Chinguetti and the Erg Warane, immersion in the sands

Trip Description

Accomodation

Stay program

• day 1

  Paris Airport - Nouakchott

  Indicative flight proposal: Royal Air Maroc. We take off at the end of the day for the Mauritanian capital via Casablanca, Morocco. Once the formalities are completed, we welcome you in the hall of Nouakchott airport. After a short transfer to the city, we reach our hotel in the middle of the night for a well-deserved rest.

• day 2

  Departure to the Adrar plateau.

  

  After leaving the city and its suburbs, we take the paved road heading northeast towards the mining town of Akjoujt. The Trarza region and the Atlantic coast are now behind us, giving way to increasingly Saharan vegetation. The large sandy plains of Inchiri lead us towards Akjoujt, a somewhat surreal town where mining has been present since the Chalcolithic period, with people extracting copper, gold, and other precious materials. Gradually, the landscape changes and we enter the Amsaga region. To the east, the dark barrier of the Adrar begins to take shape. We cross the great alluvial plain of Yagref and pass through the village of Aïn Ahel Taya. The road crosses the first step of the Adrar. From Atar, the transfer by 4x4 vehicle to join our camel team takes about 2 hours. The track to climb onto the main plateau of the Adrar is currently very good, with the last third running along the northern edge of the sandy area. The first bivouac is set up north of the Afam el Mezrougat dune massif. It is here that we meet the Moorish camel team with whom we will share these few days in Mauritania. They belong to a tribe from the east of the Adrar.

• day 3

  On foot on the blond dunes and the Chinguetti wadi.

  

  On foot, we cross the Afam el Mezrougat dune massif, composed of two elb, to reach the Chinguetti batha, a dried-up and wooded riverbed, suitable for seasonal crops. We then reach the large dunes of the Warane erg, on the right bank of the oued, where we set up our bivouac near the first palm groves, marking the beginning of the inhabited area of the Chinguetti oued. Our Saharan bivouacs now offer spacious Mauritanian khaïma-type tents for two people, ensuring comfort and authenticity. For those who love nights under the starry sky, it is possible to sleep under the open sky. Each traveler settles freely around the living area defined by the installation of the camel saddles and the Saharan kitchen. You have a comfortable foam mattress with a canvas cover and a ground mat. For all trips, plan to bring a warm sleeping bag and a sleeping sheet to cover yourself lightly during hot nights and to protect yourself from sand wind and mosquitoes.

• day 4

  The Aklés of the Warane erg and gentle Chinguetti.

  

  The aklés of the northern edge of the Warane erg allow us to reach the ancient city of Chinguetti by midday. We cross the dunes and make a beautiful stop in a palm grove to arrive in the middle of the afternoon. A visit is planned at the end of the day to discover the old town, the libraries, the palm groves, and the gardens. Our stop for the night is a comfortable inn where we will have our evening meal. Chinguetti was founded by the Ida Ouali around 1525, upstream from Abweyr, which has now disappeared. Its toponym may come from Soninke: si (well) + n (of) + gede (horse), meaning "well of the horse." It was the most active commercial center and the most important city of the western Sahara, considered the 7th holy city of Islam with its 11 mosques, its 100 wells, and its circle of scholars. In 1675, a massacre perpetrated by part of the Ida-ou-Ali led to the group's breakup, whose survivors founded Tidjikja in the Tagant. Today, only one mosque remains and the memory of prosperous times. The main tribes are the Ida-ou-Ali, the Laghlal, and the Oulad Gheilan. Chinguetti and Wadâne, with their narrow and winding alleys, their many dead ends, their low and dark houses made of local materials, and their near absence of squares and community spaces, have the structure of old ksour densely clustered around their mosques.

