Mauritania

The iron ore train is one of the great rail journeys, if you can face it

Mauritania is around ninety percent Sahara and sits where Arab North Africa meets sub-Saharan West Africa, which shapes everything about it. It is enormous, empty, and has become slightly more accessible to travellers in recent years, though advisories still apply to border regions with Mali and parts of the interior.

The iron ore train is the famous journey: one of the longest and heaviest trains in the world, up to 2.5 kilometres long, running from Zouerat to the coast at Nouadhibou. Travellers ride free in the open ore wagons, covered in iron dust, for around sixteen hours through the desert. There is now a passenger carriage, but the wagons are the point.

Chinguetti, in the Adrar, is one of several ancient caravan towns holding libraries of medieval Islamic manuscripts in family hands, slowly being consumed by the encroaching sand. The Banc d’Arguin on the coast is a UNESCO site where the Sahara meets the Atlantic and millions of migratory birds gather.

Annual events and festivals

• Eid al-Fitr (varies) — the main holiday in an Islamic republic.
• Eid al-Adha (varies) — the second Eid, widely observed.
• Independence Day (28 Nov) — marks 1960 independence from France.
• Mawlid (varies) — the Prophet birthday, marked with recitation and gatherings.
• Festival of Ancient Cities (Dec-Jan) — rotating between Chinguetti, Ouadane, Tichitt and Oualata.
• Guetna, date harvest (Jul-Aug) — families move to the palm groves of the Adrar for the harvest.
• Camel racing (dry season) — a traditional pursuit in the interior.
• Nouakchott fish market (daily) — not a festival, but the beach landing of the pirogues is a daily spectacle.
• Ramadan (varies) — strictly observed across the country.
• Bird migration, Banc d’Arguin (Nov-Mar) — millions of waders arrive from northern Europe.