Mauritania Dec 4-9, 2016
Mauritania is a country in the Maghreb region of western North Africa. It is the eleventh largest country in Africa and is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the west, Morocco and the remnants of Western Sahara in the north, Algeria in the northeast, Mali in the east and southeast, and Senegal in the southwest.
The country derives its name from the ancient Berber Kingdom of Mauritania, which existed from the 3rd century BC to the 7th century, in the far north of modern-day Morocco. Approximately 90% of Mauritania’s land is within the Sahara and consequently the population is concentrated in the south, where precipitation is slightly higher. The capital and largest city is Nouakchott, located on the Atlantic coast, which is home to around one-third of the country’s 3.5 million people.
About 20% of Mauritanians live on less than US$1.25 per day. Mauritania suffers from several human rights issues, including slavery, where an estimated roughly 4% (155,600 people) of the country’s population are being enslaved against their will, especially enemies of the government.
Official Name. Islamic Republic of Mauritania.
Capital. Nouakchott. 18°09’N 15°58’W
Languages. The official language of Mauritania is Modern Standard Arabic. However, the Hassaniya dialect of Arabic is the language of the Moor majority, while other languages are spoken by Southern Black Africans including Pulaar, Wolof, and Soninke (especially in the Guidimakha region around Selibaby). French is spoken by many especially near towns.
It is considered polite to say Salaam Aleikum when entering a taxi, office or when greeting someone. It is the first greeting for most of the dialects spoken in the region.
Area. 1,030,000 sq. km (397,685 sq. mi)
Population. 2015 estimate 4,067,564. 2013 census 3,537,368. Density 3.4/sq km
GDP (2013 estimate). Total $8.286 billion (134th). Per capita $4,287 (140th)
MONEY. Mauritanian Ouguiya (MRO), which is subdivided into 5 khoums. Exchange rates in September 2016 were 1€ = 400 MRO; 1US$ = 357 MRO. It is one of two circulating currencies, along with the Malagasy ariary, whose division units are not based on a power of ten.
Credit cards are accepted almost nowhere. It is easy to change euros, dollars and francs CFA in Nouakchott.
VISAS. Nationals of Algeria, Côte d’Ivoire, the Gambia, Libya, Mali, Niger, Senegal, Syria and Tunisia do not need a visa. Holders of passports issued by any country can obtain a visa on arrival at Nouakchott International Airport. For tourist purposes, a letter of invitation is not needed
Visas are no longer available on arrival at land borders, so overland travellers have to arrange them in Rabat, Morocco, Dakar, Senegal or Banjul, Gambia. Single entry visa fee is 62.5 EUR, double entry is 125 EUR. Two passport-size photos are required, as well as a copy of the information pages of your passport. Visas are available on the next day for people of most nationalities, including Americans.
For most people there are no vaccinations required in Mauritania. Only ones coming from yellow fever endemic zones are required to present a vaccination certificate.
Visas for Onward Travel. We obtained the Democratic Republic of Congo visa here. It was difficult to obtain in Ghana, so Steve gave it a try even though we were not anticipated to arrive until March 5 at the earliest. They were able to issue a 1 month visa that expires on March 12, due to huge confusion and misunderstandings. The earliest we will arrive is March 5.
Travel insurance. The Canadian government’s travel advisory stated “avoid non-essential travel”. I had phoned my travel insurance company who reassured me that I was covered for all countries in the world except the USA. .
Visa.
MAURITANIAN BORDER
After a 1½hr drive we arrived in the line-up behind about 10 large trucks. This was lucky – last time there were 100 trucks in front and getting through the Moroccan side required all day (they were forced to camp at the border). We were moved ahead of several trucks and we walked through the border, attended the first office and got our exit stamp. We then went to a second office where some info was handwritten down. Meanwhile the truck was X-rayed and the whole process required only 1½ hrs. We had crossed into Mauritania.
We then crossed the 3km “no-mans land”. Previously there was no road (now there was for 200m) so again there was no road just a track through the desert.
At the actual Mauritanian border, we handed over all the passports, he asked if we had any alcohol, we all disembarked and a dog went through the back of the truck. He was obviously starved for attention and mobbed a few of the passengers to be petted.
Then it was a stop at the immigration office where our passports were scanned and our index fingers fingerprints. It was about 4 hours to complete the whole process.
