Travel guide of Mauritania, between the Sahara Desert and the Atlantic Ocean
Mauritania constitutes a junction point between the Arab world and Sub-Saharan Africa. It is well known to offer a unique landscape at the intersection of desert and ocean. It is distinguished by its unique cultural heritage and the diversity and charm of its landscapes. Its desert offers great opportunities for adventure sports and hunting parties. Mountainous landscapes, clear beaches, natural parks as well as valleys and oases that can be found in various parts of the Mauritanian desert, are great sources of attraction for tourists. The cultural diversity of the country, combining authentic Arab values and African traditions is also one of the strengths of tourism in Mauritania.
The Mauritanian Sahara offers landscapes that are unique in the world, with its ergs, its gigantic monoliths so dear to Théodore Monod, its thousand-year-old oases and the legendary town of Chinguetti, with its ancestral library and exceptional manuscripts. Mauritania is an Islamic Republic, the country is filled with friendly people, and they are very welcoming. Southwestern Mauritania was once home to the Ghana Empire, one of the earliest urbanised civilisations to emerge in western Africa, with its capital at Koumbi Saleh.
Mauritania is a land of desert and ocean, endless dunes and rocky desert with tabular small mountains, beautiful sights far into the interior like rock formations in Aioun. Main attractions of Mauritania are the desert in Adrar and Tagant areas around Atar, and the ocean in Banc d’Arguin,a natural reserve with dunes ending in the sea, full of millions of birds and protected by UNESCO.
Country of the million poets, land of encounters and poetic landscapes, Mauritania has over the centuries established itself as a bridge of civilizations, cultures and heritage. Mauritania is bordered by a coastline of nearly 750km on its western shores with the Atlantic Ocean & up north by the Sahara Desert. Far east, the country spans over Mali down to the south while naturally boarding Senegal with its river. In the foreground of these monuments are the historic towns classified as World Heritage by UNESCO, which are: Chinguetti, Ouadane, Tichit & Oualata.
The Mauritanian desert is characterized with its immeasurably charming dunes extending over vast areas. The oases which swarm in various zones of the north and the center of Mauritania are also an attractive element for the tourists, just like the landscapes where the mountain ranges embrace the dunes of fine sand. The Mauritanian beaches, 750 km long on the Atlantic Ocean, offer great opportunities for seaside tourism and discovery tours in the three natural reserves: Cap Blanc, Banc d’Arguin, Diawling Park.
Once in Mauritania one drove across the sands to Nouadhibou where local guides were needed to travel the desert and beach piste to the capital, Nouakchott. Some intrepid travellers hitched a ride (or loaded their cars) eastwards on the Mauritania Railway which brought iron ore to Nouadhibou from the mines inland at Zouerat. From Choum this provided access to Atar, at the foot of the Adrar plateau, scenically and culturally the gateway to Mauritania’s touristic heartland.
Mauritania has a 704 km long railway line connecting the northern wilayas and giving tourists the opportunity to travel on the longest train in the world. It also has a complete road network connecting tourist areas between them and the capital Nouakchott. Added to this is the recent creation of an international airport, near the capital Nouakchott, meeting international standards in this area. Mauritania currently has four ports along the coast, offering tourists an exceptional maritime climate and providing good reception conditions.
Geography
Mauritania lies in the western region of the continent of Africa, and is generally flat, its 1,030,700 square kilometres forming vast, arid plains broken by occasional ridges and clifflike outcroppings. It borders the North Atlantic Ocean, between Senegal and Western Sahara, Mali and Algeria. It is considered part of both the Sahel and the Maghreb. Approximately three-quarters of Mauritania is desert or semidesert. As a result of extended, severe drought, the desert has been expanding since the mid-1960s.
Belts of natural vegetation, corresponding to the rainfall pattern, extend from east to west and range from traces of tropical forest along the Sénégal River to brush and savanna in the southeast. Only sandy desert is found in the centre and north of the country. Mauritania is home to seven terrestrial ecoregions: Sahelian Acacia savanna, West Sudanian savanna, Saharan halophytics, Atlantic coastal desert, North Saharan steppe and woodlands, South Saharan steppe and woodlands, and West Saharan montane xeric woodlands.
