Exceptional hiking in the heart of Adrar Mauritania

Indicative flight suggestion: Royal Air Maroc.
We take off in the late afternoon for the Mauritanian capital via Casablanca in Morocco. Once formalities are completed, we welcome you in the hall of the Nouakchott airport terminal.
By a short transfer into town, 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 heads 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 large sandy plains of Inchiri lead us to the somewhat surreal town of Akjoujt. A mining industry is present there and, since the Chalcolithic, Man has extracted copper, gold and other materials.
Gradually the landscape changes. You are now driving in the Amsaga region.
In the distance, to the east, the dark barrier of 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 escarpment of Adrâr.

The track leading up to the plateau (dhar) is currently in good condition, though it can be damaged by rains that occur in late summer.
A small detour allows you to discover the magnificent landscapes of the Adrâr cliffs. The ruins of Fort Saganne, rock paintings, the succession of plateaus on the horizon are all attractions …

The final third unfolds along the northern edge of the sandy area.
Late in the morning, we reach El Kheouiya.
This is the meeting point with our Moorish travel companions with whom we share these few days. They belong to this small semi-nomadic camp.

We now follow the erg Warane which runs along the Adrâr plateau from the eastern borders. It marks the difficult-to-cross boundary by car of the immense empty space, the Majabat Al Koubra.
The Tanouchert palm grove nestled in its setting of dunes has traversed the centuries while maintaining a certain luster.
To the west, the mega sandstone ridge of Herour winds through the heart of the dunes. Like the Zarga massif, Herour has a fascinating geomorphological history.
We reach the El Kheouiya semi-nomadic camp. Established on the banks of a major wadi, our hosts have marked our history.

The camel team awaits us in the southeast of the city.
All originating from the surroundings of Wadâne, the camel drivers generally come from the tribes of northeastern Mauritania : essentially Amgârîj, Kounta or more rarely R'gueïbat.
Excellent travel companions for the past few years now, they are fast, efficient and discreet.
The bivouac is established near the camel drivers.
The vehicles return to Atar (180 km to the west) after being unloaded.

The camel trek begins. On foot, we walk along the batha Wadâne where the lushness of acacias, balanites and other leptadenias mixes with cereal crops and date palms. The region of Wadâne was the birthplace of date palm cultivation in Mauritania (date palm farming), which dates back approximately 1600 years. We find there very tasty varieties of dates such as sékany, tmar el hamra. We turn towards the southeast in the direction of the Meyatêg depression. The blonde sand of the Wârane encircles this immense basin which has always been a highly prized place by various human groups. The numerous pre-Islamic funerary remains (tumuli) here have refined forms. Overlooking the palm groves, we spend the night on the dunes surrounding Meyatêg.

After crossing traditional farming areas where millet, sorghum and sometimes wheat or barley grow, we reach, in the northeast of the area, the aklé which separates us from the Hôfrat Wadâne. This vast arc-shaped corridor is the southern periphery of the geomorphological complex of Guelb er Rîchât. The remains of the old Agwadir fort, which some attribute to the Portuguese, are still visible. It is most likely a more recent Moroccan construction dating from the time when the Alaouite sultans had designs on the opulent caravan city. We set up camp a few kilometers away, near Hassi Thibâ.

The first dome of the Richat is there. The relative richness of the wooded Hofrat gives way to mineral barrenness. The sands are replaced by black reg dotted by the raised ridges of the different concentric richs.

Heading northeast, we follow the many camel tracks that crisscross the massif. Here and there, a few brown tents huddle in the folds of the terrain. A few families raise herds of goats. Currently we sometimes see flocks of sheep that can only survive thanks to the beneficial rains of recent years. We approach a succession of well-marked ridges from the top of which we have, in clear weather, the best view of the concentric system of the Richât. Having reached the last richa, we have lunch beneath the sparse acacias of Megsem el Hârane. This "gate" consists of a ridge line with eroded rocks between which reddish sand mingles. After the meal, we embark on the long crossing of black reg that marks the head of the wadis Akerdil then Tilililt.

The bivouac is set up on the edge of a wadi in the midst of the most austere surroundings.

