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Section AF03 Terre des hommes
Al-Ayun - Ad-Dakhla - Nouadhibou
Travelogue
Distance:
1110 km / 695 mi.
Route:
Al-Ayun - Ad-Dakhla (Mauritania) - Nouadhibou
Highlights:
Cape Boujdour, Crossing of the Tropic of Cancer (23° 27'N).
This
section is
dedicated to the French Aéropostale's pilots who, in the 1920s and 1930s, were plying
Senegal from France along the African Atlantic coast to deliver
their precious post mail cargo on time. Eventually they extended
the air route from Senegal to Buenos Aires, Argentina, and
Santiago, Chile, crossing the wide Atlantic ocean and the treacherous
Andes mountains. Writers Joseph Kessel and Antoine de
Saint-Exupéry shared and depicted the lives of these adventurous
pilots in many of their books.
This section also features the historical
Cape Bojador (nowadays Cape Boujdour) which was considered the
ultimate frontier by 15th century Portuguese navigators until Gil
Eannes dared to double it in 1434 thus opening the African
continent to European exploitation for the next five centuries.
Finally, the Tropic of Cancer (23° 27' of North Latitude)
will be crossed South of Ad-Dakhla,
another important milestone in the journey.
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