Handicraft market
In Nouakchott, at the market, let you find clothes and other fabrics (The marché Capitale, the largest in the city, is located by Kennedy Avenue). Nearby, at the central women’s handicraft shop, you will find many traditional items made by women

Behind the fort of Ksar, let yourself visit the workshops of the handmade carpet factory of Matis,. The National Carpet Office is in the same area. Visit its factories and training center. You can still order an original carpet and have it delivered at home.

In front of the Moroccan mosque south of the marché Capitale, enjoy the freshness of the fruit market. If you go down to the south, you’ll find molten glass pearls and Malian batik loincloths. 7 km south of Nouakchott, on the road to Rosso, the jewelery handymen market offers a comprehensive selection of jewelry. Go and visit theses manufacturing workshops. In Oualata, go to the Women’s House where you can see handicrafts from ancestral traditions.

National Museum
The National Museum is housed in a forty-year-old building built by Chinese cooperation. This building is housing the Mauritanian Institute of Scientific Research, the Mauritanian Manuscripts Conservation Center and the National Library.

The museum displays us, beyond the showcases, what were the living conditions of the populations who lived in the country for millennia, through the exhibition of miniatures and objects of everyday life and tools and pictures taken during excavations. The latter were mainly carried out in Koumbi Saleh, the former capital of the Ghana Empire, in Aoudaghost, the main trading post on the caravan route for more than five centuries, and in Azougui, the former capital of the Almoravids. Some of these objects, fortuitously found by Mauritanians, have been brought to the museum, demonstrating the respect they have for their heritage.

The main door leads to a well-equipped room offering a modern learning environment for different segments of the local community and all categories of visitors: children, families, researchers, specialists, etc. The Museum also aims to strengthen the educational and cultural mission by contributing to the collection of art paintings.

In the waiting room, there are showcases. Inside one of them works of the great scholar Mohamed Salem ould Adoud are exhibited. Nearby, some instruments of music, as well as a statue of a married woman, of a dazzling beauty, wearing a black veil called Nîla. Inside, some rare masterpieces of sculptures, some paintings and everything related to cultural heritage. This room houses most often scientific works, works of art, manuscripts of religious sciences like the treaties of Khalil and its commentaries, the Islamic conquests (El Bedoui)…

Hollow and polished stones of old models serving as schoolboys’ inkwell. Similarly, the museum provides information to researchers, students and others. Ahmed Salem, an old man who often comes to visit the museum says: “this place serves as a cultural center and is a mirror of the society; it reflects the influence of our history before and after independence”.

The museum also focuses on highlighting the specificities of each region of the country, thanks to a variety of exhibitions that reflect the overall context of the country’s history and highlight its geographical and cultural unity.

Among the precious exhibits are: a chain mail found in the region of Koumbi Saleh, potteries of the region of Mederdra, jars of Tegdaouest, (discovered during the excavations led by Koltermann in 1998, on the site of the fort d’Arguin). Also in the showroom, are exhibited the photos of the flood occurred in 1932 in Nouakchott and of a necropolis of the Ain en Nouss.

The men buried in the necropolis dated 3 965 BP wore pearls necklaces of Andara or stone, and were accompanied by numerous and rich pottery of various traditions, millstones, wheels and tiny arrow heads.

Port of fishing
Fisheries are one of the most important resources in the country. The Mauritanian coasts are reputed to be among the most fish-bearing in the world. But here is the kingdom of artisanal fishing. A huge fleet of traditional wooden canoes (several hundred) painted in bright colors, with small engines discharge tons of fish on the beach.

Hundreds of people, many of them are Senegalese immigrants; work in conditions of another era. The return of fishing is usually between 4:30 pm and 6:30 pm. Time that coincides with the sunset. The canoes are then hoisted on logs or empty gas cylinders, which allows their movement on the beach.

Nouadhibou Fishing Port
Located at 525 km north of Nouakchott, Nouadhibou (95,000 inhabitants), called Port-Étienne, during the colonial era, was originally the first African stopover of the Aéropostiale. This is where part of Antoine de Saint-Exupéry’s “Terre des hommes” action takes place. The explosion of the fishing industry has transformed the face of the city, with the development of the autonomous port for industrial fishing as well as the artisanal port intended to Mauritanian and Senegalese boatmen. Surprisingly, the bay is a real cemetery of boat wrecks. Nouadhibou is the gateway to Mauritania from Morocco.

