We arrived at Nouakchott Airport in mid afternoon but somehow ended up near the end of the visa line. By the time we met our “fixers”, Mohammed and Dah, it was nearing 5pm. Though the original plan was to start driving north to the town of Atar (5h away) that afternoon, plans were changed and we spent a night in Nouakchott.
The next day, we did a full day push all the way to a desert camp at the foot of Ben Amera. About 9 hours of driving including some breaks.
Photos
Waiting in Seattle for our flight to Paris. Some poor bastards are starting their 17 hour endurance sit (Nov. 2024).This local bus will be making all stops (Nov. 2024).Nouakchott-bound (Nov. 2024).Getting there (Nov. 2024).Arriving in Nouakchott (Nov. 2024).Got the visas, got the luggage (Nov. 2024).Dah and Mohammad picked us up at the Nouakchott Airport (Nov. 2024).Setting out for our long drive up north towards Ben Amera in the morning (Nov. 2024).Nouakchott in the morning (Nov. 2024).Nouakchott scenes (Nov. 2024).Nouakchott (Nov. 2024).Nouakchott (Nov. 2024).Traffic jam just outside of Nouakchott (Nov. 2024).More traffic further north along N1 (Nov. 2024).Picking up some bottled water. This is probably the town of Akjoujt along the N1 highway (Nov. 2024).Akjoujt sights (Nov. 2023).Akjoujt (Nov. 2024).Akjoujt (Nov. 2024).Continuing north towards Atar (Nov. 2024).Taking on more supplies and Sid Ahmed, the cook, in Atar (Nov. 2024).Tea time with Dah (the coolest dude in Mauritania) in Atar at their company’s headquarters (Nov. 2024).A restaurant in Atar (Nov. 2024).A gas station in Atar (Nov. 2024).A lunch break just north of Atar (Nov. 2024).Shirley, Dah, and Sid Ahmed (Nov. 2024).We stopped along the road to examine a field of boulders with those peculiar patterns, ~6-10 inches in diameter (Nov. 2024).Checking out the tourist train (which is owned by Kadi’s tour company) parked in Choum (Nov. 2024).Pretty comfy interior. We’d get to ride it a few days later (Nov. 2024).Choum (Nov. 2024).Getting in touch with some steel (Nov. 2024).Choum (Nov. 2024).We left the tarmac in Choum and headed off piste across the desert. This is a quick break during that portion of the drive (Nov. 2024).A break in the desert (Nov 2024).Pretty empty, though the train track is somewhere in front of those hills (Nov. 2024).Shirley in the desert (Nov. 2024).First views of Ben Amera as we push westward across the desert from Choum (Nov. 2024).Ben Amera as seen from just outside the village (Nov. 2024).Final few kilometers to camp (Nov. 2024).A few minutes from camp (Nov. 2024).Arrival in the Ben Amera camp (Nov. 2024).Unpacking (Nov. 2024).Home sweet home for the next 8 days (Nov. 2024).Ben Amera and Sid Ahmed’s 1960s Range Rover (Nov. 2024).