Economy
Despite being rich in natural resources, a majority of the population still depends on agriculture and livestock for a livelihood. In Mauritania, a traditional subsistence economy composed of livestock raising, agriculture, fishing, crafts, and petty trading supports most of the population.
The main resources of Mauritania are agriculture,. livestock & animal production, fisheries and extractive industries. The agricultural potential is great; production is dominated by food crops : millet, sorghum, rice, dates. The breeding of cattle, sheep, goats and camels is a lucrative sector and very present at the national level. Mauritania has significant animal resources estimated at 30 million heads in 2020.
Mauritania has extensive deposits of iron ore, which account for almost 50% of total exports. Gold and copper mining companies are opening mines in the interior such as Firawa mine. In the Sahara region, a modern export economy is developing, based on the exploitation of iron ore and copper resources and of the rich fishing waters off the continental shelf. The country’s first deepwater port opened near Nouakchott in 1986. Oil was discovered in Mauritania in 2001 in the offshore Chinguetti Field.
Mining industry
Mauritania has significant reserves of natural resources, especially hydrocarbons and precious metals. During 2020, the contribution of extractive industries activities reached 24.2% of GDP, the highest in Mauritania, promoting a growth of the sector of 35.5% due to a remarkable rise in gold and iron during the last period. Mining is today the most important component in the field of extractive industries in Mauritania, with more than 60 national and foreign companies.
Mauritania has areas rich in oil and gas resources, particularly in the Taoudenni basin and the Mauritanian coastal basin. Seismic surveys in the coastal basin carried out over the past twenty years have led to the discovery of several oil and gas deposits. These discoveries have confirmed, to date, the existence of significant natural gas reserves in the order of 65 trillion cubic feet of gas, including 15 at the level of the Grand Tortue Ahmeyim (GTA) field, shared between Mauritania and Senegal, and 50 for the Biralla deposit, specific to Mauritania.
Mauritania has a 704 km long railway line connecting the iron ore mining sites in the Tiris Zemmour region to the Nouadhibou mineral port from where the iron is exported to international markets. It also has a comprehensive road network connecting the mining areas of Inchiri, Dakhlet-Nouadhibou and Trarza to seaports along the Atlantic coast to facilitate export operations. A state of the art international airport has also recently been built near Nouakchott.
2 seaports have been built in the past five years, the first in the Tanit area, close to gold and copper mining sites in the regions of Inchiri and Dakhlet- Nouadhibou, and the second in N’Diago, in the region of Trarza. The port of Nouakchott has been expanded to enhance its capacities.
Fishing industry
The fishing grounds that lie off Mauritania’s Lévrier Bay are among the world’s richest. Mauritania has one of the richest coastlines in fishery resources in the world. Sea fishing is one of the most productive sectors in Mauritania. It contributes to 25% to the country’s total exports and creates more than 220.000 direct and indirect jobs.
The Mauritanian coastline on the Atlantic Ocean (Special Economic Zone) extends over 234.000 km2 with a continental shelf rich in fishery resources with an area of 39.000 km2. These coasts are also distinguished by the existence of three marine reserves: Cap Blanc, Banc d’Arguin and Diawling Park.
The estimate of the annual catching capacities of Mauritania amounts to 1.874.633 tons with more than 600 species, 200 of which are in high demand on the international market. The three most traded species are: cephalopods, crustaceans and pelagic fish. In the old time, heavy fishing has raised concerns about their depletion. Therefor, several institutes and laboratories have been created to monitor production volumes to maintain a balance with reproductive systems and the safety of the marine environment.
The basic infrastructures of the Mauritanian coasts have been developed and suitably in recent years at the level of 4 seaports: Nouadhibou, Nouakchott, Tanit, and N’Diago. Being a fishing area, the city of Nouadhibou has been equipped with suitable infrastructure to provide a climate and conditions conducive to investment.