Banc d’Arguin Park
The Banc d’Arguin, a natural sanctuary raised to the rank of world heritage, where land and sea blend together, hosts millions of migratory birds, the largest concentration of monk seals persecuted since the 15th century, sea turtles , cetaceans, but also golden jackals, gerbils, striped hyenas etc. This site is one of the largest bird breeding areas in Africa. There are more than two million individuals, divided into more than a hundred species of birds (pelicans, flamingos, herons…

The Amatlich
Located north-west of the city of Atar, the erg Amatlich is a dune field of 13 kilometers wide on average and 400 kilometers long. These dunes lie between the black mountains of the Adrar and extend to the Atlantic Ocean. This long strip of dunes, with no end in sight, is the longest of all the South of the Adrar. The Amatlich, however, is not only this endless stretches of majestic dunes that makes the feeling of freedom more intense, and the taste of adventure more spicy.

It is also a very beautiful and vast environment of a wide variety of Saharan landscapes. In addition to the endless dunes, you will have the chance to see green palm groves, canyons and cliffs. Visit, on the west side of the erg, the beautiful palm grove of Azoueiga. A hike, in one of the most beautiful landscapes of Mauritania, would be more efficient with nomadic guides for a real human adventure.

Chinguetti
Formerly a caravan city listed as World Heritage, Chinguetti has acquired a great prestige by its spiritual influence to that an extend that it is regarded as the seventh holy city of Islam. This small oasis is renowned for its mosque, its old houses of banco and stones, built from the twelfth century with its libraries where kept for centuries thousands of unpublished manuscripts of great cultural and scientific value. The minaret of Chinguetti (surmounted by a stylized ostrich egg) has become the symbol of Mauritania, which until recently was called the “Bilad Chinguitt”. Some sources state that the foundation of Chinguetti dates back to 660 AH (1261).

This ancient city was a center of religious and cultural influence from which Mauritanian scholars spread Islam and Arab-Muslim culture throughout West Africa. Among the disciplines studied were theology, poetry, philosophy and law taught according to the Sunni rite and Maliki School. Chinguitty contains countless patrimonial opportunities that thousands of tourists and men of culture come to discover every year.

Ouadane
The city of Ouadane is built on the side of a cliff (sandstone-argillaceous) belonging to the formation of the interlayer continental. Escalated by a vertiginous pile of ruins, the city reveals from a distance its minaret. The city is 175km north-east of Atar (the regional capital of Adrar).

Like the ancient cities of the Adrar, the history of the city of Ouadane can be subdivided into three major periods: pre-foundation period of the city with Bafours settlements, (536 AC / 1141-42 H); period of Islamisation from the twelfth century with the conquest of the Adrar by the Almoravids and Almohads, the arrival of the three pilgrims founders of the city, prosperity of the city with Portuguese trading post and the contemporary period (the Emirate of Adrar, colonization, independence).

Listed as a world heritage, Ouadane has experienced intense cultural and scientific activity : there were libraries with manuscripts dealing with all areas of knowledge. One street would have housed 40 scholars.

Atar
Birth of the city of Atar. Atar was founded by the Smacid tribe, so it is useful to take a look at the history of the arrival of this tribe in Adrar and the adventures that led to the birth of their Ksar (Atar) in the “Baten” of the Adrar. Their ancestor, Yahya El Kebir Alghalghamy would have left Morocco after the war between Idrissides and Alawites. He settled first in Algeria, before being attracted by the cultural influence of Chinguetti. His arrival is located in the seventh century.

Chems Eddine, the eponymous ancestor of Smacid tribe, is one of the sons of Sharif Yahya, whose origin goes back to the fourth Caliph of Islam, Ali Ibn Abu Taleb (according to a genealogy advanced by N’Tahah). One of the sons of Chems Eddine had been appointed as an Imam of the Chinguetti Mosque, which was a great honor, but after a conflict between Laghlal and Idawali tribes, the founders of the new Chinguetti, the smacid imamat was questioned and either paradoxically or after a compromise, a Ghallaoui (from laghlal) was appointed to direct the mosque of the city.

The Smacid decided then to explore the Baten and Dhar region, and finally left Chinguetti. The sons of Ahmed Ould Chems Eddine settled in Atar, while those of his brother Mohamed Fadel settled in Aoujeft (80 km, southeast of Atar).

The newcomers settled on the plateau located on the road to Azougui before choosing a terrain elevation – in order to avoid the floods – to build their new Ksar. (In 1984, during the catastrophic floods that struck the city of Atar, only the old Ksar remained intact and all around its mosque). Good relations united the tribes of Ideichilly the former inhabitants of the region and Smacid.