The camel tracks converge towards Kneig Tilililt. The horizon is cut by the brown and steep cliffs of Taguenze. They mark the outer edge of Guelb er Rîchât.
The wide gorge leads us to the Tilililt spring. Day and night, mammals and birds gather by the hundreds around the only water point.
Nearby, on the black sandstone slabs, dozens of rock engravings demonstrate the antiquity and importance of this site. Two unexpectedly engraved elephants are found here.
By a steep donkey trail, we set foot on the plateau. The guelb remains behind us. Following a northwest route, we reach, after crossing a vast expanse of undulating reg, the Oua'n Amoûr wadi.
We establish our camp on a sandy tongue dotted with Acacia seyal and jujube trees. A few dorcas gazelles make their home in the area but remain very difficult to observe. The camels and our presence cause them to flee far into these open environments. To the west, the immense rectilinear Azilal plateau is their domain.
In Wadâne, in the past and until the 1975s, certain castes of the Amgârîj tribe were semi-professional hunters of Addax and gazelles just like the N'mâdi in the southeast of Mauritania. These hunting expeditions have a name: the gueïmarés. The memory of those times is still very vivid …

Upstream from the Enchegdâne wadi, a very significant rock art site is observable.
Outside the survey areas, these testimonies of the past are known only to a few people. We can observe there, on horizontal slabs of black sandstone, around forty engravings presenting essentially bovids dating, apparently, to approximately 3000 years ago.
In the downstream section, various representations spread across the cliffs bordering the wadi: ostriches, antelopes, bovids and some significant areas of ancient Berber writing - tifinagh.
We follow the course of the Enchegdâne wadi which quickly descends into deep gorges. Downstream, the wadi widens and joins the amphitheatre of El Beyyed. We bivouac near the well of El Beyyed.

After crossing the cirque, the caravan enters the edge of the erg Maghteïr. There, sand regains its rights and the sbot (Aristida pungens) suddenly replaces the M'rkba (Panicum turgidum). Some years, the southern aklé of the erg is generous and each movement of terrain can hide a campsite.
Camel herders often settle in spring in the large dune massifs to benefit from young pastures maintained by the sands.

We find the serenity of the dunes again for our bivouac.

We continue our progression into the erg. The aklé gradually loosens and reveals the great âlab that make up the architecture of the Maghteïr. The texture changes, the color evolves as well, we transition onto brown-red sands that testify to the age of the massif.

The cliff we had left behind is drawing closer again. The cape of Tazazmout emerges from the sandy ridges. The dunes advance toward the cliff of the Adrâr without ever touching it. In this natural corridor created between the sand and the rock, the oued El Beyyed flows in the direction of the west. The acacias are magnificent, protected from deforestation by their distance from urban centers. We are on the edge of Amgârîj territory. Tomorrow, crossing the cape, we will enter the domain of the Ahel Cheikh Mohamed Fâdel. This sheikh was the keeper of the Tarika Fadeliyya, a branch of a Sunni religious brotherhood of the Quadriyya, which was very important in eastern Mauritania. This figure was eminently influential from northern Mauritania to southern Morocco. By allegiance to this man, the tribes of the Adrâr mark the necks of their camels with the symbol "T", except for the R'gueïbat faction which bears as a distinctive sign the famous and formidable Arabic letter "qaf". We camp near the well of Touizizmint.

We bypass the tarf Tazazmout. Countless Neolithic and contemporary funeral sites stretch across the banks of the wadi. The great wells of Tazazmout were no longer maintained during our last passage in April 99. Now, the cliff moves away again, the aklé becomes denser and the pure lines of the dunes guide us. To the south, parallel to our direction of travel, an interdune furrow is dotted with magnificent Acacia radiana. We bivouac, immersed in the sands.

