nouakchott’s sticky heat and cult of questionable tap water

woke up to a ceiling fan spinning like it’s trying to cool the whole desert. figured i’d document this sunstroke in nouakchott. it’s like waking up to a meat thermometer set to 100°. the weather today? don’t even ask. i just checked and it’s 31.3 degrees celsius and feels like someone dumped a swimming pool of humidity into a sauna. the AC’s fighting a losing battle with a thermostat that’s clearly on vacation.

yesterday i asked a vendor near bou parc du lac if the tap water was drinkable. he looked at me like i’d asked if the sand was safe to eat. then he muttered something about ‘it’s either that or the government doesn’t care anymore.’ so yeah. guess i’ll stick to bottled. which is weird because the bottled water here tastes like i poured lake water into a mug and let it sit for weeks. but hey. survival.

the neighbors? they’re either roasting jollof rice outside or trying to fix their roofs with tar that smells like old flip-flops. one guy i heard arguing with his neighbor yesterday about whether the government was stealing their electricity or just being lazy. it was loud. and oddly specific. i almost joined in. but then i remembered this is nouakchott. we don’t argue. we just wait for the next heatwave to melt the worry out of us.

someone at a bar last night swore the local diner’s jollof rice had a secret ingredient-probably something rotten. i tried it anyway. it was okay. not great. but then i saw the owner whispering to a tourist and muttering ‘don’t tell the health inspectors.’ classic.

if you get bored, koomis in ghana is just a short flight away but has better street food rallies. i heard that from a guy wearing a cap made of recycled plastic bottles. he also said the desserts there involve coconut and existential dread. probably true.

i’ve been using a rugged laptop from tripadvisor that i found for $50. it survived three days in the heat and a sandstorm. maybe. i haven’t opened it in weeks. the battery died. whoops. but hey. it’s got a 4.7 star rating on yelp. probably. who’s counting?

the map of this area? check it out.

it looks like a giant blob of red dots. read the rest of this post with that in mind. the red dots are probably tourists or people who forgot to return their rental cars.

here are some photos from unsplash.

they’re all of palm trees. very nice. very misleading. it’s not like we have a rainforest here. just a drought and a budget.

the reviews online? oh boy. one yelp user claimed the local massage parlor has a rogue python that charges extra for snake cuddles. i booked a tour. it was a guy in a sarong offering massages with his palms. said the python was on vacation.

i heard that the dessert shops here use a recipe their grandparents brought from senegal. which is great! except it means the mango pastries taste like they’ve been stored in a car for three days. but who am i to judge? survival again.

i’m a digital nomad for the month. which means i work from a hammock in a riad and pretend i’m not melting into the floor. the internet’s spotty. the tap water’s questionable. but the upside? the nights are cool enough to sleep without dreaming about a fridge.

in conclusion? nouakchott is a city that doesn’t care if you like it or not. it’s either this or the ocean. and honestly? i’m here for the ocean. even if it’s a 10-hour drive away and requires smuggling.

someone told me the local elders say the heat will make you grow wings. i’m 60% sure they’re joking. 40% sure they’re a cult. either way. it’s.append("Maybe","I’ll start a blog about it") though.

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