As I said before Tan Tan has a wild west feel about it. The city is the last stop before Western Sahara and Mauritania. The women are covered head to toe, but in brightly coloured fabric. People are friendlier, too. They say bonjour madam as you pass by and it is not to sell anything. In the part of town we were located there are never tourists. The French with their caravans are at the plage and come into town to the bank which is in the centre. I spent 10 days here with Fatima and Auday. At first it was strange when the people openly stared at me. Then, I decided to just smile and as is by magic they smiled back- men, women, and children.
It was thrilling to see the men from Sahara come in driving old khaki land rovers, all dressed in white or blue. The dusty roads, the ramshakle buildings, the tiny shops, and the friendliness gave Tan Tan a raw charm that I loved. Donkey carts were seen everywhere. A donkey pulling a flat bed cart carrying avocado, veggies, or oranges for sale was common. On the corner, right on the street, one man had a table set up and sold eggs there everyday. Across from him a man sold fresh fish. Across from the pharmacy was a woodworker who did excellent work. Next to him a used furniture shop and then the ironworker etc. All shops closed for about two to two and a half hours for lunch and a break, but they stayed open until at least 8pm and usually 10.
Each tiny shop sold something different. There were two "variety stores" by Auday, but only one sold cigarettes, only one sold chips, etc. When we wanted tea they called a lady and within a short time she arrived with a tray of tea, glasses and some sweet she had baked that day. When we ordered a pizza, they made another call and the pizza was made specifically for us (no Pizza Hut here).
I tried to capture some of Tan Tan in these photos, although I missed the two gigantic statues of camels at the entrance to the city (will try to "borrow" one).
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