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| Sunset over rooftops in Nouakchott. |
Mauritania is the country where my housemate says “If it was not for you, I would have never known that this place exists”. Well, today that is the country I will be sharing about. There will be no follow up blogpost on Mauritania, this will be the only one as I didn’t get to do anything there.
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| Ladies washing the dishes outside the flats. Most families cook outside because their houses are not big enough to have a kitchen. |
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| A herd of goats heading home and stopping outside local houses to eat the leftover food from the trash that people have thrown out. |
Mauritanians speak Arabic and French, however, their Arabic is different from the Moroccan Arabic. This is one thing I failed to learn, the different Arabic dialects, I guess I was too busy trying to learn to speak Arabic.
Obviously, the country does not receive tourists except the crazy backpackers, so the locals do not know much about having strangers around but they are super friendly. There are no street addresses in the country, your taxi driver will be given a landmark to take you to instead.
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| Walking the streets in the middle of a small town in Southern Mauritania. |
Like any Islamic country, people of the opposite sex do not embrace each other. Shake hands but no hugs even with your friends.
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| The goat meat that is sold on the street sides and downtown at the market. Delicious. |
If I had to be honest, on a scale of 1 to 10 on how difficult this country is, Mauritania is right there at Sudan.
***Please also note that there is a difference between an Islamic country and a country where the majority religion is Islam.
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| Nouakchott International Airport. |
In Africa, all the Mauritanian embassies are in North Africa except for one in South Africa. You receive your visa on arrival. The visa costs you USD50, you need 2 passport photos, your biometrics will be done while you wait and your visa printed. The country is very welcoming to tourists and they will give you no hassles at the airport.
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| The streets aftr a night of rain. If you look into the picture, Top right are silver doors. That was the landmark where my taxi driver was told to drop me off at. |
Water and food
Stick to bottled water at all cost. I cannot stress this enough, most of the city does not have running water so donkeys will deliver your water. As for the food, there are decent restaurants but the environment is so filthy, I will suggest you always drink a coke too just to always settle your stomach.
As this is an Islamic country, there is no alcohol sold anywhere in the country. In such countries, your best bet if you really need a drink is to visit the German or French embassies, they always have bars that sell alcohol to their residents based in those countries for various reasons.
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| Shoes galore and the downtown Nouakchott market. |
Skincare
It is a desert country so you will need to constantly be hydrating. Sunscreen is super important.
I had to leave Mauritania because of Mosquito bites, they were so vicious that the bites turned into large blisters and I struggled to walk for over a week. And their mosquitos are gold. So yes, mosquito repellent is important but I would suggest citronella oil as your best bet to ward off other insects as well.
Banking & Currency
Mauritania currency is the Mauritania Ouguiya. Try change all your dollars at the airport as you come in. The ATMs like most West African countries have ridiculous withdrawal limits of below USD50 and it's not ideal if you have a bank card that charges you for every withdrawal transaction from a foreign country.
When traveling in West Africa, for international banking I always suggest you go with Ecobank or Société Générale. Mauritania does not have Ecobank. These are the 2 banks that take foreign Visa and Mastercard and their ATMs are in English as well.
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| I feel like being in Nouakchott took me back to 2003 with the flip phones. Yes, it still worked and this was Papis phone that we made fun of. |
Connection
You will have no internet, you will have no Wi-Fi. It's not complicated, the connection is just really poor. Even embassies don’t have a connection.
Transport
I flew into Noaukchott from Casablanca, Morocco. The locals taxis leave a lot to be desired. Old and rusted and are shared taxis. You may have it for yourself and just pay the price.
The traffic on the road is the cars, donkeys and some livestock. Yes, this is in the city. Peak hour traffic is a nightmare that does not move and everyone hoots at each other. So avoid driving at those hours.
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| The water delivery family business. |
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| Local fishermen boats at the fish market. |
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| A local fisherman with his catch for the day on the beach. |
In terms of things to do in the country. Visiting the fish market was amazing. That is definitely a must do. Also for the sunset as it is breathtaking but the fish market at that time is almost empty as the vendors have sold off their daily catch.
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#Thesolowanderer
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| Most of the country is employed in the informal sector. the streets are filled with vendors even in the parts that are not designated marketplace. |
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| More shoes at the market. Shoes are a big commodity. these are second hand shoes that are shipped in usually from Asia. |
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| More walking through the market. |
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| Tea making station. Tea drinking is a tradition in North Africa. The tea can take as much as 30 minutes to prepare. |
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| The tea making process. |
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| The tea is served in a shot glass and is never filled. The glass rotates as you done drinking someone else must drink from the glass. This mint tea is loaded with sugar. This tea process can take all day. As locals chat and catch up and sip the perfect brew. |
You can read more on traveling out of Mauritania into Senegal here.
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#Thesolowanderer