Hell ends in Tan Tan

It is 6 am; the sun rises on the Saharan horizon. I'm curled like a slug, buried deep down in my sleeping bag. A trickle of air seeping up to

Reduced to Insignificance

The psychological effort I need to leave this service station is immeasurable. There is nothing around it in about 200 km in every direction,

Western SaharaNicolás Marino10 May 2016africa, sahara, saharauis, Dakhla, Western Sahara, adventure, desert, sand, wind, bicycle touring

Chronicles of a Lost Battle

I pedal with my head wrapped in my turban and my eyes sheltered behind my sunglasses. The glow of the incandescent sand in the midday sun blinds me. In this Saharan

Western SaharaNicolás Marino8 May 2016sahara, mauritania, africa, western sahara, adventure, bicycle, cycling, travel, desert, ordeal

The Iron Serpent

Pasaron 10 años desde que comencé a viajar en bicicleta por el mundo y no tengo planes de cambiar de medio de transporte, pero si tuviera que elegir un medio motorizado en el que yo no

MauritaniaNicolás Marino4 May 2016africa, mauritania, sahara, choum, nouadhibou, Zouerat, train, adventure, cargo, iron train, west africa, desert, iron ore

The Road of the Ghost Towns

My original desire to leave Atar early so that I could cover as much distance as possible is frustrated, as is often the case, by my predilection for

MauritaniaNicolás Marino30 April 2016africa, mauritania, touring, sahara, adrar, atar, choum, adventure, bicycle touring, west africa

Back to the Future

Believe it or not, until not many years ago the Adrar experienced a kind of fame among tourists with high purchasing power. Despite being the capital of the entire

MauritaniaNicolás Marino28 April 2016mauritania, adrar, sahara, ouadane, daraa, tuareg, touareg, nomads

The Heart of the Adrar

Most travelers who cross this region of Africa do so by following the most direct route, which is the one that follows the coast of the continent. However, my intention is not

MauritaniaNicolás Marino25 April 2016mauritania, adrar, sahara, africa, touareg, jaimas, bicycle touring, adventure, desert, headwind, tents, adversity, west africa, dunes, cobras, snkes, snakes

Teamwork

As soon as I get off the taxi, the stench assaults my nostrils penetrating deep into my lungs. For a few seconds I hold my breath to digest the impact. I exhale, and try to

The Return to the Sahara

Rosso, the main border crossing between Senegal and Mauritania, has one of the worst reputations in all of Africa. Among travelers, stories abound of

MauritaniaNicolás Marino16 April 2016africa, mauritania, sahara, keur macene, daraa, diama, border, adventure, headwind, desert, dunes, dawn, west africa

Toubab, Toubab, Toubab!!!

I leave Dakar full of energy. I feel like new. I shaved after 5 months, I cut my hair, I got deodorant and everything smells of soap because I washed the few clothes I have. It is not just any

SenegalNicolás Marino14 April 2016senegal, africa, lac rose, adventure, St Louis, toubab, sahara, bicycle touring, wind, desert

The Blow of Harmattan

The rest period in Cotonou was a balm for my soul and for my body. The days of good food, beach, photography and especially the invaluable company of a great friend like Germano, were an essential part of my recovery process.

BeninNicolás Marino22 December 2015sahel, savalou, harmattan, fulani, sahara, benin, adventure, cycling, touring, africa, wind

From the Capital of Sand to the Border

From an aesthetics point of view, sincerely speaking, Khartoum is not the most attractive city in the world. In terms of architecture, it is a city built half-way, in fact, there is no single building that

SudanNicolás Marino25 May 2014adventure, bicycle, border, cycling, desert, food, fuul, galabat, heat, juice, khartoum, mango, qadarif, sahara, sahel, sandstorm, sudan, touring

For a Few Crumbs of Gold

Much more than the idyllic images of silhouettes of camel caravans walking at a slow pace along the undulating golden dunes at sunset, the Sahara is for many, the place to come to earn a living. In this vast ocean of sand, the abrasive heat, the harshness of the wind and the cruelty of the sun make it unthinkable that a place to work can be possibly found here.

SudanNicolás Marino5 May 2014delgo, desert, excavation, fever, gold fever, gold, golden, market, mine, miners, mining, nubian, sahara, sudan

The Sudanese

I perceived it from the very beginning in Wadi Halfa, while walking along its streets of sand in that very hot Saharan night. I looked around me and the hundreds of merchants that filled the

SudanNicolás Marino30 April 2014adventure, bicycle, camels, cycling, desert, kerma, nile, nubia, nubians, people, sahara, sudan, touring, wedding

Sweating Sudan

We are in the queue to buy the tickets for the boat to Wadi Halfa, it's 46 C in the shade. While we wait, two nice Egyptian tour agents get in the queue behind us and exclaim effusively the usual: “Welcome to Alaska!” to

SudanNicolás Marino26 April 2014adventure, bicycle, cycling, desert, heat, kerma, mamba, moltaga, nile, river, sahara, sudan, summer, temperature, touring, wind

Welcome to Alaska??

Only when you reach the Nile after having spent weeks in the desert is when you are finally able to understand its historical and present-day relevance. It is very

EgyptNicolás Marino20 April 2014adventure, aswan, bicycle, cycling, desert, domino, egypt, luxor, nile, river, sahara, shisha, touring

Sahara...

After the epic journey across Mongolia from last year, my memories of the magnificent Gobi desert remained very present inside me. There, we spent days that

EgyptNicolás Marino10 April 2014adventure, al-qasr, bahariya, bawiti, bicycle, black desert, cycling, desert, egypt, farafra, oasis, quartz, sahara, sand, touring, white desert