MAURITANIA

June 2008

Christmas 2007 a French family were shot dead at on the roadside near Aleg, east of Nouakchott, the Dakar Rally was cancelled on an Al Qaeda threat and the Israeli embassy in NKT was attacked.
Since then all is quiet and tourists are still getting through.

Currency
Ouguiya (UM or MRO). 320 oogs = 1 euro (street rate in Atar)

Price of fuel in Atar
Petrol about 308 UM/litre; diesel 235 UM/litre. 10% more in Chinguetti and a bit more again in Oudane. In Nouakchott petrol 275, diesel 235.

Costs
Moderate

Useful languages
French, Arabic

Visas:
Only 3-day transit visas are now issued at the Morocco-Mori border for around 10 euros. Extensions for up to a month available in Nouakchott at N°18 5.4' W15° 58.2' for at least 5000 oogs and, I hear, also in Nouadhibou police station.

The Mori embassy in London closed in September 2007 but the French embassy in London now issues 30-day single-entry visas in 24 hours (use the downloadable application form on their website). You need to book an appointment on 0207 073 1248 (9 - 12pm, Monday - Friday and when you turn up show:
• Travel insurance
• Bank statement
• Ferry tickets from UK to France and Spain to Maroc
• 2 photos and
• £40+
It is possible these rather excessive demands may settle down after a few months.

Single and multiple entry visas for 30 days are available in Rabat (not Casa anymore) at:
6, Rue Thami Lamdawar, B.P 207,
Rabat-Souissi
N33°58.8' W06°49.6'
Tel:00212-37656679 / 00212-7656678 /
Fx: 00212-37656680
email

Monday to Thursday 9 to 16.00 - Friday to noon. Single entry: 200DH/20 euro, double entry valid 3 months 400DH, 6 month/multiple 1000DH, etc). You need 2 photos, a copy of your passport, and this form. Apply in the morning; collect next day at 15.00.

Border formalities from Morocco
Note that there is talk of cars more than 5 years old requiring a carnet.
Having come across the 5kms of rubble road from where the tarmac ends out of Morocco (with a chance to buy some black market oogs on the way - 300 oogs to a euro, 25 oogs to a dirham), get stamped in the Gendarmerie hut (free but a present is often requested) at the start of the tarmac. Then buy a visa (10 euros 3-day transit only, see above) or have your pre-obtained visa stamped in at the Police hut nearby. (You can drive across Mauritania directly to Senegal in 3 days.)
Next, get a white A4 30-day temporary vehicle import form (Engagement sur honneur) from the Customs hut - 10 euros). Then optionally buy official currency from the caravan if you didnt buy black (300 oogs for a euro; 20 oogs for 1dh) - the currency declaration forms are a thing of the past.
You can then buy insurance 6 kms down the road at the Nouadhibou/Nouakchott junction. It took us a while to get all the paperwork and windscreen stickers laboriously done and cost us 4300 oogs for 10 days.

Note in Feb 2007 a guy was killed and another badly injured but a landmine while needlessly straying east just a couple of kms from the unsealed section between Mori and Maroc. Full story and maps for clarification here.

There is talk of a new rule (similar to Senegal Rosso these past few years) that will not permit entry to vehicles over 5 years old without a carnet.

Nothing doing exit or entry wise with Bir Mogrein exit to northern Western Sahara or Algeria (long time closed). Bush tracks south into Mali can be sandy with deep ruts - hard work in a 2WD in the 'high grass' season or in the wet season.

Desert pistes
Now that the road is sealed, a lot of people shoot through Mori and don't give it a chance. Others recognise that these days it's the only real Saharan country left where you can drive anywhere you dare without a mandatory guide (make the most of it while you can, it won't last). The run along the railway to Choum is a good introduction to desert driving with easy navigation and some extended dune bands. Nothing too steep but it gets soft and tussocky so for these sections motorbikes may find it easier on the coarse gravel between the rail tracks; no sleepers (see link to updated account at the bottom). The Adrar plateau between Atar, Ouadane and Tidjikja offers some great opportunities. Tracks are rare on the long piste following the Dhar Tichit escarpment between Tidjikja and Nema. Full details of these tracks and more in the book.

North of the Adrar is little explored and possibly risky (smuggler/bandits) - expect checkpoints and nomadic encampments on the way to Chegga fort where Mali and Algeria meet. In late 2006 we drove direct from Oudane east to Bordj Moktar in Algeria and beyond - a technically easy if very remote 2000km off-piste traverse that is also not without risks in northern Mali. 

Route R2 update (p.468 in the book) available to download here