Mauritania is a large, mostly desert-like country in northwest Africa, that parallel's the North Atlantic coast on its western side.
It's bordered by Morocco and, unrecognised, Western Sahara to the north, Algeria to the northeast, Mali to the east and Senegal to the south, across the Senegal River.
The majority of Mauritania's vast land is covered by the Sahara in the north and centre, with a small area of semi-arable land in the south, along the Senegal River.
The population is small, approximately just over 5 million, with the vast majority being Muslim. People in the south are more ethnically African and belong to several tribes, most notably Fula.
Nouakchott is the capital and largest city, located on the Atlantic coast.
The currency is the Mauritanian Ougiya. US$1 = roughly 39 MU, 1 Euro is about 52 MU and UK£1 = approximately 55 MU.
A bottle of water costs 10 MU, a traditional head scarf called a Hawli, is about 300 MU and a beef burger with chips/fries, can cost roughly 100 MU or so.
The people of Mauritania are mostly friendly, kind and helpful. Although there's not too much English spoken outside of Nouakchott. The national languages are Arabic and French, with some ethnic languages spoken in the south.
Foreigners can fly into Nouakchott from Tunis, Casablanca, Las Palmas (Gran Canaria), Paris or Istanbul.
The Visa on arrival for Europeans and most others is 55 Euros for 30 days.
Mauritania can be travelled independently to some extent. Public transport mainly consists of Sept-place (7 seater cars, with upto 7-8 passengers) and some buses.
Trips between Nouakchott, half way along the coast, and Nouadhibou in the north, is fairly easy and takes roughly 6 hours. Buses travel to-from Nouakchott-Rosso on the border with Senegal and take roughly 3-4 hours .
People can also go to Atar in the Adrar Desert from Nouakchott by shared car or bus and also take a sept-place from Nouakchott to Nema in the east, near the border with Mali, but it's a long way and can take over 12 hours.
Shared taxis and some buses also go to towns in the south, like Kaedi, Mauritania's third largest city, and to Boghe, nown for its traditional round houses. These are two places I visited with a guide.
However, attempting to visit the UNESCO sites of Ouadaine, Chinguetti, Tichitt and Oualata or Azougui (Azoueiga) oasis, is almost impossible and impractible without a guide and a 4 by 4 vehicle. Doing this alone is very expensive.
I joined a group of 10 people for a 7-day guided tour, run and organised by T'Ore Mauritania. A fantastic young company run by locals. The all-inclusive tour cost approx. US$17,00 per person. Flights are extra. The cost included all meals and drinks, all accommodation in mostly 3-4* hotels, plus 1 night camping in the desert. Travel in air condition 4 by 4 vehicle, all tickets for museums and historical sites, plus lots of bottled water, snacks, andthe ride on the famous Iron Ore train – the highlight of the trip.
The Iron Ore train, reputed to be the world's longest at over 2.5 kilometres long takes iron ore from the minds in Souerad in the east to Nouadhibou in the west and goes back again, empty. The train, with 126 waggans can be ridden in both directions. Although riding the train when it's full of ore is more of an experience! People ride for free and sit and/or lie on the ore in open waggans for at least 18 hours and sometimes longer. The train I rode depart around 5 in the evening and arrived in Nouadhibou around 11 in the morning the next day.
Alghout the train travels quit slowly, it move from side to side and jurks a lot, the wamgans sometimes together and making a clanking noise. Stars can often been seen once it goes dark, but can get cold at night and towards dawn, as the train nears the coast. It got hot after about 9 in the morning and was very hot by 10 am. Sleeping on the ore is hard and uncomfortable. Wearing a Hawli; a Mauritanian scarf that is warn over the head and face and wrapped around is recommended, as it helps to keep out some of the dust. I'd also suggest buying and wearing a Bubu, a traditional male Mauritanian long blue dress to cover one's clothes. It has long slits down each side and alsohas long sleeves. A thin mattus is recommended to make the journey more barible! I travelled in mid October and it didn't feel that cold during the night. There was a cool wind towards dawn. I imagine riding the train in December or January could be much colder in the night. Everyone wore goggles, which was a good idea as it kept the black fine dust from irritating the eyes.
Plenty of water was provided during the trip and we brought snacks to keep us going. The biggest challenge was going to the toilet on the moving train! Many of the guys simply peed over the side, I tried this, but it went everywhere! I think the 4 ladies found it more difficult. I know one of them peed in a bottle!
The entire trip was an adventure. From sleeping in a tent in the desert and hiking up a 45 metre to see the sunset, to exploring the narrow passages and streetsof historic Ouadane. We had our own chief and the food was delicious. Tables with cloth covers, cutlery and silverware was provided at each meal and it felt like we were royality! The guides gave us good informative info each morning and evening and we always knew what was happening each day.
A fantastic trip with wonderful people.
