next verse, same as the first

We're still in Dahkla. We're spending the day(s) talking to people, identifying our options, talking to more people, and spending an inordinate amount sitting in the hotel lobby waiting for news from one of the many people trying to help us out.
There are 2 main considerations and/or problems that we are trying to address. The first is how we get ourselves, and the bicycles, from here to Dakar, in Senegal. There are a number of potential solutions to this problem, all with their respective costs and benefits.
The second, and more serious, concern is how to deal with the bus. The Moroccan government is fairly strict about foreigners not leaving their vehicles in the country. Right now our options are to either A) "temporarily seal" the bus in a customs house, where it will sit until Ed returns to Morocco with the needed parts for repair or B) towing the bus out of the country. There's a three kilometer no man's land between Morocco and Mauritania where the bus can be left (the assumption being that someone will retrieve the bus once it is abandoned and claim ownership of it and do what they will with the whole or parts of Thomas). There are costs and benefits associated with these options, too, which we are deciphering and assessing.
We'll keep you posted on developments. In the meantime, if it's any consolation, the wind has picked up dramatically, and it's not quite as warm here as it was yesterday. We're thinking that the high winds will be an issue if we end up taking a flat bed truck, or hitching a ride on the roof of a freighter across the desert. Talk about sand in your face.