![]() Petersburg, Russia, last year when Russian officials expelled the diplomats, and intense embassy activity after an Al Qaeda-led mass shooting at a hotel in Bamako, the capital of Mali, in 2015. Recent examples include courier assistance during the sudden evacuation of a consulate in St. “Even with all the electronic communication we do today, the Diplomatic Courier Service is one of our most valued lifelines to the world.” That's particularly true in times of crisis. “You need to bring them this thing.” Michael Dodman, the US ambassador to Mauritania, who has also served in Iraq, Turkey, and Poland, says the service has a psychological benefit nearly as great as its practical one. “Whatever you have in that pouch will help someone achieve a goal,” says Tulinabo Mushingi, the US ambassador to Senegal. Twenty-two couriers are based there, along with the service’s largest warehouse.įor American diplomats, it’s a vital service. Frankfurt is by far the busiest hub-bigger even than Washington-thanks to its proximity to the Middle East, Asia, and Europe. When an embassy is under construction-Mauritania’s Nouakchott embassy, for instance, opened last year-the couriers run the flow of everything that might be destined for controlled-access locations within the embassy, from construction material to office supplies to IT equipment. In any given month, the DCS might send pouch-filled pallets to Moscow, Tokyo, London, or São Paulo, a steady stream of individual pouches along familiar routes, or a few deliveries to smaller embassies around the world as they come up. We’re on just one of thousands of such trips the service will execute this year as it delivers classified cargo, contained in tamper-proof orange pouches, to 270 US embassies and consulates around the world. ![]() Our caravan consists of four gleaming white government vehicles: a Toyota Land Cruiser and Mercedes cargo van up from Dakar, along with two Toyota crew-cab pickups that meet us at the border. Good thing, then, that I’m traveling with that same State Department on this 12-hour desert journey, as a guest on the Diplomatic Courier Service’s current mission, transporting sensitive government materials between the US embassies in the capital cities of Dakar and Nouakchott. The US Department of State ranks Mauritania as a Level 3 destination, out of four in its threat-level scale. Crime and terrorism are persistent dangers. ![]() Desertification has driven nomadic farmers into overwhelmed cities and towns. Though both of these West African nations struggle with persistent poverty, life is harder in Mauritania. Here, a sense of weariness imbues the muted landscape of sand dunes and pastel-hued villages. We cross to the river’s northern side, leaving colorful Senegal’s smooth roads, reliable cell connections, and sprawling baobab trees for Mauritania. One has a cow on the front ramp, a terrestrial spin on the traditional mermaid figurehead. Long, narrow motorboats whisk passengers back and forth while old ferries glide at a stately pace, their decks packed with cars, trucks, and dozens of passengers. Men and women sell produce, bottles of water, sunglasses, and sandals as donkey carts, scooters, and small buses clatter by. At the ferry terminal in Rosso, Senegal, on the south side of the Senegal River, hundreds of people mill about.
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