Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
As we walked down the road one thing that immediately struck me was the warmth
of the Mauritanian women. They seemed to be much more jovial and outgoing than the
women from Morocco. Their clothing also reflected this. They all wore neon coloured fab-
ric and looked quite stunning in contrast with the tan-coloured backdrop of the sand and
buildings.
We walked by a hotel where I quickly ran in to inquire about the cost. The price
seemed reasonable so I booked a room and went outside to tell Saleck. I made plans to
meet with him in the early evening. After settling into my room and taking a long overdue
shower, I went down to the dining room of the hotel. There, I met Patrick Champlon, a
water-well drill specialist, who graciously bought me an incredible lunch. After returning
to my room for a nap, I met up with Saleck outside my hotel. We went for a walk and con-
tinued our conversation from the night before. He told me that his family asked him why
I wasn't going to sleep at their home again. He just gave them an excuse on my behalf. I
didn't know how to respond for I felt I had just insulted him by not staying with them a
second night. Sadly, this was the last time I saw Saleck. Till this day, looking back, one of
my biggest regrets was that I didn't properly thank him for taking me in when I was most
in need.
I woke up the next morning quite indecisive about departing Nouakchott. Part of
mewantedtostarttheroadtoSenegalrightawayandtheotherpartwantedtoseeifIcould
visitUNICEF'sprojects.Afterabitofdithering,IoptedtoloadthebikeasifIwasleaving
and, with the manager's permission, to leave it at the hotel for a few hours. I then simply
walked over to UNICEF and asked if I could visit one of their projects. If it didn't pan out,
I thought, then I would simply return to the hotel to make my way to the border.
Clutching some letters of introduction in my hand, I arrived quickly to UNICEF's
compound. I met Margaret who was in charge of their projects' finances and asked her for
a letter of reference in French. She said she could do it but first needed a cable from STC-
UK.Since Ididn'thave the time orurgency forthis letter,Itold hernottoworry.Iplanned
to obtain one from the Canadian Embassy in Senegal.
She then introduced me to Thomas Zio who was the director of voluntary projects.
Thomas spoke of UNICEF's projects for almost an hour and suggested that if I was inter-
ested, I could return on Saturday to join him for a tour. I was eager for the opportunity and
immediately said yes. He then consulted his day-planner and asked me if I wanted to join
him that very morning to visit a few projects. The broad smile that grew across my face
wasallheneededforaresponse.Heaskedmetowaitintheloungeforhimandafterabout
an hour, a UN vehicle pulled up to the building to take us to three sites.
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