Mauritania Summary

Soutpiel Safari
John & Jenny
Thu 16 Dec 2010 14:17
Mauritania Summary
 
Days spent in Mauritania       4
Nights in hotels                      0
Nights camping                      3
Distance driven                  760 km
Average cost of diesel          73 pence/litre
 
We originally planned to drive through Mauritania as fast as we could because of the threat of kidnapping. In fact, there hasn't been an incident for over a year and the state is now well policed.  However, we stuck to our plan, spent one night in Nouadhibou, one day driving 500 km to Nouakchott, two nights in Nouakchott and one day to the Senegal border.  We found the people very friendly and not hustling. Walking around Nouakchott was fascinating and quite relaxed.  Although the country is all desert, In retrospect, it would have been good to have spent more time there and possibly gone to Chinguetti and then driven straight to Mali, cutting out Senegal altogether. We debated this but our Moroccan visa ended before our Mali visa started so we ruled out this option but I am sure it could have been overcome.  If we had know the problems we were to encounter in Senegal we would certainly have tried to go direct to Mali.
 
In summary, we probably under-rated Mauritania and missed an opportunity to see more of the country.