Culture
Mauritania forms a geographic and cultural bridge between the North African Maghrib (a region that also includes Morocco, Algeria, and Tunisia) and the westernmost portion of sub-Saharan Africa. Culturally, it forms a transitional zone between the Arab-Amazigh (Berber) populations of North Africa and the African peoples in the region to the south of the Tropic of Cancer known as the Sudan.
Tuareg and Mauritanian silversmiths have developed traditions of traditional Berber jewellery and metalwork that have been worn by Mauritanian women and men. According to studies of Tuareg and Mauretanian jewellery, the latter are usually more embellished and may carry typical pyramidal elements.
Tourism
The Adrar massif in the north is full of stunning desert scenery. Take a 4×4 off-piste across rocky terrain and through narrow canyons to explore the lush, hidden oases which have provided water and refuge to traders crossing the Sahara for centuries. The Adrar contains two of the country’s magnificent historical cities. Chinguetti was once a trading centre and centre of Islamic scholarship whose architecture remains unchanged in nearly a millennium. Along with Ouadane and a few other small towns, it is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. And do not miss the world’s longest train either just for a glimpse or to hop into an iron ore car filled with Mauritanians for the 12-hour journey from the Adrar to the coast. The remains of the Almoravid capital Azoughui, and rock paintings, are draws of the Adrar.
Much of the central coastline is part of Parc National du Banc d’Arguin, home to millions of migrating birds each year. At Nouamgar, you can watch the unique spectacle of local tribesmen communicating with dolphins to round up teams of fish into shallow waters for them to be netted. In the southeast, the oasis city of Oualata was the southern end of most trans-Sahara trading routes in the 13th & 14th centuries. The city has colourful buildings, many of which feature intricate geometric designs. The city is a UNESCO World Heritage Site and also boasts a manuscript museum with examples of ancient scrolls in fine calligraphy.
The oases which swarm in various zones of the north and the center of Mauritania are also an attractive element for the tourists, just like the landscapes where the mountain ranges embrace the dunes of fine sand.
Top Destinations
The old cities of Ouadane, Chinguetti, Oualata, Tichitt, Ksar el Barka, Aoudaghost and Koumbi Saleh are all vestiges of a rich past during the apogee of the trans-Saharan trade from Black Africa. Many of these cities developed into religious and cultural centres of learning.
Coastal Mauritania
Coastal Mauritania is a region of Mauritania, extends the length of the approximately 754-kilometer-long Atlantic coastline.
Nouakchott
Nouakchott is the capital of Mauritania and its largest city, located in the southwestern part of the country, it is one of the largest cities in the Sahara. The city also serves as the administrative and economic center of Mauritania. Once a mid-sized coastal village, Nouakchott was selected as the capital for the nascent nation of Mauritania, with construction beginning in 1958. It is home to a deepwater port and Nouakchott–Oumtounsy International Airport, one of the country’s two international airports.
A symbol of modernity and national unity, Nouakchott is built around a large tree-lined street, Avenue Gamal Abdel Nasser, which runs northeast through the city centre from the old airport. It divides the city into two, with the residential areas in the north and the medina quarter, along with the kebbe, a shanty town formed due to the displacement of people from other areas by the desert.
Nouakchott’s central business district was planned with broad streets and a grid-like structure; the new Cinquième Quartier (Fifth District) was located close to this area and became the location of a large open-air market and residential area within a few years. By the 1970s, these new areas had grown so much that they replaced the old ksar in terms of importance, as they also hosted the governmental buildings and state enterprises. It also hosts the University of Nouakchott and several other more specialized institutions of higher learning.
Attractions in Nouakchott include the National Museum of Mauritania, the National Library, the Port de Péche, and the National Archives. The city hosts several markets, including the Marocaine market and the beaches. One beach is devoted to fishing boats where fish can be bought fresh at the Fish market. Nouakchott is a principal selling place of native Saharan meteorites.
