February 7: After Mauritania, we headed towards Senegal. To avoid the infamous Rosso border – which is very crowded and corrupt, plus you have to cross by ferry – we chose to go via the Diama border instead. It’s a much smaller and quieter crossing, as the road goes through a national park where you can only drive slowly without a 4×4.

Before the border, still on the Mauritanian side, we had lunch at a roadside vendor grilling over charcoal. There were many people waiting in line, so we chose him. We ate a skewer sandwich that had an interesting texture, more like liver, so we asked the locals what we were eating, and it turned out to be camel meat. We saw plenty of camels in Mauritania; a few kilometers before Nouakchott, we also passed by Africa’s second-largest camel market (though we didn’t go in because we were in a hurry to find a mechanic). People drink a lot of camel milk, and alongside beef, goat, and chicken, camel meat is also commonly used in their dishes.

We really enjoyed crossing through the Diawling National Park. The park lies along the Senegal River, with numerous smaller lakes and a very diverse birdlife. We saw plenty of birds: flamingos, pelicans, grey and white herons, and many other species we didn’t know. Besides the birds, we mostly encountered camels, cows, and lots of wild boars.

The border crossing went smoothly, and we arrived in the familiar Senegal, where we had spent three weeks two years ago. We were excited to visit the familiar places again.