Stay : The Great Northern Tour
A great tour on the roads to discover Mauritania. This tour can be done in one or two weeks if you wish to take your time and stay longer in each locality. However, be careful to get the right information before leaving because some regions may present security risks.
Summary of the stay
Best time to go
6 days
€€ - Charm and comfort
Detail of the stay : The Great Northern Tour - 6 days
Day 1: From Nouakchott to Nouadhibou
Steps: Nouadhibou
The easy solution is to make this 470 km trip by tar between these two cities. For those who have the time and prefer to breathe a perfume of adventure to the smell of overheated asphalt, we advise you to make this journey by the track. From the outset, you dive into the heart of the matter, this journey, about 500 km long, will last a few hours, partly along the beach at low tide, on board a 4x4. In this last hypothesis, change of scenery and emotions are guaranteed. If you pass by the beach, visit the Arguin bank. Once in Nouadhibou, don't miss the excursion to the end of the peninsula of Cape Blanc, going down the cliffs which give access to huge sandy beaches.
Day 2: From Nouadhibou to Zouerate
Steps: Zouerate
By 4x4, you follow the railway line. By taking the train, conviviality guaranteed but very rustic conditions during the 15 to 18 hours of the journey. Zouérate is the gateway to cross the Sahara and join the Algerian border by Bîr Mogrein, a very random route. To be done only with an experienced guide because there are still mines in this region, vestiges of the conflict between Morocco, Mauritania and the Polisario Front. A visit to the open-air iron mine is very instructive.
Day 3: From Zouérate to Atar
The journey is made either entirely by land, or by train to Choûm, then by taxi-brousse from Choûm to Atar. Before arriving in Atar, don't hesitate to drive a few more kilometers, so as not to miss the splendid oasis of Azougi.
Day 4: From Atar to Chinguetti
Prefer the old track that passes through the pass of Amogjâr, even though its crossing is increasingly random, it is so much prettier than the new (faster), and, with a little luck, you can admire beautiful cave paintings. The journey takes about an hour longer, depending on the skill of your driver to find "the pass", but the landscapes encountered will confirm that this is not wasted time.
Day 5: Chinguetti
Steps: Chinguetti
One of the high places of Islam, one of the four cities of Mauritania classified in the world heritage of the humanity, its spiritual influence was immense, it is famous for its ancestral manuscripts whose consultation is reserved however to the initiates. Because of its geographical situation, Chinguetti is fighting against the desert, in a battle whose outcome is at best uncertain. Backed to the east, for several hundred kilometers, to the powerful dunes of Erg Ouarâne, it has already been moved to the other side of a dry wadi, during a battle lost against the sand. Only the mosque and some libraries remain from the old city.
Day 6: From Chinguetti to Ouadâne
Steps: Atar, Terjit, Chinguetti, Ouadane, Guelb Er-Richat
Ouadâne, another world heritage city, is the end of the world. 500 years ago, it surpassed Chinguetti, culturally and commercially. The disappearance of the caravans led to the decline of this ancient city. You can take the most direct route through Ténouchert. From Ouadâne, if you have some strength left, try the expedition to the amazing Guelb er-Rîchât, a prehistoric site with a difference in level of 80 m. On the way back, since you will have to pass again to Atar, do not miss Terjît, it is really an oasis of freshness, fed by a spring, flowing in any season, at about fifty kilometers fromAtar on the road to Akjoujt. The Atar-Nouakchott route is only of relative interest.
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