The border was a real shithole: garbage (thousands of plastic bottles), tiny travel trailers, broken pavement. Most of us changed all our Dirhams or euros into ? (1Dh = 35) and bought SIM cards. Steve had to pay a 10€ “processing fee”. Everyone was very pleasant.
THE ATLANTIC COAST
No tacky resorts. No pollution. This coastline is a rapturous place for tranquillity seekers and nature lovers.
Parc National du Banc d’Arguin. This World Heritage–listed park occupies most of the Atlantic coast in northern Mauritania. It is an important stopover and breeding ground for multitudes of birds migrating between Europe and southern Africa, and as a result is one of the best birdwatching sites on the entire continent. It extends 200km north from Cape Timiris (155km north of Nouakchott) and 235km south of Nouâdhibou. The ideal way to approach the birds is by traditional fishing boat, best organised from the fishing village of Iwik .
Inside the park there are official campsites that are equipped with traditional tents. Meals can also be ordered. There’s no public transport, so you’ll need to hire a 4WD with a knowledgeable driver, either in Nouakchott or in Nouâdhibou, allowing a couple of days for the trip. Permits are issued either at the entrance gates or in Nouâdhibou at the park office.
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NOUÃDHIBOU (pop 80,000)
With the new tar road connecting the Moroccan border to Nouakchott, the fishing port of Nouâdhibou has lost much of its raison d’être for travelers, who prefer to dash to the capital or to the Adrar region. It’s a good base, though, if you plan to visit Banc d’Arguin. The setting is also appealing: Nouâdhibou is on the Baie du Lévrier , in the middle of a narrow 35km-long peninsula.
After two nights in Nouâbhidou, we left at 5:30 am to try to get to Nouakchot in one day. Although it is only 400 km, it normally takes almost 12 hours, primarily because of the 15 police checks. We ate bread, jam, and peanut butter (not an uncommon breakfast) on the truck and by leaving so early, missed 5 check points because they were still in bed.
Prior to two years ago, there was no direct road here. The truck was loaded on a flatbed on the iron ore train and taken to Choūm and then driven via Atār and then the 6 hours to Nouakcho. Sometimes a “beach” route was taken but this was fraught with problems. Huge salt flats are actually never-ending mud. The new road travels inland avoiding the flats.
The desert is very much like the Atacama – sand and small pebbly rock, very sparse vegetation and dead flat for miles. Occasionally small dunes formed and trees like
acacias appeared. As the highway returned to near the ocean, we went through a town of small shanties lining both sides of the road. Desperately poor, all were black. Fish hung drying from racks. Herds of goats and camels wandered around.
Possibly half the population of Nouádhibou is light-skinned Moors and half is black. There is an obvious status and wealth disparity between the two. It has been estimated that there are 370,000 slaves in Mauritania, most in the Moorish north and they are all likely black. Although it was outlawed in the early 80’s, little has changed in the slave trade. Hovels of decrepit shanties were not far off the main street. Many roofs had car parts (bumpers, body parts) on top.
I talked for some time on the street with a man from Gambia – here because the economy and work was better!! I can’t imagine how bad The Gambia is. To him, slavery was the big “secret”. “The Moors are Africans too”.
Cap Blanc. Has endangered Mediterranean monk seals that resemble elephant seals. There are roughly 150 seals, the last on earth. The colony is at the foot of the cliffs near the lighthouse at the southern tip of Cap Blanc. Also here is the spectacular wreck of the United Metlika, a cargo ship beached on a wide sandy beach.
We stayed at a campsite in Nouâdhibou for two nights and went out to Cap Blanc on our second morning. The very rough road passed a wind farm – very old style with guy lines, half not working and several fallen over. The west half of the peninsula on which Nouâdhibou sits is Mauritanian, the other half Moroccan. A row of the hulks of old fishing boats littered the shore. The oil refining/LNG? Facility looked nonfunctional. The rail line continues to a large ore loading facility a few kms short of Cap Blanc.
The entrance fee was 1200UM. The museum was quite interesting – the seals once inhabited The Canary, Madeira, and Cape Verde Islands and down the coast to Senegal but now are mainly here and in the Madeira Islands. This is a particularly rich bit of ocean because of the upwelling of cold water. We saw one bull out in the water. Huge surf broke along the cape with steep undercuts on the white cliffs down to the rocks. Many walked down to the large beach on the SE. Little remains of the once giant ship.
