Mauritania travel guide

Sahara's important historical caravan towns also attracted celebrated scholars. These medieval professors of the Islamic world tough lessons of the Quran, geometry, grammar, ancient Greek philosophy and Babylonian law in the middle of the Sahara. This while Europe was clouded in the Dark Ages, still debating whether the Earth was flat. At the same time, these Islamic scholars – as the librarians will show you – knew both the Earth's diameter and the construction of the Solar System. The most famous of these towns is, of course, Timbuktu in Mali, but the highest concentration is found in Mauritania. Here are these ancient manuscripts still cared for in privately owned libraries, handed down through the generations. Chinguetti alone has twelve libraries with more than 3.000 books and manuscripts, the oldest more than 1000 years old. These libraries are historical treasures for all of the humanity and it's easy to fear for these manuscripts when you see the dusty and crumbling libraries they are kept in. But remember, that they have been around for the past 500 years.

A ride outside Nouakchott is a huge camel market. There are a few fenced areas near the road, but as you venture behind the buildings you find the proper camel market, which is massive. There seems to be a small gun auction too, where vintage riffel change hands.
You can walk around and take pictures of the camels as you like, but the blue daraas wearing men are not too keen on getting photographed.

Forget Morocco and Egypt. If you really want to follow in the footsteps of the ancient caravans, Mauritania is the place to do it. Camels were essentially pack-animals, and the caravan traders would not ride, but walk alongside their camels. So strap your bags to a few camels and follow your nomad guide into the desert. These treks are easy to arrange in both Atar and Chinguetti, but most will set out from the latter. From short sunset walks and overnight stays in the sand to multi-day treks – Ouadane and Terjit each take five to seven days from Chinguetti and are the most popular destinations. For the beyond hardcore, Tichit is a mere three weeks walk away. Should all the walking worry you, it is possible to bring an extra camel to carry anyone who tires. If you prefer your camel with leather seats and A/C is it also possible to arrange 4x4 trips around the region in Atar. These tend to be shorter and more expensive, but cover more ground – and the desert here offers everything from oases over cave drawings to meteorite crash sites.

It's impossible to determine whether the ancient and crumbling houses of Old Chinguetti is rising out of the Sahara's famous dunes or being consumed by them. For centuries an important caravan stop, a home of Islamic scholars, and the most important gathering place for commencing the Hadj (holy pilgrimage to Mekka) for the desert dwellers in what is now Mauritania. During the 17th-century, more than 32,000 camels passed through the city daily! Citizens here claim that Chinguetti is the seventh most holiest city in Islam, that is, however, not a claim heard outside the city itself. However, once the sea trade of the colonial era replaced caravans, it marked the beginning of Chinguetti's demise. Today the town, founded around 1300, is Mauritania's most valued and visited historical site, with the old city's 16th-centrury mosque being its most recognizable landmark. After Chinguetti (together with three other desert towns, Ouadane, Tichit and Oualata) was named a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2000 a slow process of restoring some of the crumbling building have luckily been initiated.

The Parc National du Banc d’Arguin is the sole home to about 1200 Imragen - literally "those who gather life" - individuals spread over seven villages, the largest being Mamghar (sometimes spelled Nouamghar) and Iwik. These are isolated people living off the coast. The best time to visit is in November when the traditional harvest of scores of passing-by yellow mullet is caught. Incredibly, this is done with the assistance from dolphins, whom the Imragen fishermen from the shore will attract by hitting the surface-water with long, leafy branches. In that way alerted to the fishermens' whereabouts, the dolphins will chase the mullet into shallow waters, where they are an easy catch for fishermen and dolphins alike. Most villages will have basic, community-driving accommodation options and some can arrange fishing or bird-watching tours with their traditional boats.

Africa got some wild train rides, but this one might be the wildest. One of the longest and heaviest in the world, the Iron Ore Train reach 3 km in length and max out at 22,000 tonnes. The train's raison d’être is the iron mines of Zouérat from where the it brings ore, not passengers, to the coast. It is also the most direct route between Nouadhibou and medieval cities and oases of the Adrar region. The one passenger carriage is cheap, but you will have to fight vigorously with locals to get a seat. You can also buy one of the dirty cheap, with an emphasis on dirty, beds. Adventurous souls, instead, opt for riding in the iron ore waggons. Travelling east, the carts are empty; going west you sit on top of the metal dust. Come prepared: The empty carts are hard to spend the twelve-hour journey in and the desert nights are cold. And no matter how you ride, the journey is insanely dusty. Do instead take comfort in the endless glasses of tea and the lessons in Hassaniya Arabic your fellow passengers share with you, and – riding the waggons – the breathtaking desert night sky.

In Mauritania, where alcohol is banned, tea is the fuel for conversation and as such, so it is no small business. Tea will be offered to an arriving guest, a passer-by in front of someone's house or in the middle of nowhere – when the taxi-brousse driver needs a break. But make sure you have the time before accepting a tea-offer. Brewing tea correctly in Mauritania takes no less than 40 minutes and easily more than an hour. Two pots and at least three glasses are required in an endless ritual of pouring the tea between the pots, between glasses and between glasses and pots. Tea here is not one glass, but three. The first strong – this one is for health. The second neither too strong or too sweet – this one is for a life without too many extremes. The last glass you get served is very, very sweet – this one is for love. The glasses large shot-glasses and the upper half consist of white foam made in the pouring process. Drinking the tea actually takes a fraction of the time it takes to make it. The mean time is filled with conversation.

In 1957, a conference of Bidan elders voted to build Mauritania's new capital on the site Nouakchott occupies today. Previous the only human presence had been a French army outpost. Today around 1 million call Nouakchott home. Calling Nouakchott a highlight of visiting Mauritania would be pushing it, to say the least. But you might very well find yourself forced to pass through at some point, so you might well make the best of it. In a country where chairs are hard to come by – the nomadic tradition of sitting, eating and socialising on mats is still predominant in most of the country – Nouakchott is the only place with something that can realistically be described as cafe life. Most interesting sight is the fish market on the beach 6 km west of town when boats return late afternoon. The city's markets are also the best stocked and finding traditional crafts, like silverware, can be an enjoyable outing. If you're desperate are the three main mosques worth a quick snapshot. Known based on who funded them there's a Moroccan mosque, a Saudi mosque and an Iranian mosque.

The beach down at the fish market is covered in colorful wooden boats, many named after European football clubs. When the boats return from the sea (mostly around afternoon at 3pm) men gather around to carry the catch to the nearby fish market, while others lift the boat out of the crashing surf. It's an extremely lively and chaotic place, and can feel intimidating at first, but people (mostly Wolof and Fula) are friendly and mostly indifferent of your present.

It's almost like the rocks have tumbled down the cliff-side and have just happened to come at a stand-still in such a way that they have formed streets, houses and city walls. 8.000 inhabitants call the modern city of Ouadane home. Below them, on the cliff-side, the ruins of ancient Ouadane is a proof that this place was an important caravan and scholarly town for more than 400 years during the Islamic medieval period. The town is visually most striking in the hours before sunset when its stones glow red. A good starting point is among the palms in the wadi at the foot of the hill. From here, move from the 14th-century mosque, up through the ruins of the "new" mosque - barely 200 years old - on the top of the hill at the edge of the new town. Ouadane also have a small museum, its fair share of ancient libraries, and is a good destination for camel treks originating in Chinguetti.