Carlos Perez Marin

JOURNAL

Since the very first moment I knew this caravan was going to be hard, very hard, because of several factors; temperatures between 34ºC and 37ºC; the constant presence of sand; the proximity to Malian border (the adjoining territory in Mauritania is classified as red zone by the French and Spanish embassies and therefore I had to avoid it imperatively). To face these challenges I was going to need a special mental training, nothing compare to what I have been doing in Morocco since 2016. 

Moreover, Qafila Khamisa was important because it was going to open up new lines and fields of research (related to caravans, nomadism, regional planning, architecture, heritage, history, geography, geology…) that maybe will led me to better understand the desert. What is revealed, again, with this type of research is that you cannot control everything and that you have to adapt yourself to the imponderables, thus, I accepted without any problem the change of plans, both of the planned route (Chinguetti-Tidjikja instead of Tichitt-Ouadane) and of the guides that were going to accompany me (one person and two camels instead of two persons and three camels). The new situation did not disturb me, on the contrary, the fact of travelling alone with Nefaa was going to make the experience more intense, specially if I was going to travel the same way people like Nefaa do in the desert, without tent, mat, chair or other “commodities” required by tourists in similar hikes. On the other hand, it is true it is a bit “risky” to travel in the desert for the first time with someone you don’t know because if you don’t get on well with him, the journey can turn into a nightmare, but in this case, Zaida had told me Nefaa was a very kind person. In fact, he is an endearing character, not only because of his knowledge of the desert, but also because the way he is, always calm, very meticulous (specially when preparing tea), someone who really loves being in the desert no matter what the weather is like. In this sense, it has been the best caravan guide I have had.  

LEARNINGS

LOGISTICS

This caravan has taught me how to travel with even less equipment as usual. Although Nefaa had already told me that I did not bring many things with me, only a 50 l bag, it is also true that over the years (and the caravans) I have been able to verify the usefulness of enough hiking equipment to keep with me only the essential. In any case, now I know that you can even make a caravan without a tent. In Morocco I always carried one in case of rain, having to use it in two of the four made so far. It is not just a matter of weight, but of mentalizing yourself face adverse weather conditions that can occur at any time (mainly rain and wind). In reality, it is like getting rid of all artificial protection in order to submit yourself to nature. The same thing happens with sand, you have to assume not only the difficulty of walking through it, but also that you will end up breathing and eating it.

GEOGRAPHY

Thanks to the route we followed, I understand now why caravans passed through Ouadane-Chinguetti, Tidjikja, Tichitt and Oualata, describing a kind of curve instead of tracing directly on their way, mainly, to Timbuktu. They had no other option because there is no water in a theoretical straight line between Ouadane and Oualata, at least for conventional caravans, another case will be the military or scientific expeditions, besides, it was too risque and also too difficult to walk the entire journey through dunes. Again, geography is shown to be fondamental to understanding the territory, which is not very clear when studying topographic plans or when using services such us Google Maps. The representation of both methods (analog and digital) are not very accurate when treating sandy territories. The geography of the desert must be seen and experienced.

Regarding geography, I have also been able to verify some of my thoughts and proposals I described in DIMENSIONS OF PERCEPTIONS and the importance of distrusting our senses when we inhabit the desert.

COEXISTENCE

Another thing that I have confirmed, again, is the importance of trust. With Nefaa, I had no need of contesting his decisions when navigating in this territory. I was aware he knew it perfectly so I could focus on dealing with tiredness or just enjoying and discovering what the desert showed us every day, every moment. In previous caravans there have been multiple situations in which I have not been able to fully appreciate the journey, maybe this time was also special because of the pandemic and being in the desert without having to think about COVID has been rewarding after two years of social, physical and mental restrictions and especially after having been afraid for the health of family and friends.

ARCHITECTURE, URBAN PLANING and HERITAGE

I have learnt a lot on the evolution of Mauritanian architecture, from the nomadic tent to contemporary houses, as well as urban development, from nomadic temporary settlement to new urban neighbourhoods. 

In my first trip in Mauritania I did not understand the small constructions I saw along the main national routes. Some friends explained to me later that they were hostels that people from Nouakchott liked to stay for a few days to be in contact with the desert (even if they were too close to the road and therefore to the noise). But, why had the rooms that shape (hip roof)? 

