Sahara – Sailing The Sea Of Sand

When I set off on this trip I was really interested about the area north of Senegal. I had wanted to see the desert and the influence of the Arab culture. I had enjoyed traveling through the sub Saharan portion of West Africa, through the rainforest and grassy plateaus. The people, villages and foods had changed as I progressed through the region but still had a familiar air about it. Things were about to change when I crossed into Mauritania.

The border was divided by a river and the whole border process was overly complicated; I had made friends with a guy traveling to Nouakchott who had helped get me through and we found a car heading north to the capital. This is where I got my first taste of traveling in a very full Mercedes 190.

The car had the driver and two passengers (at least) in the front and four (at least) in the back. We pulled out from the border and the land flatted and dried out instantly. We rambled along the road through the dusty flat countryside kicking up a cloud behind us. Arab faces began to mix with the black Africans and then become the majority. The road was fantastic, and we moved along at over 120km in a convoy with many another Mercedes. The trip only took a few hours and then villages turned into cities which turned into the outskirts of the capital.

My friend had invited me to take lunch with him and I agreed so I went to his house, just a basic room off a compound with other families. We had tea together and then some rice and fish, he only spoke a few words of English, but we had a good time together, I showed him some pictures of my travels and he should me pictures of his family and friends. Before long I had to leave because the sun was setting, and I needed to find a bed for the night.

I found a place in a simple hostel and, so I decided to spend a few hours walking around. Now Nouakchott is the capital of Mauritania, but it is a tiny place, many of the roads are still sand and it lacks any real tall buildings. There are some beautiful mosques though and a lot of military instillations. The place reminded me of N’Djamena in Chad; it had the feel of a small city as opposed to a capital. On the outskirts was where all the camels were kept, was quite a site seeing so many camels right next to the capital. But I wasn’t here for the Capital, wanted to head deeper into Mauritania to see the Sahara. I met a few people in the hostel at night and got all the information I needed.

The next morning, I was back in a Mercedes heading to Atar in the Adrar region of Mauritania, a region to the north east of the capital, about six hours away. The journey was great as I watched the flat dusty lowlands give birth to bursts of sand dunes then rocky valleys and then into huge stretches of nothing but sand. In Atar I found another Car to take me a further two hours east to Chinguetti.

Chinguetti was fantastic, exactly what I was looking for, a small village nestled in the Sahara dunes. It had started life around a water source and was used as a stopover for the desert camel trains that traded salt and gold across the Sahara. It then became very to Muslims and is home to some very old Islamic manuscript libraries.

I met a man name Abdul who has is won guest house; he was a very good host and provided me with tea and a tour of the town. The town was very picturesque, old stone buildings lined the streets and sand dunes encroached on the outskirts. Some of the town was no longer used and sand had piled up against the buildings, pouring in through windows and old doors. It was a great place to walk around; it was like stepping back in time.

I had come out to Chinguetti because I had wanted to do a trek out into the desert. Abdul helped me set this up and I decided to do two nights and three days out in the desert with a guide and a camel for riding/carrying our gear. It was an amazing experience and a bit hard to explain and right about. I had jotted down some things while I was out in the desert, so I have typed them up below for you. The Guide was Omar and the camel were Darnish.

Day 1

8:30

Been walking for a few hours now, the dunes are tough to hike over, there are large dudes with small dunes on them and we must wind around the slopes because the steep parts are too tough to climb. It’s hot, my thermometer says around 40.

10:30

We have stopped on a rocky plateau after about four hours of hiking. Omar doesn’t speak much French and no English, so we are communicating mostly through hand gestures. He has started a fire and it looks like we are having tea, I’m munching on dates and biscuits now. Omar connected Darnish’s front legs together with a short piece of rope and has released him. He seems content to much on the bits of grass that is growing through the rocky ground.