* According to the researcher Abdel Weddoud Ould Cheikh, the word “atar” means road in Azer language or new city in Berber.

Adrar
Beam point of the outreach of the Almoravids, the wilaya is famous for its palm groves, its annual guetna (treatment of fresh dates) and its gardens.

Its capital, Atar, is the starting point of many treks. The city presents, on one side, the old ksar with narrow streets and multiple escapades, and on the other, the recent city with wide straight streets. Created in the 13th century, it was, during the period of penetration and colonial occupation, an important French strategic position and one of the main stages of the Trans-Saharan track.

Nouakchott
Bordering the Atlantic Ocean, Nouakchott is the capital of the country since 1957. Nouakchott is the symbol of the multicultural dimension of Mauritania. In fact, an intermingling of different Negro-African and Arab-Berber ethnic groups provides this city uniqueness in Africa. And all over the city there is a large concentration of accommodation, apartments, modern buildings, restaurants and shops of all kinds. A peculiarity of Nouakchott is that its groceries and clothing stores are open until very late at night.

The artisanal fishing port, the vegetable gardens (oases of several hectares in the heart of the city), the Central Market and the National Museum are the main centers of interest of Nouakchott. And of course not to be missed, the Ksar, the oldest neighborhood of the city, where the aviator Saint-Exupéry spent his nights.

Several walks can be done near the city on the Atlantic coast and several tours are possible from Nouakchott: by the beach towards the Banc d’Arguin National Park, by the “route de l’Espoir” towards the hinterland and by the northern roads to Nouadhibou or Atar.

Mauritanian desert

Discovering the desert
Walking in the Mauritanian desert is a quest for the absolute, a personal challenge and an inner spiritual journey where each step is closer to self-knowledge.

Mauritania has remarkable desert landscapes, sometimes in the form of conquering or fixed sand dunes, majestic or timid, sometimes in the form of stones which generates landscapes that conceal, under an apparent uniformity, great differences.
It can be massive sandstone with picturesque nipples, carved rocks, regs like the Inchiri or the Tiris, powerful tabular cliffs like the Adrar Ridge with its ravines, canyons, caves, etc. These landscapes are particularly characteristic of the regions of Adrar, Tagant, Hodh Chargui, Hodh Garbi and Assaba.

These splendid landscapes, very varied and rarely monotonous, are intersected by zones of vegetable, animal and human lives, in the form of camps or permanent oases. In many cases, these constitute magnificent landscapes: oasis of Terjit, Kasr Torchane, Toungat, Agueni, etc. in the vicinity of Atar and Kamour, Guérou, Kankossa in the neighborhood of Kiffa.

The extremely flat Saharan peneplains (Karet, Yetti, Ghallamane, Amsaga) extend from the eastern border to the northeastern borders of the country. Occasionally, isolated mounds are the remains of ancient reliefs: the jibals of the Adrar and Kediet ej-jill.

There are ergs oriented from north-east to south-east: the ergs of Iguidi, Al Hamami, Azeffal and Akchar. To the north, the Sahara (Tiris Zemmour, Dakhlet Nouadhibou) was the domain of the great nomads now established mostly in the cities of Zouerate, F’Derick and Nouadhibou.

The desert visiting lasts an average of eight days and may take the form of hikes using different means of transport: on foot, by camel or in a 4×4 vehicle. The absence of any accommodation equipment in the places visited implies that the accommodation may take the form of bivouacs by using removable and transportable tents.

The contemplation of the natural landscapes can be associated with rest stops in the inhabited places that allow to come into contact with the resident populations and to experience their way of life.

They also allow to visit existing historical and cultural sites.

Desert discovery tours are increasingly enhanced by supplements such as:
– A train trip on “Train du désert ” across all or a portion of the railway from Zouerate to Nouadhibou;

– Sport fishing with accommodation in a campsite near Nouhadibou

– The falcon hunt an Increasingly trips attendance

– Stays or cultural tours, with themed stays and visits to listed world heritage ancient cities.

– Stays and tours of eco-tourism-only type, thanks to the visit of both parks of Banc d’Arguin and Diawling.

Richat structure
Located in Mauritania, the Richat structure or “the eye of Africa” is an exceptional geological structure located in the Sahara Desert.