Traditional Mauritanian handicrafts are available in hotels, at the museum, and in shops catering to tourists at the top of Avenue Kennedy. Silver jewellery, such as bracelets and earrings, are popular souvenirs. Rugs made of camel wool can also be purchased. Items from Mauritania’s fast-disappearing nomadic lifestyle, camel saddles and wooden chests, can be purchased.
Dakar, Senegal is also a good place to purchase jewellery from Moorish silversmiths. There is a small collection of artisans selling quality good on Autoroute Rosso, away from the airport. The Marche Capitale and Marche Sixieme are the most interesting for purchasing local specialities and souvenirs. The city also hosts the Nouakchott Silver Market. One beach is devoted to fishing boats where fish can be bought fresh. The Camel Market on the outskirts of the city on the road to Boutilimit makes an interesting visit.
Nouadhibou
Nouadhibou is the second largest city in Mauritania. It’s a major fishing centre and large industrial port. The city consists of four major areas: the city center, including the international airport; Numerowatt to the north; Cansado, the main residential area, to the south; and a dormitory town for the workers of the harbor facilities which are located a few kilometers south of the city, near the tip of the Ras Nouadhibou peninsula, at Port Minéralier.
Attractions in Nouadhibou include the Table Remarquable, several markets, a ships’ graveyard and Mediterranean monk seals. The port of Nouadhibou is the final resting place of over 300 ships and hence the world’s largest ship graveyard. At the absolute southernmost tip of the same peninsula, there is a small national park, where you can observe the meeting point between the bay and the Atlantic Ocean.
Between the Port Autonome and Cansado are the ruins of an old French coastal gun emplacement designed in its day to protect the French colony from the Spanish border a few kilometres away. The downtown market, in Keran, behind the main middle road, is full of little shops selling a surprising variety of things from all over the world. It has a well stocked chep-chep or second-hand market.
Nouadhibou has always been an important transit point for international transport. In the beginning of the 20th century, it was a stopover for the Latécoère air-transport network for mail and passengers for western Africa and overseas colonies like Martinique. Antoine de Saint-Exupery spent much time there as a pilot and as writer.
Processing iron ore forms the largest industry in Nouadhibou, although the overall major economic activity is fishing. Near the harbor is the terminus of Mauritania’s only railway line, which mainly brings iron ore from the mining areas near Fdérik and Zouérat, which are located up to 704 kilometres (437 mi) inland. SNIM, the Société Nationale Industrielle et Minière, is the biggest company in Mauritania. Iron began being mined in the 1960s when they began building the railway which carries one of the longest trains in the world.
The other economic engine is the fishing industry. There are 3 ports: a commercial port (Port Autonome), a local fishing port (Port Artisanal) and the private SNIM port at Cansado for iron export. If you like salty air, sea food and fish, checking out the Port Artisanal can be a treat.
Banc d’Arguin National Park
Banc d’Arguin National Park is in Coastal Mauritania, south of Nouadhibou. It’s inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage list and is home to the Imraguen people. The Banc d’Arguin National Park is a major site for migratory birds and breeding birds, including flamingos, pelicans and terns. Much of the breeding is on sand banks including the islands of Tidra, Niroumi, Nair, Kijji and Arguim. Millions of shorebirds from northern Europe stay here during the Northern Hemisphere winter. The surrounding waters are some of the richest fishing waters in western Africa and serve as nesting grounds for the entire western region.
The Banc d’Arguin National Park is a Nature reserve that was established in 1976 to protect both the natural resources and the valuable fisheries, which makes a significant contribution to the national economy, as well as scientifically and aesthetically valuable geological sites, in the interests of and for the recreation of the general public. The park’s vast expanses of mudflats provide a home for over one million migrant shorebirds from northern Europe, Siberia and Greenland. The region’s mild climate and absence of human disturbance makes the park one of the most important sites in the world for these species. The nesting bird population is also noted for its great numbers and diversity. Between 25,000 and 40,000 pairs belonging to 15 species, making the largest colonies of water birds in West Africa.