BANC d’ARGUIN NATIONAL PARK of Bay of Arguin lies on the west coast of Mauritania between Nouakchott and Nouadhibou. It is a major site for over one million migratory birds and breeding birds from 108 species, including flamingos, pelicans, and terns from Northern Europe, Siberia, and Greenland. Much of the breeding is on sand banks including the islands with a mild climate and absence of human disturbance. The surrounding waters are some of the richest fishing waters in western Africa and serve as nesting grounds for the entire western region.
Marine mammals include monk seals, and dolphins (humpback bottlenose, pilot,Risso’s whales, dolphins, common, rough-toothed).
Ras Nouadhibou (formerly Cap Blanc) peninsula is fifty km long and up to thirteen kilometers wide. Dakhlet Nouadhibou is 43 km long and 32 km wide. 50 km southeast of Ras Nouadhibou is Arguin.
Climate. Humid, temperate climate, with minimal rain
NOUAKCHOTT (pop 1 MILLION)
We arrived after a ten-hour drive. We stayed at Auberge Menata with camping and many guests from all over: one spoke English, and an Algerian doing work experience. We were invited to share Moroccan couscous in the garden, easily the most delicious food so far on the trip.
Barely 50 years old, Nouakchott has to be simultaneously one of Africa’s strangest and most unassuming capital cities. This is urban planning nomad style: a city simply plonked down 5km from the coast as if on an overnight caravan stop and left to grow by accident. Most travelers use it as a staging post before the Adrar, Parc National Banc d’Arguin or the next international border.
It was a 25km drive west along the railway tracks to Nouakchott, which is on a peninsula. The hovels we passed were tiny separate wood shacks, lots of thin white and black goats and many small pens for the goats. Goats would be the only animal able to get any sustenance from this sandy, rocky soil.
Although it’s not a highlight of the country, Nouakchott is sleepily idiosyncratic and you could do worse than spend an afternoon at the gloriously frantic fish market (one of the busiest in West Africa), treat yourself to a comfy guesthouse or feast in a good restaurant. It’s also laid back and amazingly safe – bliss after the rigours of the desert.
Port de Pêche. The Port de Pêche is Nouakchott’s star attraction. Both lively and colourful, you’ll see hundreds of teams of mostly Wolof and Fula men dragging in heavy fishing nets. Small boys hurry back and forth with trays of fish, which they sort, gut, fillet, and layout on large trestles to dry (that must be the old way, we didn’t see any of this. The best time is in the late afternoon when the fishing boats return.
We went down at 5 pm. There were no nets but hundreds of boats already in and more coming. They ride the surf, usually broach and stabilize the front with an anchor. Then young men wearing green rubber jackets with doughnuts on their heads wade into the surf. Fish are shoveled out of the open boats into large plastic crates and carried into the market on their heads. It must be hot, back-breaking work. Getting the boats up the beach is tortuous to watch. Each incoming wave moves the boat a foot or two. Eventually, they get the boats onto rollers (old metal cylinders). The boats are painted in wildly colourful designs and the long rows make for great photos.
Major landmarks in the centre include the Grande Mosquée, also called the Mosquée Saoudienne, with its slender minarets, and a 10-story hotel with a swank restaurant on the top floor. Views were the best in town. We were staying close to the Grande Mosquée and peered into the doors. The endless white columns were painted in stark black bas-relief patterns. Non-muslims are not allowed to enter. Probably the same French soldiers walked into the mosques with their dirty boots.
The nearby market was very rough with sandy dirt paths amid tables all selling the same stuff. After searching for an hour, I finally found some playing cards. One of the card games we are playing requires two decks.
The large Mosquée Marocaine towers over a bustling market area. It’s pretty safe as long as you’re vigilant and sensible with your possessions, although people can be sensitive about photography. Take a taxi to get there from the centre.
Musée National. Moderately worthwhile for anyone with an interest in Moorish culture. On the 1st level is a prehistoric gallery with archaeological exhibits while the 2nd level is taken up with more recent ethnographic displays from Moorish society. The building is labelled as the Ministry of Culture.
Nouakchott beach. There are two decent beaches around 5km north of the centre, Plage Pichot and Plage Sultan. Popular with the small expat community on weekends. Beware of undertows.
Julia and Tom returned from London where they had gone to get their Ghana visa. Julia was able to use her British work permit so did not have to send her passport back home to New Zealand. As a result, they had only left the trip for about 10 days and missed only a lot of desert.
