(Click on the pictures to enlarge)
The visit to Mauritania was a short one and was for work, the fun part being the 750 km drive up-north to visit the location of a potential mining project and consequently where the power plant would be.
Nouakchott, the capital, looks to be a quiet place, dusty and fairly clean. A new garbage colleting company is said to have started working on removing rubbish.
Departure for the trip was early morning. The car was quickly out of town, apparently there is still some rubbish removal to do but the overall neat appearance confirmed the first impression. After just a few km, sand shows up, accumulating on wall and house, a reminder that Mauritania is set in the Sahara desert. For the first 350 km the road is paved until the drive take a left in the bush. Since there is not any kind of road signal the navigator actually relies on its GPS.
There is not a single track to follow but rather a set of tracks left by other vehicle following more or less the same route. For the first two hours it is possible to follow a low ridge which on the right, “the Adrar,” going for thousand of km north all the way to Algeria. After that, there is no more clear land mark to follow. We cross a couple of villages with very simple houses, cubes of loose masonry with openings showing carpet on the floor.
The other unmistakable land mark is when our route crosses the railway track. This is the mine’s train, said to be the longest and heaviest train in the world. Iron mineral is heavy!
Further North the track is even more difficult to guess as it goes through a vast gravel plain. Here and there some eroded rock outcrops (“guelbs”) are like islands in waterless sea, maybe with a good map it could be possible to navigate by those.
Before arriving in the mine region the car has to cross the small end of a dune complex (“erg”.) No great sand dunes but sand with some grass shags named “camel grass.” This is a place where 4 WD is compulsory for a heavy car like ours.
The mine itself is actually several mining locations quite distant from one to the other. The town of Zouerate is more or less in the middle of the mining region on the North side of a mountain where the first mining site started to be operated in the 60ies. There was a numerous French expat population at the time, some 4000 families. Now it is a 40,000 people town wholly run by Mauritanian. The infrastructure is mostly preserved and maintained, there is a brand new runway but no regular flight to Nouakchott.
The desert has a beauty of its own. In summer the heat must be extreme but the cooler season is easy to manage. From what I’m told the Adrar is "the" place to visit, with tour operators flying direct to the town of Arar.
People in Mauritania seem to be generally nice, there is an “easygoing” and tolerant atmosphere. This is one of the few Arab countries having an Israeli representation, although the Israel embassy in Nouakchott is only symbolic and keeps a low profile. If I ever wanted to do some desert trekking with security concern and no hassle, I would definitely think of Mauritania. They have finally found oil in the north near the Algerian border, so this might push up the activity and prices—but there is still time.
The visit to Mauritania was a short one and was for work, the fun part being the 750 km drive up-north to visit the location of a potential mining project and consequently where the power plant would be.Nouakchott, the capital, looks to be a quiet place, dusty and fairly clean. A new garbage colleting company is said to have started working on removing rubbish.
Departure for the trip was early morning. The car was quickly out of town, apparently there is still some rubbish removal to do but the overall neat appearance confirmed the first impression. After just a few km, sand shows up, accumulating on wall and house, a reminder that Mauritania is set in the Sahara desert. For the first 350 km the road is paved until the drive take a left in the bush. Since there is not any kind of road signal the navigator actually relies on its GPS.
There is not a single track to follow but rather a set of tracks left by other vehicle following more or less the same route. For the first two hours it is possible to follow a low ridge which on the right, “the Adrar,” going for thousand of km north all the way to Algeria. After that, there is no more clear land mark to follow. We cross a couple of villages with very simple houses, cubes of loose masonry with openings showing carpet on the floor.
The other unmistakable land mark is when our route crosses the railway track. This is the mine’s train, said to be the longest and heaviest train in the world. Iron mineral is heavy!Further North the track is even more difficult to guess as it goes through a vast gravel plain. Here and there some eroded rock outcrops (“guelbs”) are like islands in waterless sea, maybe with a good map it could be possible to navigate by those.
Before arriving in the mine region the car has to cross the small end of a dune complex (“erg”.) No great sand dunes but sand with some grass shags named “camel grass.” This is a place where 4 WD is compulsory for a heavy car like ours.The mine itself is actually several mining locations quite distant from one to the other. The town of Zouerate is more or less in the middle of the mining region on the North side of a mountain where the first mining site started to be operated in the 60ies. There was a numerous French expat population at the time, some 4000 families. Now it is a 40,000 people town wholly run by Mauritanian. The infrastructure is mostly preserved and maintained, there is a brand new runway but no regular flight to Nouakchott.
The desert has a beauty of its own. In summer the heat must be extreme but the cooler season is easy to manage. From what I’m told the Adrar is "the" place to visit, with tour operators flying direct to the town of Arar.People in Mauritania seem to be generally nice, there is an “easygoing” and tolerant atmosphere. This is one of the few Arab countries having an Israeli representation, although the Israel embassy in Nouakchott is only symbolic and keeps a low profile. If I ever wanted to do some desert trekking with security concern and no hassle, I would definitely think of Mauritania. They have finally found oil in the north near the Algerian border, so this might push up the activity and prices—but there is still time.
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