The Warane Erg and Chinguetti, Variations in the Sands

Suggested flight: Royale Air Maroc.
We take off late in the day to the Mauritanian capital via Casablanca in Morocco. Once formalities are completed, we welcome you in the hall of the Nouakchott airport terminal.
After a short transfer to the city, we reach our hotel in the middle of the night for well-deserved rest.

After leaving the city and its suburbs, we take the beautiful paved road that runs northeast towards the mining town of Akjoujt.
The Trarza region and the Atlantic coast are now behind us, the vegetation changes and becomes increasingly Saharan.

The vast sandy plains of Inchiri lead us towards the somewhat surreal town of Akjoujt. A mining industry is present there and, since the Chalcolithic, Man has been extracting copper, gold and other materials.
Progressively the landscape changes. You are now driving in the Amsaga region.
In the distance, to the east, the dark barrier of the Adrâr begins to take shape. You pass the great alluvial plain of Yagref and the village of Aïn Ahel Taya. The road crosses the first step of the Adrâr.

The 4x4 vehicle transfer to meet our camel team is approximately 2 hours. The track to climb to the main plateau of the Adrâr (dhar) is currently in very good condition. The last third takes place along the northern edge of the sandy area.
The first bivouac is established north of the Afam el Mezrougat dune massif. This is the meeting point with the Moorish camel team with whom we share these few days in Mauritania. They belong to a tribe from the east of the Adrar.

On foot, we make our way through the dune massif of Afam el Mezrougat. The two elb making up this massif allow us to reach the batha Chinguetti. The currently dry river is very tree-lined and, depending on seasonal rainfall, large cultivated areas may occupy its bed. We reach the great dunes of the erg Warane on the right bank of the wadi. The bivouac is established not far from the first palm groves that mark the beginning of the inhabited area of the wadi Chinguetti.

The akles on the northern edge of the Warane erg allow us to reach the ancient city of Chinguetti. We arrive in the town in the middle of the day.

Heading towards the southwest, we face a long and beautiful series of sand mountains. These large massifs (M'ghalig), all parallel, overlook interdune valleys that have remained the traditional routes of trade caravans between north and south. It is in these areas that the rare wells are found.
The midday break is established at La Gueïla, a small palm grove that belongs to the notables of Chinguetti.

Then, heading due west, we continue our journey through the dunes.
Specific vegetation found in large ergs develops such as Acacia raddiana, Balanites aegyptiaca and Aristida pungens.
We set up camp on one of the powerful sand massifs.

The mountain ranges are always imposing and, ahead of us, the black crests of the mega-dune ridge of Zarga are beginning to emerge. Tinouarderit, a small wooded wadi, marks the western part of the erg. A very shaded teïchot (Balanites aegyptiaca) welcomes us for a break.

By going up the wadi bed, we access a small area of barchan dunes. Here, the Erg Warane ends its course toward the west. Under the name of Erg Amatlich, it reappears on the western edge of the Adrar, continuing its momentum toward the Atlantic.

We return to the small sandstone massif of Zarga.
Stretching 80 kilometers, the Zarga ridge is the now-protruding fossil bed of an ancient glacial river.
The sandstone with corridors forms in places a maze of streets and rock shelters where paintings, fauna and flora are quite rich.
The Zarga ridge is interesting for several reasons. Its northern tip and average altitude make it an effective climatic barrier.
Atlantic disturbances and the African monsoon (I.T.C.Z.) are blocked in their progression toward the interior of the Adrar plateau. Rainfall is significant compared to the rest of the region, and Saharan vegetation has, in places, either Mediterranean or Sudanese connotations.
We find there among others Boscia senegalensis, Euphorbia balsamifera, Combretum aculeatum as well as some fragrant Lavandula.

By staying on the east of the Zarga massif, we reach the Niesle well and then, through the eastern foothills, we arrive at Tichilit el Âteg.
The highest point of the Zarga massif and the third summit of the Adrar conceal a superb overlay dune. At its foot, a wide alluvial basin shelters crops and nomads.
We take time to savor these magnificent places that mark the apotheosis of this journey between dunes and rocks.

In the afternoon, we return to Atar by a bumpy track.

We head westward. We leave the last plateaus of the Adrâr to reach the Yagref basin.
The cones of black rocks, the cordons of dunes of the Amatlich mark the landscapes of the Amsaga.
Then, the vast plains of the Inchiri take us to the Atlantic coast and the capital of Mauritanie.

Following your flight schedule to France, we transfer you to the Nouakchott-Oumtounsy International Airport.