earthview withgoogle mauritania nouakchott

Estimates say 10-20% of people live as slaves. Despite that, it is a country where slavery still flourishes. Mauritania is (unfortunately) notable for being the last country in the world to outlaw slavery (in 1981) and they only criminalized it in 2007. Aside from the poverty and encroaching militant Islamist groups, primarily around the borders with Algeria and Mali, there have been some acts of violence, including one (very bad one) of which I am aware against a group of tourists in 2007. Mauritania is also a bit troubled, as any visit to Wikipedia will tell you. The few pleasantries in Arabic that I have in my repertoire go a long way. I can speak enough to French to get by in common situations, though understanding people is often difficult. The main language is Arabic (though a specific local version) followed by local languages, like Wolof, then French. That and the Iron Ore Train (more about that later).

It’s primary draws are the desert and the lure of the remote and mysterious.

There isn’t much here in terms of tourist sights. It is poor, filled with many historically nomadic groups and its capital, Nouakchott, is quite new, only having been founded in the 1960s. It is a huge country in West Africa, largely covered by the Sahara and is both one of the least populated (~4.6 million people in an area roughly twice the size of Spain) and least visited countries in the world.

Also, I knew little about it, and what better way to learn about a place than to go there. That always makes me curious about a place. I picked Mauritania for my travels first because of the opportunity to ride atop a train through the Sahara, and second because it is so seldom visited.

Earthview withgoogle mauritania nouakchott