Mauritanian Adrar
The area
Mauritania is a surprising country, at the gates of the Sahara, twice the size of France with only about 5 million inhabitants. It’s an astonishing encounter between Maghreb and Sub-Saharan Africa, a country marked by its ethnic diversity but united by its religion. One of the last countries where you can still taste the infinite spaces, the illusion of unconditional and limitless freedom.
Adrar is an area located about 450 km north-east of the capital Nouakchott. It’s an ideal area for outdoor activities with sublime landscapes, endless fine sand dunes, winding canyons between tabular plateaus, oases of greenery nestled between black sandstone cliffs… A dry and warm climate in winter which allows you to fill up on vitamin D but beware of cool nights!
Places to see in the Adrar
Since the 1st edition in 2019, the RTM has criss-crossed the Adrar in every direction. The route changes every year and stays secret until the start, but here are the places our fatbikes have already crossed.
- Atar, capital of the Adrar and gateway to the region, with its traditional market. It is the start and finish point of the raid.
- Azougui, a few kilometres from Atar, a former Almoravid stronghold.
- The Amogjar pass, the track that climbs the cliff between Atar and the Chinguetti plateau. Just before the pass stand the ruins of Fort Saganne, the fort built as a set for Alain Corneau’s film (1984).
- Chinguetti, an ancient caravan town listed as a UNESCO World Heritage site, famous for its libraries of ancient manuscripts and its mosque with a stone minaret.
- Ouadane, another UNESCO-listed caravan town, whose ruined old ksar is terraced along the cliffside. It is also the gateway to the Richat Structure (Guelb er Richât), the “Eye of Africa”: a geological circle nearly 50 km across, about thirty kilometres north-east of the town, so vast that it can only be seen in full from space.
- Terjit, an oasis tucked at the bottom of a canyon, with its permanent spring beneath the palm trees.
- Toungad, Mhairit, Maaden and El Medda: villages and oases nestled in the valleys of the Adrar.
- The El Abiod wadi, Mount Zarga, the Amatlich dune belt and Timinitt: wadis, mountains and big dunes, the fatbikes’ favourite playground.
- Further north, the Ben Amira monolith, one of the largest monoliths in the world, whose flanks our fatbikes have already ridden, beside the tracks of the desert train: the iron ore train that links the Zouérate mines to the port of Nouadhibou, more than 2 km long and among the longest in the world.
When to go? The weather in February
The RTM takes place in late February – early March, the best time of year: around 30 °C during the day, 10 to 15 °C at night in the desert, and almost never any rain. Still, bring a warm layer for the evenings at the bivouac.
How to get to the Adrar from Paris?
During the tourist season, a direct flight links Paris-Roissy CDG to Atar: it is operated by ASL Airlines and chartered by agencies such as Point-Afrique, an RTM partner. You take off from Roissy in the morning, have lunch in Atar, and the visa is issued on arrival. No need to go through Nouakchott, 450 km away.
Security in the region
Even if Mauritania, an Islamic republic, shares borders with Mali and Algeria, it’s a country that lives in peace.
The efforts made by the Mauritanian authorities in cooperation with France have paid off: tourism resumed in the Adrar in 2017, and the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs now classifies Atar, Chinguetti and the heart of the Adrar as “heightened vigilance” (yellow zone). The up-to-date map is available on the ministry’s travel advice page (in French). This France 24 report from April 2018, filmed when the region reopened, sums up the situation well. The return to the set after the report is also informative.
It’s important to remember that the country has not seen any attacks since 2011. The area in which we are organising the Raid has never been touched.
During our reconnaissance in March 2018, we met Mr Guegan, the French Consul, the Wali Cheikh Abdallahi Ewah (discover our meeting with the Wali of Adrar, in video) and Mr Frison, a French military officer in Atar; all of them were unanimous: all indicators are green to welcome mountain bikers in Adrar. Security in this Mauritanian area has been reinforced:
- By a consolidated but discreet military presence (Mauritanian and French).
- By improving the telephone network.
- By a permanent monitoring of the local authorities.
This security by the authorities is largely reinforced by the overall vigilance of the entire population, which shows total goodwill towards tourism and a warm welcome to visitors. The Mauritanian nomads, renowned for their hospitality, show a spirit of openness and tolerance like nowhere else!
Crossing the Adrar by fatbike: 300 km in 6 stages
Dunes, wadis, regs and nights under the stars: every February, the Raid TransMauritania crosses the Adrar as a supervised group, with bivouacs and 4×4 logistics.