13:00

I couldn’t believe it, just as it was getting to be unbearably hot and I was extremely tiered from walking, Omar pointed to the distance to a dark patch in the sand and said “Oasis”. I think my face gave away my relief because he smiled broadly back, and we picked up our pace. The dark patch became larger and larger and took on the shape of palm trees. A few Nomad tents pop up out of the desert around the trees. It took awhile but we finally reached the grove of palms amongst the sand dunes. It was amazing, it was cool, and a breeze blew through the trees making it so pleasant. We pulled up buckets of water and drank and drank. Darnish was tied and released after he had some water. Omar lit another fire and we at rice and vegetables. Now from what I can gather we are going to sleep here for a few hours so I’m of to sleep.

17:00

We are walking again, I miss the oasis already. The Dunes have change colour in the evening light, quite beautiful.

19:00

The sun has set; we have made camp near a lone tree on a plateau. Our hand communication has gotten pretty good and I know what Omar needs now so I can help more. We had dinner and then Omar taught me a card game by the fire light, kind of like go fish and hearts combined.

Day 2

Early

It’s cold, the sun hasn’t come up yet, can’t believe I’m wishing for the heat.

7:00

We are already on the move, we had some bread and tea, broke camp and then headed back into the sand. The suns been up for a bit but it’s still quite cold, but I know it’s not going to last.

11:25

Passed a camel skeleton, weird to see, but I guess the desert does claim all every occasionally.

15:00

Have stopped for the midday rest but there isn’t much cover, trying to find shade under some scrubby trees. The wind is blowing up, so I must keep the turban on to keep the sand out of my face, not as pleasant as yesterday. Our camp routine has become unspoken as we both know what each other is doing now.

16:30

Tracks appear and disappear from and to nowhere, some are animals, some are peoples and camels. Some are old and are faded by the wind, some seem as if there were just made but with a 360 degree view I still cannot see anyone.

Late

We made camp and ate like the night before. We played cards until the fire died. In the distance a thunderstorm has started. Not sure if it will reach us and I’m really hoping it doesn’t. The Thunder over the dunes is amazing.

Day 3

6:30

We didn’t get rained on but when we packed up camp and started walking I realised how close it was, only about 1km away the ground is pockmarked from the rain. The clouds are still thick around us.

11:15

So, I have traveled from Ghana to Mauritania without any rain, can you believe it that the only place I get rained on is the Sahara Desert. It’s no to bad, we have got a bit of cover under a thorn tree and it’s not exactly cold.

12:30

The rain has stopped, and we have walked on, it has been raining here for awhile though, flowers have sprouted through the rocks, it’s amazing, it has also washed away some of the ground and uncovered shells, they look like sea shells.

Well that’s all I wrote while I was out there, it was spectacular and a great time. I arrived back in the early afternoon. You can do longer treks from oasis town to oasis town and the price is very reasonable. If you get the chance don’t miss it.

Back in Chinguetti the rain was causing problems. Chinguetti has two parts, the old and new parts which are separated by a wadi (a dry riverbed area between them). I got back just in time. I was sitting talking to Abdul after getting back when suddenly, we heard some commotion and Abdul jumped up and told me to come with him, we ran out into the wadi just in time to see the water began to rush down out of the desert. We had to move quickly as the whole wadi flooded. Crowds had formed on both sides and some people were stuck on the wrong side and would have to wait for hours for the water to calm and no cars could cross for a day at least. It was very weird to see a desert area become a flood plain. There was some concern about the road from Chinguetti to Atar because it was easy to get washed out. So, I was very concerned if I could get out of Chinguetti the next day.

The next day came and it was very tough to find a car leaving, only one car was going to risk it and about 5km out of town I saw why. Rivers had formed across the road and the car got stuck more than once and we had to push it to get free. The journey that took two hours to make on the way there took six on the way back and we arrived very muddy and wet.

I had planned on taking the Iron ore train which ran to the border with Western Sahara (Morocco), but these plans were ruined because of the weather, not many cars were running and because it took so long from Chinguetti we had missed the train. So, I jumped in a car heading back to Nouakchott as it was my only option

I’m back in Nouakchott at the same hostel as before and am just relaxing after the trip. Flooding made the road all the way back to Nouakchott very tricky and we passed through some flooded villages. Apparently, they got more water in the three days then they should get all year.

I loved my five days up in the Adrar region and I really recommend it to anyone who heads to Mauritania. Well this blog is already far too long so I’m done for now.