Great crossing of the Adrâr to the Tagant

Indicative flight proposal: Royale Air Maroc.
We depart in the late afternoon for the Mauritanian capital via Casablanca in Morocco. Once formalities are completed, we will welcome you in the hall of the Nouakchott airport terminal.
After a short transfer into the city, we reach our hotel in the middle of the night for a 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 the 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.
Gradually 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 rise of the Adrâr.

Transfer in 4x4 vehicles to reach the ancient city of Chinguetti (approximately 2 hours of travel).
The track to climb onto the plateau (dhar) is currently in good condition, but it can be degraded by rains that occur at the end of summer.
If we have time, visit to the old town: library(ies), palm groves and gardens. If not, this visit is postponed to the next morning.

Getting our caravan started is a bit lengthy, as is the case for any caravan of significance.
Heading South. We are making our way towards the small palm grove of Lagueila, nestled between two sand ridge corridors of the M'ghalig (large sand massifs).

The itinerary described is given for informational purposes as it remains dependent on water sources, pastures, atmospheric conditions or the gardens of settled communities.
The stages are subject to various influencing factors:
Extent of the rainy season having caused flooding, sandstorms or presence of camps near which it is impossible to set up bivouacs, etc.

Following in the footsteps of the Ida-ou-ali exodus, who left to found Tidjikja, the caravan crosses the Erg Warane by following a major corridor to reach an important well, Hassi Irigui.

We are heading towards the southern edge of the Warane erg. The dunes are softer and progressively we see new dune systems taking shape, the barchan dunes.
As we approach the small Kider plateau, we make a detour to find the rock painting sites that we discovered in the 1990s.

The country is not empty, Mauritania remains a great land of Nomads.

Throughout the journey, especially if grazing is good, we can spot nomadic tents, brown (made of wool and hair) or white (made of canvas), whose edges are rolled up when it is hot or there is no wind.
These nomads are generally welcoming but one can only visit them if one has an important reason to do so. We may perhaps have the opportunity to enter a tent to drink tea (three glasses!) and zrig, fresh or sour milk, mixed with sweetened water.
This is not frequent because, if one knows local customs, one knows that it is not customary to enter a tent when one has not been invited and especially when the nomads encountered are not part of the family of the guide and camel drivers who accompany us.
Herds of camels, she-camels and baby camels are everywhere, as well as goats, sheep, cattle, and donkeys. During the hot season, even if grazing is very green, it is a captivating sight to see all these animals being watered as they patiently await their turn at the wells or at the oglats (groups of wells).

Some years, there is a well between the two massifs. This well has water when nomads are present, otherwise it is silted up.
Our walk goes obliquely westward to reach a new sandstone plateau, Amoum.

The Adrâr is fractured and in the folds of the terrain small palm groves nestle, Aïn es Sefra, Echig El Melah.
We take advantage of these oases to stock up on water. Wadis, plateaus and dune ridges follow one another.

Wide or steep valleys in the mass of the sandstone plateau alternate with rocky coasts and plateaus sometimes invaded by sand.
Pastures, often wooded, alternate with dunes, taken over by vegetation when rainfall has been sufficient.
The Saharan and Sahelian flora is particularly abundant: mrokba (Panicum turgidum), sbot (Aristida pungens), girgir (Schouwia purpurea), el gasba (Tragus racemosus), a grass whose spikelets are equipped with hooked spines, tadaresa (Tribulus), tamachal, akchit, talebat, tigingilit (plant with small red flowers), gourds, as well as another grass, initi or cram-cram (Cenchrus biflorus) whose seeds cling persistently to laces, to the bottom of trousers and to socks!
Trees are numerous, particularly in the valleys: teichot (Balanites aegyptiaca) with powerful thorns, atil (Maerua crassifolia), ifernan (Euphorbia balsamifera) or Fig Tree of Hell, with abundant sap, sder (Ziziphus lotus and mauritania, the jujubes), turjit (Calotropis procera) or Apple of Sodom, not forgetting of course various acacias including talha and tamat. A shrub has particularly fragrant flowers, it is Boscia senegalensis.