During Qafila Khamisa we crossed several villages where we saw the way nomads started to settle down. First of all there was a tent, then a shelter for animals built with pieces of wood and fabrics (nomads use sometimes a tree to provide them some shade). Later on, a wooden structure was installed inside the tent, a structure that will be replaced later by concrete pillars and steel tubes, but keeping the fabric and the shape of the tents. At the same time, they could build a series of small constructions; one made of stones with a gable roof made of wood and straw, as a sleeping room, remaining the “fixed tent” as living room; a smaller construction for the toilets-shower and another for the kitchen; a kind of big cabin made entirely of wood and straw as sleeping room or living room depending of the weather; a metal small building built on recycled steel barrels and used as granaries. This is the same urban developing process you can see in cities like Nouakchott and Ouadane, in fact, it is a sedentarisation process where the influence of the tent and the nomadic way of live is very present despite many people born in cities are not aware of their architectural roots, beyond the clichés of the tents shape.

Now I understand the relation between traditional tents and some contemporary buildings like hostels or houses organised around a tent as a symbol of hospitality.

Recycled architecture for new granaries built by nomads.

If we analyse the way nomads organise their camps, we can easily understand the way Mauritanian cities are growing.

It is very interesting to compare architectural heritage in Mauritania and in Morocco. They share nomadic architecture, which is normal because since the antiquity tribes used to move between the High Atlas mountains and river Senegal. However, when talking about sedentary architecture, we find that Mauritanian old cities are quite different from those in Morocco. The most evident is the construction system, stones instead of rammed earth, but also the spatial organisation, at least in the Adrar and Tagant regions (in Oualata they also build on rammed earth). Nevertheless, they share a common heritage, built in the 11th and 12th centuries, during the Almoravid dynasty, with the construction of fortifications along the main caravans routes.

There is another element shared by Moroccan and Mauritanian architectural heritage, the domes. Although “nomad domes” do not exist in Morocco, they are still used in Mauritania. They can be seen in nomadic camps, in cities extensions and now in tourist facilities. It is also very interesting the evolution of this solution to avoid roof beams, starting with domed cabins made of wood and straw (at different scales), then a dome with the same materials but on a stone construction. The last evolution consisted on using rammed earth instead of wood and straw, a structure used mostly in the 50s and 60s in cities like Laayoune and Smara during the Spanish protectorate. I though that colonial architecture was a copy of the one made by Egyptian architect Hassan Fathy, but now I know it comes from the Sahel region, where nomad and sedentary people use them to build shelters.  

QUESTIONS

There is a need of knowing more about the history of the country, specially the one related to caravans cities and its regions (Adrar and Tagant). It won’t be easy as the head of the National Museum told me, there is a big lack of information concerning the architectural and archeological heritage of Mauritania as there is no local archeologists in the country, furthermore, they don’t facilitate foreign archeological campaigns and lots of questions remain unanswered:

• Who were the Bafours? It is said they were in Mauritania since antiquity and that they lived in the Adrar, they were maybe the one who built the palm groves and the ksour in that same region, but there is no further information. Were they related to tribes in the Noul Lamta region in Morocco (Guelmim). Were they Jewish? Were they black? Which place occupied the Soninke people (contemporaries of the Bafours) in the Adrar before the constitution of the Almoravid confederation? From which century are the tumuli we crossed the 9th day?

• Since when there were Saharan trade with the north shore of the desert? In Morocco, archeologists have found testimonies that allow them to assure that this trade dates back to, at least, the 11th century in the Noun region (Guelmim).  

• In Chinguetti one of the two main tribes is called Aqlal, is there a relation with the dance made in Zagora, also called Aqlal and therefore the tribes that make those dances? Mohamed Boussalh, the head of CERKAS in Ouarzazate, explained to me that sometimes he used information concerning dances to retrace the history and territorial occupation of southern Moroccan tribes, that is the reason I think it could be a relation between tribes in the Adrar and the Drâa valley in Zagora.

• Then there are some inconsistencies with some heritage protection policies by UNESCO. The old city of Ouadane (founded, in theory, in 1146) is classified as World Heritage Site, but not the rests of one of the three villages that preceded it and that are just 250 m far from Ouadane. Why Tiftil has not been classified and protected?

• Currently, water distribution in the Adrar oases is made individually, with “private” wells in the plots, with no canal infrastructure and social organisation like in the Moroccan oases. Has it always been like this or was there another irrigation system in the past?

