The ski goggles were the first clue that this wasn’t going to be a comfortable train ride. My host in Nouakchott helped me find a pair in the market before I headed north to Zouerat. I was planning to cross the desert in an open iron-ore wagon, and he knew what the dust would do to my eyes. I took his advice.
I was traveling overland from Morocco toward Senegal and had come to Mauritania partly for this train. From Nouakchott, a van took me to the mining town of Zouerat. I spent a night there, gathering food and water and getting some sleep while a bed and a shower were still available. At the time, that felt sensible. Later, it felt inspired.
Until just before departure, I expected to make the ride alone. Then I met Sterling, a traveler from Kansas. We ended up in the same wagon, sitting on the iron ore with what we’d brought for the journey. We shared food and water and talked for hours. I had traveled across half a continent to meet someone who lived in the middle of my own country, which seemed about right for that trip.
The train left in the evening. There was no soft seat to settle into, no dining car and no moment when the ride became comfortable if you waited long enough. There was the ore beneath us, the noise of the wagons and the desert going by. As it got dark, the stars came out. I remember looking up, looking away, then looking back and feeling as though there were twice as many. It was the sort of sky that makes you forget, briefly, that you’re covered in dust.
By the time we reached Nouadhibou, I had spent roughly twenty hours in that wagon. My clothes and skin were coated in iron ore. I was tired and badly in need of a shower. I was also glad I’d done the full ride, and glad I hadn’t done it alone. The conversation with Sterling is as much a part of my memory of the train as the desert.
I went because I wanted to see a part of Mauritania I couldn’t understand from an airplane. What I got was a long, filthy ride, a remarkable night sky and a new friend from Kansas. The goggles earned their place in my bag.