Travel Guide Chegga

If you have time and the necessary authorizations (issued by the staff of the armed forces or the governor of the wilaya of Tiris Zemmour), you can try this odyssey. The emotion aroused by the majestic beauty of the landscapes will fill you. With a freshwater spring and rock engravings dating from the Neolithic, Chegga was, in colonial times, a strategic location, a fort(bordj) serving as a base for the French military having been erected on a terrace backed by the escarpment of Hank. Maps detailing the strategies for defending this position have been found in this place. A cemetery houses the graves of the brave men who ended their lives in this desolate region. Today, Chegga serves as a garrison for the Mauritanian army. If you have made it this far, like Théodore Monod or Odette du Puigaudeau, hats off! But you still have to come back because Chegga is located in the extreme northeast of Mauritania, 1,300 kilometers as the crow flies from Nouakchott, which is much more by land. On a map, you will see that Chegga is located about 20 kilometers from Algeria and about 50 kilometers from Mali. Coming here is not improvised, nor is it recommended. The proximity of international borders regularly attracts traffickers and other bandits who know the local topography perfectly, and the authorities do not have the means to control this immense desert territory.