Afrinkong
Nature & LandscapesThe Adrar
A sandstone plateau cut by palm-filled canyons, with the old caravan towns in them.
Photo Moaz Tobok / Pexels
MAURITANIA · Tourism
The Iron Ore Train
A two-kilometre freight train across the Sahara you can ride on top of, four caravan towns with medieval manuscript libraries still in family hands, and the largest bird colony in West Africa at the Banc d'Arguin.
West AfricaRegion
27Tourism experiences
The iron ore train, and the libraries of ChinguettiKnown for
01
Featured destinations
Where the country actually takes you.
Nature & Landscapes
The Kediet ej Jill
915 metres of magnetite near Zouerat, so iron-rich it deflects a compass.
Photo m0us3b .1 / Pexels
Guelta de Matmata
Permanent pools in the rock south of Atar, with crocodiles that have been there since the Sahara was wet.
The Senegal River
The southern border, and the only permanent river in the country.
Photo Ben Khatry / Pexels
Seven Hundred Kilometres of Atlantic
Cold current, big surf, and the Imraguen fishing villages working with dolphins.
Photo Shivansh Sharma / Pexels
The Palmeraies
Date palm groves in the Adrar canyons — the only shade for hundreds of kilometres.
Photo Engin Akyurt / Pexels
02
Wildlife & safari
What lives here, and how you see it without disturbing it.
Wildlife
The Banc d'Arguin
Two million wading birds winter here, on the largest tidal flats in West Africa.
Desert, Not Savanna
The wildlife is birds and desert-adapted mammals, and the coast is where it concentrates.
Photo Kent Zhong / Pexels
Eco TourismTwo Million Birds
The Banc d'Arguin is a Ramsar site and one of the most important wintering grounds on earth.
Photo Juanita Theron / Pexels
03
Culture & heritage
The part of a country you cannot photograph from a vehicle.
Culture
Moor and Fulani
Bidhan and Haratin Moors across the north, Fulani, Soninke and Wolof along the river.
Photo Faruk Tokluoğlu / Pexels
Traditional PeopleThe Imraguen
A coastal people who fish with lanchas and, by tradition, with the help of dolphins.
Food & CuisineThieboudienne and Three Teas
Fish and rice from the river south, and the three-glass tea ceremony everywhere.
Photo Cup of Couple / Pexels
The Chinguetti Festival
Poetry, camel racing and manuscript readings in the old caravan town.
Photo Talha Riaz / Pexels
Silver, Leather and Chests
Moorish silver, tooled leather cushions, and the painted wooden chests of the Adrar.
Photo Mark Henry Rood / Pexels
Chinguetti and Ouadane
Twelfth-century caravan towns in dry stone, half-buried by the dunes now.
Photo Hale Ş / Pexels
The Manuscript Libraries
Family libraries in Chinguetti holding astronomy, law and poetry from the middle ages.
04
Cities & everyday life
Where people actually live between the landmarks.
CitiesNouakchott and Nouadhibou
A capital built from nothing in 1958, and a port with the world's biggest ship graveyard.
Photo Ben Khatry / Pexels
ArchitectureDry Stone and Sand
Ksour built of flat stone without mortar, and streets that the dunes are taking back.
Photo mg shotz / Pexels
Local LifeThe Fish Market at Sunset
The pirogues come in at Nouakchott beach and the whole catch is sold on the sand.
Family & CommunityBig Country for Small Children
Distances are long and facilities are few. Better for teenagers than for toddlers.
Photo Moaz Tobok / Pexels
05
Adventure & outdoors
For travellers who would rather walk it than watch it.
Adventure
Riding the Ore Train
Twenty hours in the open on top of iron ore, in the cold, and people do it on purpose.
Outdoor ExperiencesTrekking the Adrar
Camel treks between the ksour, days at a time, sleeping out on the sand.
Photo Moaz Tobok / Pexels
Luxury TravelSmall and Serious
Auberges in Atar and Chinguetti run by people who know the desert, and little else.
Photo Andrea Musto / Pexels
06
Travel inspiration
The frames people come home with.
Sand Against Stone
Chinguetti in the last hour, when the dunes in the streets are lit from the side.
Hidden GemsTerjit
A hot spring under palms in a narrow gorge, and the best shade in the country.
Photo Djamel Ramdani / Pexels
Why Visit This Country
Why Mauritania
A medieval library in a sand-buried town, and a train you ride on the ore.
Why Mauritania
A medieval library in a sand-buried town, and a train you ride on the ore.
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