Approximately 50 kilometers in diameter, it has longtime intrigued scientists before they find its origin. If you fly over the Mauritanian Sahara one day, you will certainly see an amazing structure stand out from the landscape, like an enormous eye pointing to the sky, “the eye of Africa”. More known under the name of structure or dome of Richat, this formation is located near the city of Ouadane , it can be seen from the skies, and even from the space.

Discovered a long time ago, the structure of Richat was visited since the 1950s by scientists before being revealed on a large scale by one of the American space missions, the Gemini. At that time, the astronauts were greatly marveled at the atypical characteristics of the structure. Superimposed circles of several tens of kilometers in diameter forming a kind of a giant ammonite…

The culinary culture in Mauritania is based on traditional products: a lot of mutton, goat or camel meat, because of attachment to livestock.

On the seaside, there is more variety in the dish: since Mauritanian waters are among the most fish-bearing in the world, Fish is therefore more and more consumed. Tieboudienne (rice with fish) or Tiebousauce (rice with fish sauce) are the most common traditional dishes.

Dates are one of the most important nutriments of Mauritanian food, often served at the beginning of a meal soaked in fresh cream or goat’s butter.

The main dishes are:
Al-keçra, a pancake made from wheat flour or barley baked in the oven or in previously heated coal sand
Marouwilham : rice with meat

Kuskus (Gommu), primary food source in most parts of the country, it is prepared with the flour of millet, wheat or barley

Al mechwi: meat cooked in the sand (hofra, oven)
Lattiri : a very fine couscous prepared from sorghum or millet flour and even rice eaten sprinkled with tomato sauce and accompanied by meat or fish or spinach and vegetables or only with fresh milk or sour milk (yoghurt)

Beverages
– Tea
Among nomads, tea is a real ritual of welcome, relaxation and discussions. Served several times a day, it is accredited with many virtues, including those to cut hunger, quench thirst and reduce fatigue. Successively, three cups of tea are served. The preparation of the tea meets exactly the way of life of the nomads, so it should be made delightfully and carefully.

The tea is first rinsed with hot water. It is then put in a teapot with a quantity of thoroughly dosed water, which is left boiling for a moment. Then, the “tea maker” pours and pours the drink into several cups creating foam in each of the cups. The drink is then warmed, sweetened and flavored with mint before being served hot in small cups that keep the essential foam without which some prefer pouting the beverage.

Fresh beverages
– The bissap is a red mixture beverage made from dried red flowers of hibiscus (the same as in Senegal or Mali). It is consumed without moderation in all Mauritanian families. Served cold to quench thirst, or sometimes boiling to cure a sore throat. The natural acidity of the bissap is softened by a high dose of sugar.

– The monkey bread is made from the floury fruit of baobab, which is melted to remove its core. A creamy, slightly granulated drink at its taste  and a miracle cure for tormented digestive systems. If small pieces of banana are integrated into it, you will find there the real milkshake of the Sahel.

Milk
In rural societies milk is highly valued because of traditional breeding. This tendency to milk remains as strong in the countryside as in the city. The first thing you will be offered when you arrive at a family will be a “zrig” a sour milk distilled with water, slightly sweetened and blended to be served in a calabash that you pass to your neighbor after soaking your lips in it.

The only alternatives to these local drinks are sodas, which are found everywhere. Mineral water is also very widespread and relatively cheap.

1 – Discover one of the most beautiful deserts in the world
In the footsteps of Theodore Monod, the “desert walker”, go to discover the infinite beauty of the desert, its silence, its nomads. At the junction of the Sahara and the Sahel, Mauritania offers unique intact and preserved landscapes. Most routes begin at Atar, gateway to the mythical desert of Adrar, the geographical and historical heart of the country. Tours of one to two weeks allow you to explore this rock plateau with a surprising diversity of landscapes: black sandstone cliffs, impressive dunes and oasis of greenery …

2 -The Banc d’Arguin National Park
Located along the Atlantic coast of Mauritania, the Banc d’Arguin National Park is composed of sand dunes, swampy coastal areas, small islands and shallow coastal waters, overall spreading over an area of 12000 km². During the winter period migratory birds overfly to and from, and with little chance you can discover dolphins and aquatic turtles.

3- Diawling park
The Diawling National Park covers about 16,000 hectares in the lower delta of the Senegal River. Together with the Djoudj National Park in Senegal, they constitute a transboundary ecological unit of great interest for the sustainability of the biodiversity.

