Go back to Mauritania.
Go back to Ouadane To Tanouchert Oasis.
Chinguetti.
After a night in an auberge at The Oasis, we again drove mostly cross country to Chinguetti, another medieval trading outpost but this one a bit better preserved and featuring some family owned manuscript collections (which, in my mind, makes it a bit like Timbuktu). We walked around the old city, got a couple of library tours, and enjoyed a lunch among the date palms just outside of town to escape the blowing sand.
Photos
Breakfast at the auberge in Tanouchert Oasis (Dec. 2024).
Deyah and Mohammad packing up in the morning (Dec. 2024).
Departing Tanouchert towards Chinguetti (Dec. 2024).
Stopping just outside the oasis for one last look back (Dec. 2024).
Heading for the overlook point (Dec. 2024).
And there it is (Dec. 2024).
Some dry wells along the drive towards Chinguetti (Dec. 2024).
The first library we checked out in Chinguetti (Dec. 2024).
Chinguetti library – one of many (Dec. 2024).
Getting a tour of the library (Dec. 2024).
Signing the visitors’ log (Dec. 2024).
We were shown some manuscripts (Dec. 2024).
Those cover a wide variety of subjects (Dec. 2024).
Some are religious in nature. I think this is a very old copy of the Quran (Nov. 2024).
The gentleman who gave us a quick history lesson of Chinguetti and the private manuscript collection (Dec. 2024).
At the library (Dec. 2024).
Apparently Chinguetti was getting ready for some festival while we were there (Dec. 2024).
A mosque in Chinguetti’s old town (Dec. 2024).
Chinguetti (Dec. 2024).
A minaret in a mosque (Dec. 2024).
Chinguetti’s old town with the sand dunes slowly taking over (Dec. 2024).
Chinguetti (Dec. 2024).
Looking across a wadi towards the modern part of Chinguetti (Dec. 2024).
Shirley and Mohammad strolling through the old city (Dec. 2024).
Chinguetti (Dec. 2024).
Traffic jam (Dec. 2024).
Chinguetti (Dec. 2024).
Another view of the minaret (Dec. 2024).
Chinguetti (Dec. 2024).
Chinguetti (Dec. 2024).
Some of the residents of Chinguetti’s old town (Dec. 2024).
Chinguetti (Dec. 2024).
Chinguetti randomness (Dec. 2024).
Outskirts of Chinguetti (Dec. 2024).
Exploring the modern portion of Chinguetti (Dec. 2024).
Phat rides (Dec. 2024).
A dust storm (Dec. 2024).
The functioning Chinguetti (Dec. 2024).
Colorfully dressed girls (Dec. 2024).
Strolling around in some dusty conditions (Dec. 2024).
Chinguetti (Dec. 2024).
A more modern mosque (Dec. 2024).
I think this was a goat and sheep market (Dec. 2024).
A barber shop in Chinguetti (Dec. 2024).
Found a little date palm grove outside of Chinguetti which offered some shelter from the wind and sand as we ate lunch. These are hibiscus flowers by the way (Dec. 2024).
Dates (Dec. 2024).
Our Star Wars themed auberge in Chinguetti (Dec. 2024).
Our room at the auberge (Dec. 2024).
Chinguetti auberge (Dec. 2024).
The second library in Chinguetti that we got a chance to visit in the afternoon (Dec. 2024).
A damaged manuscript (Dec. 2024).
Geometry I guess (Dec. 2024).
More religious writings perhaps (Dec. 2024).
Checking out the small museum adjacent to the library (Dec. 2024).
I think it’s a musket (Dec. 2024).
A mosque minaret in the old town of Chinguetti (Dec. 2024).
Mohammad and Shirley strolling through Chinguetti’s old city (Dec. 2024).
Chinguetti (Dec. 2024).
Old town of Chinguetti (Dec. 2024).
Filling up before heading back into the desert the following day (Dec. 2024).
Go to Chinguetti To Azouega Dune.
Go back to Mauritania.