MAURITANIA
If you crave huge open spaces and a bit of an
adventure, Mauritania is the perfect venue. Made
famous by Michael Palin's 'Sahara' visit a couple of
years ago, it's twice the size of France with a
population of 2.5 million. The Lonely Planet guide
book describes it as 'One of the least trodden spots in
the world.' It's also one of the few places in the world
were you can get into a buggy and go in a completely
straight line for miles without turning or seeing a
single person, camp and then do the same thing
again. On the third or fourth day you'll maybe want to
stop or try a gentle turn – the novelty of riding hard
and fast into the far distance wears off once your arms
have ceased to function.
The only way to describe the buggying here is
'immaculate.' Huge salt pans on the coast, massive
gravel plains and an area of dunes to blatt around on
that's bigger than the state of Alaska. It makes all the
effort of getting there really worthwhile, with good
clean, constant wind from the east and almost
constant sunshine making it even better.
If you are driving and want the full experience, you will
need a tricked up, expedition 4x4 with long range
tanks capable of holding 250 litres of fuel and at least
100 litres of drinking water. If you don't know what that
kind of thing entails, you're better off flying into the
state town of Attar via Nouakchott from Paris and
using one of the local travel agents to organise your
logistics. Surprisingly, there is a small but thriving
(mainly French) tourist industry based in Attar,
providing at least a dozen local companies with 4x4's,
drivers/guides and camping kit to chose from. All the
venues mentioned below would be accessible on an
unforgettable two or three week trip from the UK.
THE BEST OF THE MAURITANIA
Nouadhibou – Sebkht Atoueif
Some 70 to 80km from Nouadhibou is a large tidal salt pan called Sebkht Atoueif that joins the Cap Blank peninsular to the mainland. Some 6 miles wide by as much as 22 miles long, this huge pan seems to catch good clean wind all the time but beware of the surface in places. Strong enough to support a buggy, but too fragile by far to take the weight of a vehicle if you stray more than a mile from the edges.
Bou Lanouar N21.13.30 W016.03.22
About 35 miles west of Bou Lanour, the desert flattens out into a huge gravel plain some 60 miles east to west and at least 120 miles north to south, before it hits a band of large dunes. Virtually featureless apart from the odd rocky outcrop and wayward dune, this huge expanse of land is the epitome of desert buggying.
Gleirbat Ajayat N21.06.34 W14.20.21
Some 15 miles south of the huge Airs Rock type monolith of Amchigdel, the desert flattens out only to be broken by a small sawtooth range of hills that runs for about 50 miles between two large areas of dunes. Lots of fun, technical flying can be had trying to circumnavigate the range over a couple of days, with just a few spikey trees and deep gullies around the base of the hills. Some wells scattered about the hills means there are sometimes a few nomads, which makes for memorable encounters. First time I ever met a bloke in a Laura Ashley dress chasing camels was there…
Chinguetti
The seventh holiest city in the Islamic world, Chinguetti has a lot more to offer than being home to one of the world's oldest libraries and a lot of camels. Straddling a wide, sandy depression surrounded by dunes, this is a place to get your bigfoots out and explore by buggy for a few days. Its' possible to start right in the middle of town and follow the old 'road' through the sandy Oude for about 20 miles east out accross the Btah Chiguetti, where the real dune country starts. Any further east and there are no wells or settlements for about a thousand miles – you really get the feel of being on thee dge of nowhere.
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