Travel Tips

Zouérat, an important iron-ore centre in the north of Mauritania, and Nouadhibou the harbour at the coast are connected by a railway. There are two trains every day in both directions. They told us the train can be 2 or 3 KM long.

The train brings the iron-ore from Zouérat to the coast, but it's also possible to make this traintrip of almost 20 hours as passenger or with your car.

We didn't take the train, but drove with our own cars the track of 400 KM from Choum to Nouadhibou just south of the railway.

We spent one night in the sanddunes not far from the railway. In the quiet night we could hear the approaching train allready from very far. When the train came near, the noise was very loud. It was like we had our tents at the rails.

The railway with its KM signs was our orientationpoint and life-line. Sometimes we could see the signs very clearly, but sometimes the most fresh tracks, we followed were a few KMs away from the railroad.

A few times we headed straight north to find back the railway to be sure, so we didn´t get lost by following a wrong track, as we did the first day. At last we arrived in a nomadic camp, where we found the three pickups, which tracks we were following allready some time. In the meantime we were KMs away from the railway.

Not far west from Choum the waterpump of the toyota landcruiser broke and destroyed also the ventilator and radiator. The only solution was, that the mitsubishi pajero dragged the landcruiser. And the pajero did ! A really good job for almost 400 KM ! After 14 hours we arrived in Nouadhibou.

The railway in the desert ...... our lifeline, not only for orientation, but also for the idea, that twice a day, there was a sign of other life in the desert, if we couldn't solve our problems ourselves any longer.

A few KMs before reaching Bou Laounar, from where we could take the road to Nouadhibou, we had still to overcome the last sanddunes and soft sands.