We had applied for our DRC visa on December 7, but we needed to stay around until 2pm the next day for them to get their visas. The we left for Senegal.
THE ROAD TO SENEGAL
Parc National Diawling. This little known national park is a sister to the Djoudj National Bird Sanctuary in Senegal on the opposite side of the border. It has important mangroves and an acacia forest, as well as large coastal dunes. Incredibly rich in birdlife, it’s well-worth a detour if you have a 4WD. Facilities are almost completely undeveloped.
After getting our DRC visas at 2pm, we left Nouakchott heading south,, drove for a record 4 hours without a pee break and bush camped 20kms north of the Senegal border. We passed through desert with heavy low bush then reached the actual Sahal with sand and acacia trees. Small villages with square flat-roofed homes were almost continuous along the highway. Some buildings had peaked roofs and symbolic wood structures on the roof. The mosques were all painted in nice pastel colours. Sand dunes were encroaching the villages.
Where we camped must have been lovely and green in the wet season as the ground was covered with dry straw. Watch for tall the acacia spines. We were off at 7:30 to get to the Senegal border (the Senegal River) at Rosso. The tiny ferry could only handle two big trucks and one car at once. We waited 2 1/2 hrs to cross then another 2 1/2 hrs on the Senegal side to get the free visa on arrival. The original yellow fever certificate was required.
THE ROAD TO MALI
We did not go this way. The Rte de l’Espoir (Road to Hope) from Nouakchott to Néma (around 1100km) is now entirely tarred, giving a smooth (if still very long) trip to the border. Check trusted security sources before traveling toward the border.
The first major town on the road to the Malian border is Kiffa (population 30,000), an important regional trading centre and crossroads. You could also break up your journey at lively Ayoûn el-Atroûs, which is a good place to spend your last ouguiyas before crossing into Mali. The tarred road ends at the town of Néma, the jumping-off point for Oualâta and where you can get your passport stamped.
OUALÂTA. Possibly one of Mauritania’s best-kept secrets, Oualâta is another ancient Saharan town high on atmosphere and personality. Dating from 1224, it used to be the last resting point for caravans heading for Timbuktu. It’s about 100km north of Néma but is definitely worth the grueling ride to get here.
Entering the town you’ll be struck by the red mudbrick houses adorned with decorative paintings on the exterior and interior. There’s a small museum and a library, which houses ancient Islamic manuscripts. There are also several rock paintings and archaeological sites in the vicinity.
There are two dirt tracks between Néma and Oualâta (approximately 110km). Land Rovers in Néma around the market ply the route between the two towns (2½ hours) on an infrequent basis.
EAST OF NOUÂDHIBOU
We didn’t go here but I have included it for completeness sake. There were several of us interested in exploring this area from Nouādhibou. It is the most famous tourist area in Mauritania. The train arrives at about 2am at Choūm, get a taxi 3hrs to Atar and organize a 4WD to see Chinguetti (2hrs) and Ouadâne (4hrs). Possibly both could be seen that day, stay in Atar one night and then return to Nouakchott (six hours) and rejoin the group. Steve thought that it would be too dangerous and the logistics difficult, but guests staying at the hostel in Nouakchott said that it was fine. Leaving the trip would invalidate most people’s travel insurance.
To see everything, get off the train to see Ben Amir and stop at Terjit on the way back to Nouakchott. This would add a few days to the trip, but both sound amazing.
Iron Ore Train. Africa offers some pretty wild train trips, but the train ferrying iron ore from the mines at Zouérat to Nouâdhibou might just be the wildest. One of the longest trains in the world (typically a staggering 2.3km long), when it arrives at the ‘station’ in Nouâdhibou, a decrepit building in the open desert, a seemingly endless number of ore wagons pass before the passenger carriage at the rear finally appears. The lucky ones find a place on one of the two long benches; the rest stand or sit on the floor. There are also a dozen ‘berths’ that are so worn out you can see the springs. It’s brutally basic. It’s also possible to clamber into the ore cars and travel for free. Impossibly dusty, it’s only for the hardcore. Plastic sheets are essential to wrap your bags (and person), plus plenty of warm clothes, as the desert can get fearsomely cold at night, as well as food and drink.
The train leaves Nouâdhibou at around 2pm to 3pm daily. Most travellers get off at Choûm, 12 hours later, where bush taxis wait to take passengers to Atâr, three hours away.
