Go back to Africa.
La Marmouladah.
Ben Amera.
Our first exposure to Mauritania as a possible climbing destination came courtesy of Salvador during our trip to Mali in December of 2015. Salvador mentioned two huge domes in the Mauritanian desert by the names of Ben Amera and Ben Aicha. Once home, no amount of googling around would produce any climbing-related information for Mauritania, though I did find photos of the two formations. Impressive indeed.
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Memes Les Chameaux Meurent De Soif.
Ben Aicha.
I pinged Salvador and he put me in touch with a Belgian climber named Jacques Collaer who had indeed been part of a team that had established the first known technical climb on Ben Amera. Jacques was kind enough to send me three photos of an article describing their 1993 trip from a now defunct periodical called Cap Aventure. I transcribed and (google) translated the article, “Escalade En Mauritania, Une Grande Premiere Chez Les Maures”. I then tried to map out the actual climbing route (with the same name as the magazine) based on my imperfect translation effort and some online photos of Ben Amera’s south face. On this trip, I would find out that my estimate was pretty close. In 2020, all or a part of the old route would be absorbed into a new line called Le Canyon according to the area guidebook. Those climbers reported seeing some old bolts during the first ascent. The idea of doing a quick, week-long trip to Mauritania to try to repeat their route has been brewing ever since.
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Shibari.
Haddada’s Voie Normale.
I think it was not long after the Covid madness that Mauritania came back into our lives when Christian Ravier, a French guide, asked us if we’d be interested in joining his group trip to the area. We learned that a group of French climbers has been working with the local community and a Mauritanian tour company (to get government permission) to establish climbing routes on the domes. By the time we saw their website, there already was an impressive list of established, multi-pitch lines on Ben Amera, Ben Aicha, as well as the smaller Haddada Dome.
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Village Tea Shop.
A caravan.
The owners of the escalademauritanie.com website turned out to be the two French climbers, Anne de Bileney and Jean Louis Lauferon, who have been the driving force behind the opening of the area to climbers and who have authored many of the routes. The two were kind enough to mail us the guidebook and to put us in touch with Kadi Mehdi who runs a large tourism company in Mauritania and who has been working with the Mauritanian government to allow climbing there. Kadi would arrange all the logistics for us including permissions to climb on the domes.
Details
Ouadane.
Ben Amera Camp.
Videos
Shirley Belaying.
Stranded in the Desert.
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Chinguetti.
Azouega.
Road Trip
Mauritania Road Trip: Nouakchott to Choum to Ben Amera; then back to Atar and on to Ouadane and the Richat Structure. Then doubling back via Tanouchert Oasis, Chinguetti, and Terjit Oasis. Finally a side trip to Azouega Dune and back to Nouakchott. Solid lines are pavement. Dashed lines are cross-desert tracks.
Logistics
Atar.
Terjit Oasis.
Contact escalademauritanie.com where you can purchase the “MMM Permits” and where you can be put in touch with Kadi Mehdi to arrange all the in country logistics.
You can also purchase the guidebook for the ever expanding selection of routes.
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Ben Amera Camp.
The Iron Ore Train.
At the time of this writing (December 2024), there are three principal ways of getting to Mauritania:
Fly from CDG to Nouakchott on Air France (can be pricey); or fly into Nouakchott through Morocco on Air Maroc (terrible reviews with many reports of lost luggage). We did the former.
During peak season, a charter airline called Point Afrique, operates weekly (?) flights between Paris and Atar. This saves you about 5 hours of driving each way compared to Nouakchott.
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Tanouchert Oasis.
Ben Amera Village.
Visa on arrival was available to US and EU citizens (perhaps others as well) for 55 Euros. Update: As of January 2025, you apparently need to apply online ahead of your trip.
The camp at the base of Ben Amera features established tents (with cots), toilets, and even a couple of showers. Sid Ahmed runs the camp along with a helper and a cook. There is no cell signal in camp but the nearby village does have one most of the time.
Reportedly, bank and credit cards do not work in Mauritania (though we did not try). Bring all the funds that you’ll need in cash (Euros or USD).
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Go to Nouakchott To Ben Amera.
Go back to Africa.