Nouamghar
Nouamghar is a village in Coastal Mauritania. It is a traditional and active fishing port where ancient fishing techniques are used in which dolphins are used to surround and bring schools of fish closer to the coast and then they are caught in nets prepared for this purpose. The Imraguen people live in this fishing village, whose traditions rely on its ancient fishing techniques. The village is near the entrance of Cap Timiris and is the focal access point to Banc d’Arguin National Park. The park has been declared a World Heritage Site. The beach is the most popular attraction for swimmers. There is nearby desert with nice sunset views over the Atlantic Ocean.
Sahelian Mauritania
Sahelian Mauritania is a region of Mauritania. This semi-arid region extends south of Saharan Mauritania to of the Senegal River Valley on the borders with Senegal and Mali.
Tichit
Tichit is a partly abandoned village at the foot of the Tagant Plateau in central southern Mauritania that is known for its vernacular architecture. Tichit is an isolated but historic town, its history dates back to the 12th century when it was a commercial metropolis on the Saharan trade. The village is home to a small museum. Tichitt Airport has two unpaved runways designated in a barren area 1 kilometre southeast of the village.
The city was also famous for its libraries and for its 700-year-old mosque. Venetian glass beads have been found here, traded during the medieval era. The mosque, build entirely out of the blue-grey stacked stones, is one of the more famous mosques in Mauritania. The cemetery looks like most of the other cemeteries in Northern Mauritania, but with the unique green stones found in the area.
Built on the high plains of eastern Mauritania, the town is a major trading centre of salt, and it is this commodity that has been drawing traders across the desert with camel caravans for almost a thousand years. Tichit was also the site of the former Koranic school, and although this has declined, the town has been left with a heritage of ornate mosques that spectacularly punctuate the otherwise barren and sand coloured landscape.
The medieval trading settlement at Tichit is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Settlements of communities from around 2000 BC are nearby. These are the oldest surviving archaeological settlements in West Africa and the oldest of all stone base settlements south of the Sahara. Tichit is home to a unique style of architectural design not found anywhere else in Mauritania. The surrounding area provides six unique colours of stones that are used in construction of houses and other buildings. Like most of the North of Mauritania, these stones are stacked to build houses and walls, but unlike most of the rest of the country, in Tichit they are shaped to a certain degree, and the different colours of stones are used to make designs in the walls.
This region includes a long sandstone cliff formation that defines the northern limit of the Hodh depression, near the former lake of Aoukar. The Neolithic site of Dhar Tichitt in this area was settled by agropastoral communities around 2000 BC. Their settlements were generally situated on the cliffs and included stone building. These are the oldest surviving archaeological settlements in West Africa and the oldest of all stone base settlements south of the Sahara. They are thought to have been built by the Soninke people and were possibly the precursor of the Ghana empire. The area was abandoned around 500 BC probably because of the onset of more arid conditions. Hundreds of rock art images have been discovered, depicting various animals and hunting scenes.
The main agriculture in Tichit is date farming, the date harvest is an especially exciting time in the area. Arriving around this time, you should be able to see the harvested dates being piled into large mounds and covered with palm fronds and then sand to preserve them.
Oualata
Oualata is a small oasis town in southeast Mauritania, located at the eastern end of the Aoukar basin. Oualata is an old city and is famous for its bas relief mural decorations. Paintings with various motifs decorate the houses. Oualata was an active city during the Middle Ages. It was built on the site of Birou in the 11th century. It was a caravan city on the trade route from Timbuktu, and was important as a caravan city in the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries as the southern terminus of a trans-Saharan trade route and now it is a World Heritage Site.
The town formed part of the Ghana Empire and grew wealthy through trade. At the beginning of the thirteenth century Oualata replaced Aoudaghost as the principal southern terminus of the trans-Saharan trade and developed into an important commercial and religious centre. By the fourteenth century the city had become part of the Mali Empire. An important trans-Saharan route began at Sijilmasa and passed through Taghaza with its salt mines and ended at Oualata. From the second half of the fourteenth century Timbuktu gradually replaced Oualata as the southern terminus of the trans-Sahara route and it declined in importance, becoming an increasingly poor backwater in comparison to the previous wealth of the town.
