"Crocodile Canyon"

Matmâta camp, Tagant, Mauritania

Moudjéria and the Tagant Plateau expedition area

Our second tented camp, and base camp for the majority of the expedition, was at Matmâta in the mouth of Oued El Glat which terminates at the base of a waterfall with a pool known as Hartéga Guelta, where Mauritania's desert crocodiles have most famously been reported. An oued is a seasonal river or wadi.

Driving across the large sandy plain between Moudjéria and Matmâta.

Matmâta camp at the mouth of Oued El Glat	The view at the mouth of Oued El Glat
Back across the way we came towards Moudjéria	and up towards the Tagant Plateau above Matmâta

Our arab entourage, led by able trip organiser Maloud, constructed our camp and erected the tents before we arrived. Living conditions were basic but very tolerable. The main problems were extreme heat during the day and the regular sand storms which drove fine sand through the zips of the one-man tents, creating one man sand dunes inside. Keeping vulnerable camera equipment protected was a continual battle under these conditions. During the night the heat was still oppresive enough to make sleeping outside the best option.

Mark, Jon and Terry relax	Doing some research
Our Mauritanian support team	The sand gets into everything

A sand storm blows in towards Matmâta.

Director Jon Stephens	The crew: Mark, Terry and Jon

Also during the night we received multiple visits from solifugids, silently scooting across the camp, visible on the outskirts of the fire-glow as sudden movements in the peripheral vision or encountered inside tents.

Also known as Camel spiders (Galeodes oliveri) or sun spiders, these curious and quite large arachnids are non-venomous but possess powerful chelicerae so a bite was to be avoided. We even encountered specimens in the process of ingesting the contents of other camel spiders, and when disturbed both predator and predated ran away into the darkness.

A solifugid on the tent wall	Solifugid or Camel spider, Galeodes olivieri
Solifugid close-up	One solifugid preys on another

More camel riding was called for, across the great sandy plain leading to Matmâta.

The crew and camel-riding presenter	Putting the camel riding lessons to work
Mark has to ride the camel for approximately a kilometre towards camera through the shimmering heat

It was extremely hot and any strenuous work during the height of the day was ill-advised. Rests in the shade were frequent and water intake essential.

Our water came from small springs or deep wells.

The crew filming approaching camels	Mark filming, Jon and Hemmo look on
Terry recording sound of camel hooves	Its hot work for the crew

The only standing water at the Matmâta camp site were small pools of hot, fetid, green water containing floating camel dung so bathing was not a popular passtime. We planned to make a trip to Tidjikja, the main town on the Tagant Plateau and the capital of the Tagant Province, a two-hour drive northeast. That was until we learned from Arab radio, that the Second Gulf War (aka Iraq War) had started and the major of Tidjikja was placing all foreign nationals under house arrest "for their own safety" for the "duration" (the war lasted over seven years!)

Soon we would venture up the Oued El Glat in search of crocodiles.