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Background: Independent from France in 1960, Mauritania annexed the southern third of the former Spanish Sahara (now Western Sahara) in 1976, but relinquished it after three years of raids by the Polisario guerrilla front seeking independence for the territory. Maaouya Ould Sid Ahmed TAYA siezed power in a coup in 1984. Opposition parties were legalized and a new constitution approved in 1991. Two multiparty presidential elections since then were widely seen as flawed, but October 2001 legislative and municipal elections were generally free and open. A bloodless coup in August 2005 deposed President TAYA and ushered in a military council headed by Col. Ely Ould Mohamed VALL, which declared it would remain in power for up to two years while it created conditions for genuine democratic institutions. For now, however, Mauritania remains, a one-party state. The country continues to experience ethnic tensions between its black population and the Maur (Arab-Berber) populace.

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By pablostrip
July 16th 2008

one week of lariam: pills & thrills & bellyaches

Africa » Mauritania » Trarza » Nouakchott

road to nouakchott
this old mercedes had to stop 3 times to cool down. 400km to nouackhott were endless for the 4 of us packed in the back seat. this pictures was taken minutes before we had to push the car...

so today Im in nouackchott, theres not much here and Im just resting before I head for saint louis (senegal) through rosso. thus, Ive decided to talk about lariam. honestly, I was quite curious about the effects this antipaludic might have on me, or on anybody else for that matter (as I manifested by asking about it to any single person that had taken it). these effects, besides prevcenting mmalaria with about a 90% of effectiveness are mainly psicological and range from VIVID dremas to mild hallucinations, passing by the always sweet road of paranoia. I had heard people having some [View Full Entry]

By pnltravels
March 11th 2008

The Adrar Adventure

Africa » Mauritania » Trarza » Nouakchott

On The Train!
Here we are, so happy to have finally made it on the train and have our bags off our backs. Yes, this is before the train started!

We arrived at the train station early (a small building beside the tracks constitutes the station), to be sure we wouldn't miss the train as we did not know exactly when it left. Our group of four grew steadily as other travellers joined us. Sylvia and Michiel are from Dresden, Germany (he is Dutch though), Marty is a fellow Canadian who is from Alberta, and three Japanese fellows also joined us. Sylvia, Michiel, Peter and I decided to pay for the journey and got passenger car tickets for 1000 UM each (approx. 4 dollars), the others chose to ride for free [View Full Entry]

The Iron Ore Train Travels Across the Desert

By Kate in Africa
November 24th 2007

"Les Toubabs font de la Fraude!" / "The White Girls are Smuggling!"

Africa » Mauritania » Trarza

part of the group before they got sidetracked by the oh-so-enticing mound of sand posing as a cemetery

Faced with four and a half hours of free time on a Saturday afternoon in Saint Louis, what else were we going to do but walk to Mauritania? Our guidebook had a little map with an arrow saying "Mauritania, 3km" so we figured it'd be no problem. Our first problem was that we forgot to figure in all the kilometres that it was going to take to get to the part of the map where the 3km started. In order to get off our island, we had to first walk south, cross a bridge to another island and head north. Eventually [View Full Entry]

By AfricaBound
October 18th 2007

Mauritania Part 2 - The desert coast to Nouakchott

Africa » Mauritania » Trarza » Nouakchott

Desert 14

While the cities in Mauritania are anything but special, the drive from Nouadhibou to Nouakchott was far and away the highlight of the trip on the Dover to Dakar section. There is a brand new tarmac'd highway linking the two cities, but if we took that it would entirely defeat the purpose of travelling overland. A little sandmatting was certainly worth the effort in order to experience the real Sahara. Part 2 of this drive took us along the beach through a bird sanctuary and national park. When we arrived at the beach we had to wait around for several hours [View Full Entry]