The old town covers an area of about 600 m by 300 m, some of it now in ruins. The sandstone buildings are coated with banco and some are decorated with geometric designs. The mosque now lies on the eastern edge of the town but in earlier times may have been surrounded by other buildings. Oualata is home to a manuscript museum, and is known for its highly decorative vernacular architecture. It was made a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1996 together with Ouadane, Chinguetti and Tichitt.
Saharan Mauritania
Saharan Mauritania is a region of Mauritania. This region makes up the northern two-thirds of the country. Picture-perfect Saharan dunes are the main attraction.
Atar
Atar is a town in northwestern Mauritania, a great base for exploring the Adrar region. Situated on the oued Seguellil, it is home to an airport, a museum and a historic mosque, constructed in 1674. Atar is an entryway for tourists to visit the ruins of the ancient Moorish cities of Ouadane and Chinguetti. It was a key stop in the world’s longest off-road race, the Paris Dakar Rally, held every January.
The Adrar’s mountains are from the primary era against the precambrian Tiris Zemmour. Near Atar, you can find stromatolites. In the North, you can find Choum with the train that comes from Nouadhibou and goes to Zouerate. East of Atar, through Amojjar Pass, is the difficult way to Chinguetti, Ouadane and the astonishing Richat Structure.
Chinguetti
Chinguetti is a ksar and a medieval trading center in northern Mauritania, located on the Adrar Plateau east of Atar. Regarded as the 7th Holy City of Islam, Chinguetti was a religious centre and famous for its many Koranic schools and universities. The city is seriously threatened by the encroaching desert; high sand dunes mark the western boundary and several houses have been abandoned to the sand.
Founded in the 13th century as the center of several trans-Saharan trade routes, this small city continues to attract a handful of visitors who admire its spare architecture, scenery, and ancient libraries. The city also played a significant commercial role during the camel trading era. The influence of Chinguetti largely exceeded the borders of current Mauritania, with scholars renowned as far as the Orient. Mauritania was once known as the “Bilad Chenguetti ” – the Land of Chinguetti which reached its apogee during the 17th and 18th centuries.
Today the older south side of the town is partly ruined or buried under dunes, but it still offers an impressive spectacle to the visitor. Some old buildings, including the 13th-century mosque with its rectangular minaret still survive in the old city. The libraries or ‘document repositories’ of Chinguetti contain hundreds of invaluable and well preserved medieval manuscripts, detailing commercial transactions, aspects of Koranic law and scientific observations.
The town is split in two by a wadi. On one side, there is the old sector, and on the other the new one. The indigenous Saharan architecture of older sectors of the city features houses constructed of reddish dry-stone and mud-brick techniques, with flat roofs timbered from palms. Many of the older houses feature hand-hewn doors cut from massive ancient acacia trees, which have long disappeared from the surrounding area. Many homes include courtyards or patios that crowd along narrow streets leading to the central mosque.
In 1996, UNESCO designated Chinguetti, along with the cities of Ouadane, Tichitt and Oualata, also in the dunes area, as a World Heritage Site.[4] Notable buildings in the town include The Friday Mosque of Chinguetti, an ancient structure of dry-stone construction, featuring a square minaret capped with five ostrich egg finials; the former French Foreign Legion fortress; and a tall watertower. The old quarter has five important manuscript libraries of scientific and Qur’anic texts, with many dating from the later Middle Ages.
For centuries, the city was a principal gathering place for pilgrims of the Maghreb to gather, on their way to Mecca. It became known as a holy city in its own right, especially for pilgrims unable to make the long journey to the Arab Peninsula. It also became a center of Islamic religious and scientific scholarship in West Africa.[5] In addition to religious training, the schools of Chinguetti taught students rhetoric, law, astronomy, mathematics, and medicine. For many centuries, all of Mauritania was commonly known in the Arab world as Bilad Shinqit, “the land of Chinguetti.” It is sometimes said to be the seventh-most holy city of Islam, The city remains one of the world’s most important historical sites both in terms of the history of Islam and the history of West Africa.
