TOUR OVERVIEW
Starting and ending in the capital of Nouakchott, this tour offers some unmissable highlights for an action-packed glimpse of Mauritania. We start the tour off by immediately hitting the road to one of the most famous oases in the country, where you’ll get a taste of some wild desert driving. At Tergit oasis, we can swim, relax, hike and we will camp overnight in traditional tents. We will also visit the impressive library town of Chinguetti, now a UNESCO world heritage site. This city was once an important stop on the pilgrimage to Mecca, and over the years amassed a vast collection of historical and Quranic texts. Today, it is slowly being buried by the Saharan sands, but there are still librarians protecting the scrolls and artifacts at the five remaining libraries.
Of course, the highlight for most visitors is hitching a ride on the iron ore train, the longest and heaviest train in the world. We will quickly climb aboard and lay on top of the iron ore as it barrels across the Sahara under the night sky. After some rest, we will explore the city of Nouadhibou and relax by the sea. Our final day will be spent back in the capital of Nouakchott for a full day of amazing sights like the bustling central market, the famous painted fishing boats, and the second largest camel market in Africa.
View the full itinerary
This tour is also part of
The Extreme North Africa Tour
, if you're interested in seeing more of the region while you're there. If you'd like to do a bit more, but don't have time for the whole Extreme North Africa Tour, Libya can also be done in conjunction with Tunisia and Algeria in the
Mauritania and Algeria Winter Combo Tour
.
If you like the look of this tour but the dates don't work for you, or you'd like to do part of the tour, please
get in touch
and let us know. All our tours are able to be split into smaller sections, we're always scheduling new tours and your dates might work for one of them, or we can always organise an independent tour.