Ben Amira. Big rocks don’t come much more awesome than Ben Amira. Rising 633m out of the desert, it’s Africa’s biggest monolith, and in size is second only to Australia’s Uluru (Ayers Rock). It’s clearly visible from the train between Nouâdhibou and Zouérat, but if you have a 4WD it makes a brilliant one-night camping trip from Atâr.
There are actually two granite monoliths. Ben Amira is the largest, with slightly smaller Aïsha to the west. While Ben Amira is more massively spectacular, Aïsha holds a delightful surprise of her own. In December 1999, a symposium of 16 international sculptors was held here to celebrate the millennium, turning many of the boulders at the base of Aïsha into art. The natural shapes of the rocks were reinterpreted as animals, birds, faces and abstract creations. It’s a wonderful spot, all the more so for being completely unheralded by its surroundings.
The monoliths are 4km north of the train track between Nouâdibhou and Choûm, at Km 395. The route is sand rather than gravel piste. Aïsha is 5km west of Ben Amira. To find the sculptures, head for the eastern side of Aïsha, where it appears to join a lower mound made of giant ‘melted’ rocks: the sculptures are here.
Atār (pop 25,000). With the grandiose Adrar on its doorstep, this secluded town in the middle of the desert is an excellent place in which to organise camel or 4WD forays into the dunefields.
The main gare routière, in the heart of town, is where you can get vehicles for Nouakchott (six hours) and Choûm (three hours). Choûm transport is timed to meet the train heading to/from Nouâdhibou
The Adrar. The Unesco-listed Adrar is the undoubted jewel in Mauritania’s crown. It’s epic Saharan country and shows the great desert in all its variety: the ancient Saharan towns of Chinguetti and Ouadâne, mighty sand dunes that look sculpted by an artist, vast rocky plateaus, and mellow oases fringed with date palms. For desert lovers, the Adrar is a must.
Vehicles for Chinguetti (about two hours) leave once a day from near a shop a block north of Hotel Monod. Most days there is also transport to Ouadâne (bush taxi/4WD about four hours), leaving from a street north of the rond-point (ask for ‘gare de Ouadâne’).
Chinguetti (pop 4000). One of the more attractive of the ancient caravan towns in the Sahara, Chinguetti is Unesco World Heritage listed. It was once famous for its Islamic scholars, and was the ancient capital of the Moors; some of the buildings date from the 13th century. Chinguetti butts up against Erg Warane, Mauritania’s biggest stretch of dunes, and is more than enough to meet traveller’s expectations of the great Saharan sand ocean.
The highlight of any visit is a wander through the labyrinthine lanes of Le Ksar (Old Town). The principal attraction is the 16th-century stone mosque (no entry to non-Muslims). Also of great interest are the five old libraries, which house the fragile-as-dust ancient Islamic manuscripts of Chinguetti.
The dunes are best seen by camel.
Ouadāne. Sitting on the edge of the Adrar plateau, 120km northeast of Chinguetti, Ouadâne is one of the most enchanting semighost towns of the Sahara. As you arrive across the sands or plateau from Atâr or Chinguetti, the stone houses of Le Ksar al Kiali (Old Quarter) seem to tumble down the cliff. The top of the hill is dominated by the minaret of the new mosque, which is a mere 200 years old, while at the western end, at the base of the town, is the 14th-century old mosque . In between, the crumbling structures seem to have been piled up higgledy-piggledy by some giant child playing with building blocks. Like Chinguetti, Ouadâne was a place of scholarship and is home to over 3000 manuscripts held in private libraries . Only 20 to 30 families still live in the old town.
Take the northerly Piste du Dhar Chinguetti along the plateau. In very good condition, it departs the Atâr–Chinguetti road 18km before Chinguetti. Transport between Ouadâne and Chinguetti runs next to never
Terjit. We’ve never visited an oasis quite like Terjît. About 40km south of Atâr, a streak of palm groves is hemmed in by great red cliffs. At its head, two springs tumble out of the rocks. One is hot, the other cold, and they mix to form a natural swimming pool the perfect temperature for a dip. It’s simply bliss. You pay UM1000 to enter the site.
To get here by private car, drive 40km south of Atâr on the road to Nouakchott, then turn left at the checkpoint and follow a sandy track for 11km. By public transport, take anything headed towards Nouakchott and hitch a ride from the checkpoint.