The Tin Demane plateau offered us gazelle tracks at each of our passages.
Through the imposing Taffoujert dune massif, we reach the south-west edge of the Adrar massif.
Usually caravans do not frequent this erg, given the height of the dunes. Our Amgarij friends demonstrate all their expertise.

After a total immersion in the sands, we make a stop at the small palm grove of Aouinet and Tiliski.
Wedged between the sandstone blades of the Tamga massif, the cluster of palm trees is a beautiful discovery, from the highest peak of the massif, the guelb Raoui.

We leave the Adrar to approach the Tagant; but first we must cross the Khatt plain, the natural boundary of the massifs.
A sentinel standing in this wide depression seems to serve as a link: Telaghza, the blue mountain according to Al Wasit, a former palm grove of the Tadjakant, today abandoned. But it remains an important stopping point for the transhumance of camel herds, as water is near the surface, and many oglat (temporary wells) can be dug.
After setting up our camp, we can climb onto the ridge that overlooks us.
The view of the dunes on the western slope of the mountain and of the small oasis of Taleqza is one of the most beautiful Saharan spectacles we know. The dunes, from white to orange, make the green of the oasis palms stand out in the distance, dominated by an immense slope of sand descending from the ridges.
One never tires of looking! We must unfortunately return to our camp!

Near the mountain, a wide corridor running along the rocks allows us to walk faster.
Crossing the large dunes that isolate us, we advance slowly, although the sand is almost everywhere hard.
The black ridge of the Tagant plateau slowly draws closer. We may reach this evening the cluster of palm trees at Aïn El Khadra (the Green Spring), unless the grazing is sufficient in the dunes.

Aïn El Khadra is an important water point in this region.
Lush green grass highlights the proximity of water. As for the spring, it is surrounded by a stone wall to prevent animals from drinking directly from it and falling in.
It is curious to note that the water surface is higher than the surrounding ground. It is rare not to encounter herds of goats, sheep and camels coming to drink there. Through a wide valley we reach the plateau.

The Western Tagant constitutes the lower part of the massif, the area where the floods draining the rocky plateaus of the East and South disappear.
The sandstone is eroded away, leaving here and there rocky formations submerged by sand. The vegetation changes, new trees appear, multicolored birds announce the south.
Neolithic remains and Gangara ruins sometimes crown the rocky hills.
The Tagant is the kingdom of small livestock (sheep and goats), and the population is often semi-sedentary. The chance of pastures causes tents to be set up here and there, often isolated.

Sandy and rocky plateaus alternate, dominated by eroded guelbs, shelters for varied fauna whose traces can be seen everywhere.
Of the old dry stone village of Ksar El Barka, located on the right bank of the wadi El Abiod, only ruins remain.
It was abandoned by the Kounta in 1885, after the last wars with the Ida-Ou-Aïch.
Of a beautiful mosque, only the stone pillars that supported the roof remain.

We cross the Inichkane gate to traverse the cirque formed by the Oued El Abiod in the sandstone; through a small tributary and a pass we discover the wadi wedged between sand and rocks of Mraïfig. Night near the water point of Kerked.

By a narrow and delicate path in the middle of the rocks we reach the Biliniar plain.
A new mountain passage gives us access to the Akeneizir wadi, the last sandy landscape of our hiking trip.
We meet our vehicles at the edge of the new paved road Moudjéria – Tidjikja.
Night in the surroundings or at Tamourt n'Naaj, an immense basin where the wadis coming from the higher southern plateaus concentrate.
This wooded basin can become a very extensive lake during summer floods.

Safety day:
As this route is long, we keep a safety day, allowing us to deal with any potential grazing, weather or other problems. The Moudjeria region offers many possibilities to make the most of this day if we don't use it before.

N'Beika, the site is superb!
To the west, the impressive dunes that we will cross by road; to the east, the rocky plateau; in the center, the green Tamourt valley.
We take the time to discover the secret places of this beautiful valley. Moudjéria, located at the foot of the western edge of the plateau. It was founded in 1905 by administrator Coppolani.

We take the paved road that crosses the Tagant massif to reach Tidjikja. We take the time to discover this very specific region.

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 lead us to the Atlantic coast and the capital of Mauritanie.

A dinner and a room will be at your disposal for a Day Use in Nouakchott from 2:00 PM to freshen up and prepare your luggage.

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