Across the Desert in Mauritania on the Ore Train

20 hours on a cargo train across the desert

On the Ore train, somewhere in the desert in Mauretania. Credit: Zayera Khan

Mauritania

I have these wild ideas for trips and traveling. I think about the idea for a while, plan it, start yearning and long for that particular experience and then at some point, I decide to do it.

I traveled to Mauritania from Senegal by taxi and bus in December 2022. The main reason for visiting Mauritania was to go on this cargo train journey across the desert. I have seen this trip being mentioned on travel groups and since I like train journeys, I felt the urge to explore and finally be on a long train journey again.

This train journey is very unique:

• It is a cargo train. Up to 3 kilometers long train.
• It is a cargo train where you sit on top of the iron ore pellets.
• It is a cargo train crossing the desert nonstop from Zouérat to Nouadhibou. 704-kilometer single railway line.

Map of the train tracks across the Mauretanian desert. Credit: Wikipedia.

About the railway and history of the railway track. The track was built for transporting iron from the iron mining center to the coastal city of Nouadhibou.