Although largely abandoned to the desert, the city features a series of medieval manuscript libraries without peer in West Africa. The area around the Rue des Savants (or “street of intelligent ones”) was once famous as a gathering place for scholars, and as a place to debate the finer points of Islamic law. Today, the quiet city still offers the urban and religious architecture of the Moorish empire as it existed in the Middle Ages.
The Old town of Chinguetti is noted for its style of indigenous Saharan architecture, featuring reddish dry stone and mud-brick houses. Friday Mosque of Chinguetti. Built in the thirteenth or fourteenth century, this mosque includes what is believed to be the second oldest continuously used minaret in all of the Muslim world. The mosque consciously lacks extensive adornment, in line with Maliki school of Islam. It’s considered the national emblem of Mauritania.
Azougi
Azougi is an oasis town in north-western Mauritania, lying on the Adrar Plateau, north-west of Atar. In the eleventh century it was the first capital of the Almoravid dynasty, who conquered a territory stretching from the Ghana Empire to Morocco and the Iberian Peninsula. Homes are built in a special way, unique to Mauritania and is surrounded by majestic hills, which make a beautiful scenery. Al-Idrisi identified Azuggi as an essential stop on the trans-Saharan trade route between Morocco and Ghana. The site is even older, as seventh century rock carvings attest. Parts of the citadel and the necropolis of al-Imam al-Hadrami survive. This site was added to the UNESCO World Heritage Tentative List in the Cultural category.
Ouadane
Ouadane is a small town in the desert region of central Mauritania, the town was a staging post in the trans-Saharan trade and for caravans transporting slabs of salt from the mines at Idjil. The old town, a World Heritage Site, though in ruins, is still substantially intact, while a small modern settlement lies outside its gate. Ouadane is the closest town to the Richat Structure, a massive circular landmark visible from space.
Ouadane, or the city of the ” two oueds” is an ancient settlement whose foundation dates back to 1140. In the following centuries it flourished caravan city on the Trans-Saharan trade from Timbuktu when it was the most significant city of the Mauritanian Sahara, renowned for its palm groves, mosques and libraries. In the 17th century the city was visited by the Portuguese who established trade links and at which time Ouadane reached its apogee. Its decline started when European mariners saw to the diversion of sub-Saharan trade from the end of the 17th century.
UNESCO classifies the city as part of the World Inheritance to humanity. Perched on an escarpment covered in ruined stone buildings, Ouadane evokes the past glories of the Sahara. Recommended places to visit: the old mosque, the palm plantation, the old city and the Richat Structure as well as the meteorite studied by Theodore Monod, El Beyedh, the mysterious Armakou Pass and the fort of El Ghallaouya.
Eye of the Sahara
The Richat Structure is a prominent circular geological feature in the Adrar Plateau of the Sahara. It is an eroded geological dome, 40 kilometres in diameter, exposing sedimentary rock in layers that appear as concentric rings. Igneous rock is exposed inside and there are spectacular rhyolites and gabbros that have undergone hydrothermal alteration, and a central megabreccia. The structure is also the location of exceptional accumulations of Acheulean archaeological artifacts. It was selected as one of the first 100 geological heritage sites identified by the International Union of Geological Sciences to be of the highest scientific value.
The Richat Structure is a deeply eroded, slightly elliptical dome, the sedimentary rock exposed in this dome ranges in age from Late Proterozoic within the center of the dome to Ordovician sandstone around its edges. The sedimentary rocks composing this structure dip outward at 10–20°. Differential erosion of resistant layers of quartzite has created high-relief circular cuestas. Its center consists of a siliceous breccia covering an area that is at least 30 kilometres in diameter.
Further analysis of deep structure underneath the surface, including with aeromagnetic and gravimetric mapping, concluded that the structure is the result of ring faults which led to gabbroic ring dikes over a large intrusive body of magma, and the uplifting and later erosion of a dome, through intense hydrothermal activity through the fractured substructure. This can form cuestas over time through the differential erosion of the resulting alternating hard and soft rock layers. The underlying alkaline igneous complex exposed through erosion dates to the Cretaceous period.