• day 5

  In the heart of the Erg Warane

  

  Heading southwest, we face a long and beautiful series of sand mountains, the M’ghalig, which overlook interdune valleys, traditional caravan trade routes between the north and the south, where the rare wells are found. The midday break is planned at La Gueïla, a small palm grove belonging to the notables of Chinguetti. We continue our journey due west into the dunes, where vegetation specific to the great ergs develops, such as Acacia raddiana and Balanites aegyptiaca. We set up our bivouac on one of these powerful sand massifs. Wooded pastures alternate with the dunes, colonized by vegetation after sufficient rains. The Sahelian and Saharan flora is abundant, with species such as mrokba, sbot, and girgir. Trees are numerous, especially in the valleys: teichot, atil, ifernan, sder, turjit, and various acacias. A shrub stands out for its particularly fragrant flowers, the Boscia senegalensis.

• day 6

  From the end of the erg to the Tassili sandstones of Zerga

  

  The imposing massifs stand before us, with the black ridges of the Zarga megacord starting to take shape. Tinouarderit, a small wooded wadi, marks the western part of the erg. A shaded teïchot (Balanites aegyptiaca) welcomes us for a break. Going up the wadi bed, we reach a small area of barchans, where the Erg Warane ends its journey westward. Under the name Erg Amatlich, it reappears on the western edge of the Adrar, continuing its momentum towards the Atlantic. Mauritania remains a great country of nomads. Throughout the journey, especially when the pasture is good, one can spot nomad tents, brown or white, whose edges are raised in hot or windless weather. These nomads are generally welcoming, but it is customary to visit them only for an important reason. Sometimes, we have the opportunity to enter a tent to drink tea (three glasses!) and zrig, a mixture of fresh or sour milk and sweetened water. Herds of camels, female camels, goats, sheep, cattle, and donkeys are omnipresent. In the hot season, even if the pasture is green, it is captivating to observe the watering of these animals who patiently wait their turn at the wells or oglats.

• day 7

  The corridor sandstones of Zarga

  

  We return to the small sandstone massif of Zarga, 80 km long, which forms the fossil bed of an ancient glacial river. Its corridor sandstones create a maze of streets and rock shelters, home to a rich fauna and flora as well as paintings. This ridge is an effective climatic barrier: its northern tip and altitude block Atlantic disturbances and the African monsoon, favoring higher rainfall and Saharan vegetation with Mediterranean or Sudanese influences. Notably, species such as Boscia senegalensis, Euphorbia balsamifera, Combretum aculeatum, and fragrant lavenders can be found there. This massif is an esker about a hundred meters high and about 50 km long, the result of a geomorphological adventure 440 million years old. Today, the fossil megacordon of Zarga marks the western end of the Warane erg, blocking the flow of sands coming from the Chech erg. Hindered by this natural barrier, the Warane erg changes its name to become the Amatlich, then the Akchar, before losing itself in the waters of the Atlantic Ocean.

• day 8

  Tichilit el Ateg, the highlight of our hike.

  

  By staying to the east of the Zarga massif, we reach the Niesle well and then, via the eastern foothills, arrive at Tichilit el Âteg, the highest point of the massif and the third summit of the Adrar, which hides a superb veneer dune. At its foot, a large alluvial basin shelters crops and nomads. We take the time to savor these magnificent places, marking the climax of our journey between dunes and rocks. In the afternoon, we return to Atar by a rough track. After spending some time in Atar, we continue our journey towards Azougui, the former Almoravid capital. The ruins of this city are located to the northwest of Atar, in a very beautiful valley called Tayyaret.

• day 9

  Return to Nouakchott, then direct flight to Paris.

  We head west, leaving behind the last plateaus of the Adrar to reach the Yagref basin. The landscapes of the Amsaga are marked by cones of black rocks and the dune belts of the Amatlich. Then, the vast plains of the Inchiri lead us towards the Atlantic coast and the Mauritanian capital. In Nouakchott, according to the schedule of your flight to France, we will arrange your transfer to Nouakchott-Oumtounsy International Airport.