In the distance, the Aderg massif rises like a ship's prow. As you approach the relief, the dunes become difficult for the caravan. The camel guide, far ahead, traces the path through this inextricable maze.
The Aderg inselberg rises to 650 m. and dominates the erg. Mauritanian nomads know this place well, where on the summit platform grows a plant rich in mineral salts, Askâf (Nucularia perrini), which animals and men need to survive.
In clear weather, from the top of Aderg, the panorama is magnificent. From southwest to southeast stretch the great sebkha of Chemcham and then the high cliffs of the Adrâr, with to the south, the wide fault of Akhmakou. Then, across the rest of the panorama, the waves of the Maghteïr erg undulate as far as the eye can see. Downwind, a vast dune-free zone is exposed, marked by small ribbons of trees where passing nomads huddle. A few wells are found to be slightly brackish. At the foot of the inselberg, the clear sand of Oum el Beidh (280 m.) welcomes us for the night.

After crossing the small aklé of Oum el Beïdh, we now travel on a slight reg towards the alluvial basin of Naïtiri. We reach the well of Naïtiri,
The area is very wooded, with sometimes dense vegetation developing there. A few greïr are cultivated by sedentary people living in a few tents visible here and there, and very often, many herds roam the region. The camel drivers take advantage of their passage to the Naïtiri wells to water their animals.

Due south, we reach the foothills of Tarf Naïtiri and, gradually, we enter the Akhmakou fault.
This fault, as well as that of the Ivernouane wadi that we will discover in the coming days, are part of the geomorphological complex of Richât. They are parallel to the edge of Tagenzé. The landscape changes and sand gradually gives way to rock, at the bottom of a wadi. We bivouac near Hassi Akhmakou.

The gorge forces the caravan to proceed slowly.
From time to time, we cross small palm groves that appear abandoned. The nomads, who own the plants, only come to pollinate them if they are located within a nearby perimeter.
At the end of the day, we reach the Adrâr plateau by a steep camel track. A few patches of sand welcome us for the night.

A full day of walking is necessary. The austere regs of the Adrar are present once again. A small geological formation similar to Guelb er Rîchât can be found halfway through the stage.
The place is called Semssiyyât, the Sunny Places.

We continue our hike to reach, in the evening, the edge of the <oued Ivernouane. This oued cuts deeply into the plateau.
It took 6 years of strong relationships with the Amgârîj nomads for them to allow us to discover this fissure that is very important for their valley and their life.
The hydrographic basin of this immense oued drains all the waters from the bare plateaus.

The gueltas of Fôum n-Moueï are immense and dot the gorge like a string of beads. Here and there, a few clusters of palm trees and some Tikkits blend discreetly with the surrounding rock.
Descending into the wadi bed proves difficult and camel herders usually stay on the plateau. There are a few rare rock painting sites to discover.

The wadi widens and we emerge at the bottom of the Tin Labbé valley. We stop for the night before reaching the first dwellings.

Not far from us remain the ruins of déshrât bavour, the city of the bafours, and they show the tomb of Bafour himself, personified and compared to a sovereign, or a tyrant, non-Muslim…

At Tin Labbé, we are in the stronghold of camel herders with whom we share these days.
According to history, the Amgârîj tribe and the Tin Labbé valley have been linked since very ancient times.
This dates back to the time of the Almoravides – 1050 AD – Abu Bakr, after continuing the conquests begun by his predecessors, is said to have returned to the Sahara.
Having stayed in the Djebel Lemtouna (the Adrâr), he is said to have left the palm grove of Tin Labbé calling the inhabitants magrij. This term designates the pollination of palm trees and from there comes the name of the inhabitants of the palm groves of Tin Labbé: Amgârîj.
The word may be of Berber origin but it is in any case not Arabic.
The Tin Labbé palm grove does not require irrigation. It is enough to pollinate the palm trees. The Amgârîj are camel herders and are content to return to this valley for the date harvest, the guetna.
The crops are important. Water surfaces in a few places and allows vegetation that can be lush.

The Tin Labbé valley flows towards Wadane which we reach quickly through the palm grove. We now arrive at the foot of the ruins of the ramparts that protected the city.

Due west, the good track takes us to Atar. It runs along the northern edge of the major Adrar cliff. We will leave the Amogjar pass and the remains of Fort Saganne to descend into the Atar basin.

We head west. We leave the last plateaus of the Adrâr to reach the Yagref basin.
The cones of black rocks, the dune ridges 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.