navy vessels that had been left to rot in a large bay. As we discovered it turned out to be the largest ship graveyard in the world, with more than a hundred vessels.

Filming here was a challenge as authorities had confiscated cameras and film off several people that we had spoken to. Not wishing enjoy the same treatment we kept a low profile and managed to come away with some unique footage.

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3 comments // Shipwrecks of the Sahara

  • LucienRafagas
  • miguelwillis
    • 0
      miguelwillis  

    • I think I'm still trying to get clean after that train ride, but what a great way to see to country. It was an interesting trip, and we met some colorful characters, ranging from the fanatical fundamentalist to the con man with a story of woe and a fake passport.

    • 4 years ago
  • mateowillis
    • 0
      mateowillis  

    • part of the trip involved hitching a ride on the longest train in the world, ‘hobo-class’. For 14 hours we perched on a hundred tonnes of iron ore and got absolutely covered in the stuff.

    • 4 years ago
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