57 Cap Verde - Mauritania

18. May 2007

The island of Sal, part of the group of islands the makes up the CapVerde Islands, is nothing much more than a sand dune with one road and some hotels in the southern part.

I left for the airport at noon to fly to Mauritania. I could go to The Canaries, but I am a little tired of the very long distances – and I also prefer to fly up along the coast of Africa, rather than being out over the open sea.

It took some time to get fuel, as it was done by hand pump, and because a funnel had to be used. I took 350 liters of fuel, as I am uncertain if it is available in Nouadhibou in Mauritania.

I was a very enjoyable flight in nice weather, and a 20 kts. tailwind. Nice for a change. So it was only a little more than 3 hours before I landed. The approach was quite entertaining, with a controller of the more unusual kind. There was a Russian airplane  on approach at the same time as me, and the controller (having no radar) had his difficulties getting the traffic organized.

On the ground I was met by an immigration official, but the formalities were brief. There was a taxi for me on the apron. He tried to get 20 Euro for the ride of about 1 km. to the hotel. I settled for 10 – for the return as well.