Oualata and Tagant Expedition

Mauritania

Trip info

Dates:
01/02/25 – 14/02/25

Duration:
14 days

Price:
From 2.590 € / person

Code:

MAU06PS250201

Type:

Naturalistic
Expedition
Adventure

Group:
Min. 6 / max. 16 people

Guide:
Group departure with english speaking guide

Expedition to Mauritania’s most remote historical towns, Oualata and Tichitt, the last stopping points on the caravan route to Timbuktu.

This isolation makes them a fascinating destination to visit, centres whose atmosphere seems to be that of cities forgotten by the world, surrounded by an aura of mystery that fuels their myth in the eyes of keen Saharan travellers.

Oualâta is a jewel, an oasis whose clay dwellings give the village a unique appearance, with the red colour of the mud bricks with which they are built and the typical decorations with wall paintings.

Tichitt, once inhabited by 6,000 people and now little more than a ghost village, will impress with its mosque and old houses built from local stone, whose facades are decorated and massive, elaborate doors display heavy wooden latches.

Many other surprises await us along the way: encounters with Peulh cattle breeders and Mauri nomads, the ‘elephant pass’ in the middle of the Sahara, the majestic dunes surrounding Tidjikja, the cliff and the old town of Rachid, the natural pools of Matmata that are home to a colony of Nile crocodiles.

Unique departure accompanied by Leonardo F. Paoluzzi.

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Itinerary

Day 1 : Saturday 01 February 2025

Outward flight/Nouakchott (NKC)

Days 2-5 : Sunday 02 to Wednesday 05 February 2025

Nouakchott/Rosso/Aleg/Kiffa/Aioun el Atrouss/Timbedra/Nema

Travelling southwards along the banks of the Senegal river, past rice plantations and Peulh villages, then eastwards through dunes, mountains and guelte, crossing the Mauritanian Sahél.

Day 6 : Thursday 06 February 2025

Oualata

The arrival at the mythical caravan town of Oualata, with its splendidly decorated houses.

Days 7-8 : Friday 07 to Saturday 08 February 2025

Oualata/Aratane/Tichitt

A challenging trail through magnificent scenery to reach the caravan town of Tichitt.

Days 9-10-11 : from Sunday 09 to Tuesday 11 February 2025

Tichitt/Tidjikja/Rachid/Ksar el Barka/Matmata

In the heart of Tagant, crossing the Erg Aouker with its salt caravans, the ancient city of Rachid and the guelta of Matmata with its Nile crocodiles.