Choum
Choum is a town in northern Mauritania, the town stands on a spur of land which carries the major turning-point in the border between Mauritania and the Western Sahara. Choum has a passenger boarding opportunity for the iron ore train to the port of Nouadhibou. These ore trains are reputedly some of the heaviest and longest in the world at 3 km and bring iron ore from the many haematite mines around Zouérat the 700 odd kilometres to the coast. Straddling what was once a major camel train route across the Sahara, the settlement has declined as this trade declined.
The longest train on earth
The Iron Ore Train in Mauritania are up to 3 kilometres in length, making them among the longest and heaviest in the world. The train that has claimed the title “The Snake of the Desert” has its journey started at Zouerat mines, a Mauritanian town in the middle of Sahara, and ended after 700+ kilometres and approximately 22 hours later at Nouadhibou, the second biggest city of Mauritania, laying on its Northwest coast.
The rail network is mainly used to transport iron ore from mines in Zouerat to the port in Nouadhibou, but some people ride on it to travel to other cities. They consist of 3 or 4 diesel-electric EMD locomotives, 200 to 210 cars each carrying up to 84 tons of iron ore, and 2-3 service cars. The total traffic averages 16.6 million tons per year.
The train line linking the following cities: the Iron Ore Train, between Nouadhibou, Choum and Zouerat. The full journey takes about twenty hours. There is only one passenger carriage, but travel in iron ore hopper is also possible.
Passenger cars are sometimes attached to freight trains, although this may seem like a good way to explore the Saharan desert, the train can be overcrowded, it can be quite uncomfortable. There is only one passenger carriage, there is also first-class accommodation, seats are limited, but they allow access to a smaller room with bunk beds. Remember to have a scarf to cover your face, as there is a lot of dust.
More often passengers simply ride atop the ore hopper cars freely. Passengers include locals, merchants, and occasionally some adventure tourists. The scorching hot temperatures of the Saharan Desert can make things even more difficult. Conditions for these passengers are incredibly harsh with daytime temperatures exceeding 40 °C, night-time temperatures approaching freezing, and death from falls being common.
Terjit
Terjit is a lush green oasis settlement in Saharan Mauritania. It nestles in a gorge on the western edge of the Adrar Plateau with the palm grove stretching a few hundred metres alongside a stream that emerges from a spring. Historically, it has been used for religious ceremonies, especially wedding ceremonies, as well as the coronation of a few African princes.
Cuisine
Mauritanian cuisine is a unique blend of flavours and incorporates African, Arab, and French influences. The cuisine of Mauritania includes the culinary practices of Mauritania. Historically, what is now Mauritania has been influenced by Arab, Berbers and African peoples who have lived in and traversed the “stark” landscape marked with Sahara desert dunes in caravans. There is an overlap with Moroccan cuisine in the north and Senegalese cuisine in the south. French colonial influence has also played a role in influencing the cuisine of the relatively isolated land.
There is a decent variety of restaurants in Nouakchott with dishes. Most restaurants in the capital offer much the same menu – simple pizzas, hamburgers, sandwiches and salads. There is a string of restaurants on the road from the Stade Olympique to the French Embassy. Good ones include Pizza Lina, Café Liban and Le Petit Café. The Sahara Café, on the other side of the stadium, is also a good place for pizza, sandwiches or Lebanese dishes, and has some of the best reasonably-priced food in town. Near Marche Capitale, there is a street of sandwich shops.
Local dishes in Atar like: fish and rice (chebujin) in the south and rice and meat or couscous in the north. Hole-in-the-wall restaurants can be found everywhere. Mechui, or grilled sheep, is also delicious. Some fruit can be found in most regional capitals. Boutiques everywhere sell bread, cakes, biscuits and drinks. Tea is usually served after a meal, but it is not included with the meal at restaurants. If you are offered tea in someone’s home, it is impolite to leave until at least the second (of three) glasses. The whole process takes about an hour.