Recently one of my dreams came thruth; and I´ve done my long planned flight from Tenerife to Al Aaiun, Western Sahara.

I was planning this for more than 1,5 years; but there was always something that it didn´t allow me to do the flight. Either the weather, then the passport was expired, then the passengers couldn´t come with.

Finally, this August it was so far, and actually until 1-2 before the planned departure we has an unusual weather with a lot of storms here in Tenerife.

On saturday, the 15th of August, we finally took off direction Africa on a Piper PA-28. Such a great plane!

After our departure we have climbed to FL085 and got some nice tailwinds up to 25-30 kts, helpings us to cross the sea even faster, just in 2 hours we were there. The journey took approximately 200NM.

After 2 hours we have landed safely on the african continent. I´ve visited Africa twice, and twice flying a private plane.

After all the paperwork and refueling (which was pretty expensive) we were ready to start our “sahara experience”. Our driver was expecting us at the airport, and our first stop was at “Cafe Omaima” which had a slow wifi connection, but better than no connection (since there is no wifi at the Al Aaiun airport)… We were sending whatsapp for almost one hour, and have tasted some typical food like camel meat, etc. It was nice.

Following the road which ends in Senegal, after some 30 minutes we have arrived at a fisherman´s village “Marsa”. Strange the way how they “park” the boats next to each other. It was also a bit dirty and smelled there…

After 1,5 hour ride we have arrived at “our place” somwhere middle in nowhere. We should have sleep in a jaima, but there was a lot wind, so we have decided to sleep in the “small castle” on the left side.

Next attraction was the jeep safari in the desert. Well, it´s actually only som 15 kms from the coast, but it´s nice to get an impression how the dessert is.

We were driving for almost 2 hours over the dunes and after this we have finished back in our shelter, having tea and dinner. The night skyline is great as well, since there is no light.

Next day in the morning we have stopped on the “Al Aaiun beach”, it was very empty despite of sunday.

After a good lunch (and almost a day without internet connection!!!) we have cheked in at our Hotel Salwan in Al Aaiun. A nice 3 star hotel, with a very good breakfast, airconditioning and wifi!!!

Before going to the market, we have visited the city of Al Aaiun.

The market was a great experience, everything is cheap and you can buy almost anything. The rare thing is to see how they sell the meat… Fresh, in the heat… Probably we have eaten something like that at some of the places or restaurants??? 😉

Time to go to have some dinner, go to bed and wake up on the last day to go back home to Tenerife…

On our way home we have pasted over Gran Canaria, to enjoy the views over the island from the air.

It was a great experience, to have the contact to this different culture in such a short time. We only have been away for 3 days, but it felt like I was gone for almost 1 month…

I loved the tea, and probably I´ll be back soon 😉

Enjoy the timelapse of the flight to and from Al Aaiun.