By Ouaga
May 29th 2007

The problems of Africa

Africa » Mauritania » Trarza » Nouakchott

Climbing the dunes
Aluan, Ekziel and Elbeid ascend a Saharan sand dune

Dakhla-Nouakchott Tom Griffith[url='/Videos/3399.html' onclick='dialog("/Videos/3399.html?popped=1","tbvideo",600,600);return false;'] The Sahara You know you have arrived in West Africa when your old van breaks down in the desert wilderness of No Man's Land, and then again five minutes past the customs check, requiring you and five hastily-gathered Mauritanians to get behind and give it a push. Yes, we made it to Mauritania, and it instantly felt so much more African than Morocco. From the ricketty wooden hut that co [View Full Entry]

By BettiUndMirkoInGermany
May 16th 2007

Sekretaerin

Africa » Mauritania » Trarza » Nouakchott

Sekretaerin

Die Sekretaerin als Repraesentant des Spiessbuergertums. Beim Anblick der heissen Blondine sprach sie: "Na Betti, was geht!?" [View Full Entry]

heisse Blondine (im Hintergrund: Arenal)

By AnneMarie
April 10th 2007

Sun, Sand and Sweat - the Sahara!

Africa » Mauritania » Trarza » Nouakchott

Traffic Chaos in Mauritania

Since I left you in Morocco, I've travelled south from Marrakech and on to Mauritania via the disputed territory of Western Sahara. Western Sahara, as I found out, was invaded by Morocco in 1975, resulting in a 16 year long guerilla war against the occupation. There's been a cease-fire for ages now, but for the last 15 years the locals have been waiting to vote in a referendum to decide on independence or integration. The Moroccan government spend upwards of US$2 million a day in the region, and it's not difficult to spot what this money is spent on, with [View Full Entry]

By Donny
March 31st 2007

A Colourful Friendly Dump

Africa » Mauritania » Trarza » Nouakchott

Port de Peche
You can't get fresher than this.

There are numerous terms, of varying political correctness, to describe the stage of development of African countries. To give you an idea of where Mauritania is at, the election campaign pledge of the recently appointed president was “to stamp out slavery for good!” The slave trade was only outlawed here in 1980 but apparently it continues. Mauritania is a fascinating country to travel through, the population being some of the hardiest people on earth. After driving for hours through empty and unbroken sand seas you often come across small villages, desperately trying to stay [View Full Entry]

By threels
February 10th 2007

Nouakchott (4233 km)

Africa » Mauritania » Trarza » Nouakchott

Een taxi
keuze uit drie prijzen, hoe goedkoper hoe aftandser dit is de goedkoopste

Met z'n vieren achterin een oude Mercedes gepropt, beginnen we aan de acht uur duurende rit richting Nouakchott, de hoofdstad van Mauritanië. Op de gebruikelijke gebed- en theestops na schieten we lekker op, de chauffeur rijdt lekker door rond 22:00u staan we bij een politiepost aan de stadsgrens van Nouakchott, wat er op dat moment precies aan de hand is kan ik niet helemaal volgen, maar wat ik later hoor, is de diesel van de Mercedes op, we moeten maar uitstappen en zien hoe we verder komen, de agent vraagt de eigenaar van de splinternieuwe Mercedes GL, die achter ons stopt, [View Full Entry]

By Elena and Tom
January 13th 2007

Al salaam a'alaykum from Nouakchott

Africa » Mauritania » Trarza » Nouakchott

Street Near Our House.
Saturday: On our way to the Plaza de Armas.

Whoa it’s been a little while since we’ve written. We’ve been here a week, it seems like so much longer. Here’s a run-down of the past week: SATURDAY: We slept from 5pm Friday until 9am on Saturday. We got up, cooked breakfast with Rafo, and headed off to see the Plaza De Armas. We visited the Cathedral, and we saw the painting of the “Last Supper” with the Guinea Pigs. We then saw the Plaza San Blas (very beautiful, you can see our pictures), the district where artists show their work. We then went and sat in the middle of the [View Full Entry]

Links: Trarza Travel Blogs (20) | Trarza Travel Photos | Mauritania Travel Forum | Mauritania Facts | Map of Mauritania

Travel Blog » Africa » Mauritania » Trarza