I hope the collaboration between Caravane Ouadane (an event we started in November 2021) and the National Museum of Mauritania will let us know more about these regions, as well as possible contacts with the CEROS that I already met in January 2020 during OBÛR. I do believe delving into the history of Mauritania can resolve many questions related to heritage in northern Africa and even in Spain.

THOUGHTS

After quite a positive first experience walking in the Mauritanian desert it might be normal to concentrate my efforts in this country instead of continuing the researches in Morocco, but I still want, need, to follow the explorations in Moroccan soil. I would like to walk from Tissardmine to Figuig (as scheduled in 2020) in order to complete the routes all along the geographical border of pre-Saharan regions which, moreover, was where the Saharan ports were located; Sijilmasa, Taragalte, Tamedoult, Noul Lamta. Then I would like to continue walking towards the north, from Zagora and Rissani to Marrakech and Fez and finally from Fez to Ceuta. 

However, it is true that conflicts in the Sahel region can make impossible to walk in some Mauritanian areas so it would be better to prioritize routes like the one I would love to do between Tidjikja and Oualata, before the situation on the border with Mali worsens (490 km, 22 days) and then Tidjikja-Kiffa (220 km, 10 days) or Chinguetti-Zouerat (330 km, 15 days). Everything will depend on the coordination with the dates of Caravane Ouadane, on my own availability and that of those who could accompany me.

One thing that is recurring every time I prepare a caravan it is if I’m going to do it alone or with a group. Some people used to contact me before each qafila because they have seen the information of previous ones and they would like to live the experience. Most of the time they are friends, acquaintances or friends of friends, the problem is that they don’t use to walk in the desert (maybe in mountainous regions) and they think it is the same thing, without being aware of the effects of the sun, the heat and the sand on their performances. However, the most difficult aspect to explain them it is the importance of having the sense of fellowship and generosity in a caravan, especially if it is in Mauritania where there is a very low density of population and a poor road infrastructure, which means that if there is a problem, everybody will be concern. In a caravan our individual acts are also everybody ones, so if someone has not done a proper physical and mental training or he is not used to this wild nature (with its animals, insects…), he can cause a bad atmosphere in the group (and even turn into a nightmare). 

Comparing the experience of walking alone (with one or two guides) or in a group, I have to say I would rather do the next caravan alone so I don't have to worry about my fellow travelers. However, I must say that during Qafila Khamisa I have had moments where I missed so much some of my friends with whom I have a special connection thanks to our common interest for the desert (all of them have already done a Qafila) and with whom I would love to walk again and to share experiences, knowing that they (Benabdallah, Bouhchichi, Dabah, Hida…) would love too.

Concerning the means I use to document the caravans, I have noticed an evolution from the first one, where I only used analog cameras to take pictures and videos (a Sprocketrocket and a Lomokino camera), to the last one where I used most of the time an iPhone because the Lomokino broke when loading the first roll and I did not want to use the Leica M6 when it was very windy.  

Examining all the pictures I took during Qafila Khamisa I realised I have fallen into the trap of the colours of the landscapes and I feel as if I had lost, in a way, the essence of the desert using my iPhone for taking pictures and videos. Face to this situation, do I need to avoid the use of digital cameras? I think that the immediacy of smart phones has led me to a specific narrative of the journey where pictures, videos and therefore textes are more focus on publishing the routine on my website rather than reflecting the learnings the desert offers me in each stage, that is to say, the publication on my website has conditioned the tools and the subjects I treat with them, I think now… 

For the next qafila I will probably need to rethink what I’m going to document and how. I know I need a small plastic analog camera (so I don’t need to care about batteries) that I could bring with me the whole time and that I could use quickly and without being afraid of the sand (that will probably be an Olympus XA). More difficult will be to replace the iPhone for the videos since the Lomokino is not very reliable, maybe a Super 8 camera could works because the Bolex h16 is too heavy to carry it till Mauritania, perhaps I should also focus on making quick drawings while walking and of course to write down my thoughts but not so much the routine of the day. In any way, I’m happy to test in each caravan new ways of documenting the research. Let’s see what we can do during the next one, QAFILA SADISA.

Credit videos, pictures, texts and drawings: Carlos Perez Marin

Cameras: iPhone XS Max and Leica M6 (Ilford FPE Plus 125)