4- the River
Much of southern Mauritania is bordered by the Senegal River which forms a border of about 800 km that could be the subject of river cruises. The river stretches in the plains of Guidimaka, Gorgol, Brakna and Trarza, in the south of the country, whose populations ways of life are different from the rest of the country.

5- Get fresh ideas near the oasis of Terjit
A must-see place, an hour’s drive from Atar, the oasis of Tergit is an unsuspected paradise. In the shadow of the cliffs, the water flows in all seasons along the rock walls to create natural basins and a small palm grove. The water is fresh, a real blessing when you are coming from your camel ride. The guetna, the festival of dates, takes place in July-August. Many city dwellers come to celebrate the harvest of this providential fruit. Families meet in “tikit”, traditional huts built with palm leaves.

6- Libraries
This small historic town, located on the highlands of the Adrar in Mauritania, is home to some of the finest collections of ancient Arab-Berber books, well known to specialists.

7-Admiring the rock carvings
Like other Saharan countries, Mauritania is rich in carvings and rock paintings. They date from the beginning of the Neolithic period, about 7000 years before our era. Often representing specimens of wildlife, these works depict consistently the cattle of their authors. The most beautiful works are found in the region of Adrar, between Atar and Chinguetti, by taking the mythical track that joins the pass of Amogjar. Further south, in the massif of Tagant, the surroundings of Tichit and Oualata are full of these representations.

8- The Imraguen traditional fishing
The seven fishing villages
In this unique scenery, a trip to this small ornithological paradise will be the opportunity to discover the lanches (traditional sailing boats) and the 7 Imraghen community fishing villages villages, the only ones to have the right to fish. An opportunity also to watch one of their traditional, inexpensive and ecological fishing methods which consists in using dolphins as beaters to attract the fish in their nets.

9- The particular architecture of mosques
Given that Mauritania is a Muslim country, you can discover many types of mosques and their beautiful architecture, such as the Saudi mosque located in the city center.

Prehistoric sites and cultural aspects
Mauritania has a rich prehistoric cultural heritage. Engravings and paintings are encountered on privileged sites: higher areas such as the massif of the Mauritanian Adrar and well preserved villages that extend along the cliff of Dhar between Oualata and Tichit which were described in particular by Theodore Monod.

– Tichit
According to the oral tradition re-quoted by renowned historians, the city of Tichitt would have been rebuilt several times on its own ruins. The current city is built on the superimposed rubbles of seven other cities.

Providing, at the beginning, a place of rest for salt caravans crossing the desert between Ouadane, Oualata and Tombuktu, Tichitt became, in the middle of the sixteenth century, an unavoidable step in the caravan route.

– The coastline
The Mauritanian coastline extends nearly from the island of Cap Blanc (Wilaya of Nouadhibou) to the estuary of the Senegal River (Ndiago), on almost 750 km of sandy coast in the form of a succession of beaches suitable for seaside and sports activities development, including big-game fishing and wind surfing.

This is particularly the case of the Banc d’Arguin Park, from Nouamghar to Cape Timiris via Tanit Bay and the Nouakchott area, and to the north of the park around Nouadhibou, where already exist a camp, whose purpose is to host big-game fishermen.

– Oualata
Located in the south-east of Mauritania, 120 km from Néma, Oualata is listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Founded in the 8th century, it is called by the ancient travelers “the shore of eternity”. Its remarkable architecture makes it one of the most beautiful Mauritanian cities.

For centuries, Oualata has also been a spiritual center of Islam. Precious manuscripts are kept there and many students attend classes taught by renowned scholars.

– The inchiri
Located between the Atiantic Ocean in the south-west, and the beautiful regions of Adrar, Tiris, Dakhlet-Nouadhibou in the North and North-East, and the Trarza in the South, the legendary Inchiri region extends over 46800 km2 subjected to the combined influence of the trade winds, the continental trade winds and the monsoon. Along the Amatlich massif, the accumulation of water in the clay zones allows agriculture in the Great Grayrs, despite a climate and relief of Saharan types. The movement of the dunes miraculously makes the wonderful Benichab groundwater with its mineral water renowned and exported outside the country.

– The river
Much of southern Mauritania is bordered by the Senegal River which forms a border of about 800 km that could be the subject of river cruises. The river stretches in the plains of Guidimakha, Gorgol, Brakna and Trarza in the south of the country whose populations ways of life are different from the rest of the country.

The population is rich in its historical diversity: all ethnic groups “Moorish, Peulh, Wolof and Soninké” coexist and melt there harmoniously since centuries…