Africans call it the “Snake of the desert“, and it is known as the largest cargo train in the world! Almost 3km long, with only one passenger wagon, the train carries iron ore from the mines of Zouerat in the middle of the Mauritanian Sahara, to the Atlantic port of Nouadhibou, on the west coast of the country. This area of 600km alongside the borders of Mauritania and the Polisario Western Sahara, actually, looks like from another planet.
Although this train is not a tourist attraction, it has become a highlight for the adventurous travelers during the last years. Everybody wants to live this special experience together with the smuggled locals, who choose to travel on the wagons with the iron ore for about 18 hours, just to avoid paying a ticket.
It is a hardcore adventure, and although it looks like fun, it is not the most enjoyable experience, even if you choose the shortest journey of 12 hours from Choum, as I did. The night is quite hard, especially when you are all alone in a wagon filled with iron powder, when there is no soul around you, when the wind is very strong and you cannot even stand up, when the temperature drops suddenly and your clothes are not warm enough, when it starts raining and you have nowhere to hide, when you can’t even lie down and you stay sleepless the whole night.
And while you are wondering what is wrong with you and why you are there, the sun slowly begins to rise, and that’s the moment you forget everything and excuse your madness!
Scenes from “Mad Max” or simply “Τhe iron ore train of Mauritania” !!
HOW:
There are 2 boarding options:
1) from the mining town of Zouerat, the train departs at around 12.00pm and the journey lasts 18+ hours
2) from the village of Choum, departing at 15.00, or 17.00, or 20.00 or God knows when, and the journey lasts 12 hours
I chose to board from Choum, as I would have to stay one night in Zouerat, in order to catch the train the next day. Since I had already wasted 2 days on the buses of the south and I was completely alone, I did not want to waste one more day for no reason.
So I arrived in Atar early in the morning by a shared taxi from Chinguetti, and from there in Choum on the first bus. I paid a double price (400um) for my extra stop in the village, since the bus was going straight to Zouerat. Unfortunately, no one could know the exact departure time of the train from Zouerat, so I didn’t risk going there directly. In Choum, I spent a lot of time waiting and waiting. I kept asking, but everyone was telling me a different time of arrival. The safest solution was once again the military police. In Mauritania, the army police, known as “Gendarmerie”, control the whole country. Actually, those policemen helped me a lot of times throughout my journey. So I asked them once again to help me with the train schedule. They were very helpful, they called immediately the train station in Zouerat, plus they helped me with my luggage while boarding.
The train arrived at 20.00 in the evening. It has been already dark and I had missed the chance to enjoy one of those magnificent sunsets over the desert from the train. When you are on the wagon, you’re illegal, and everybody knows it! You do not pay any ticket if you travel on the wagons with the iron ore, unless you board the last passenger one. However, neither the police nor anyone else seems to have any problem with those illegal passengers. Actually, the policemen laughed at my decision to cross the Sahara desert that way. So they helped me climbing a wagon with no stairs, they helped me with my suitcase and stuff, and they also offered me 2 bottles of water for the ride!!! They were really great!
We departed about a quarter later. The policemen and the rest of the locals who came to say goodbye to the only tourist that night, were shaking hands, laughing and shouting “bon voyage”! At that moment, I suddenly realized for the first time that I was all alone, in a huge wagon filled up with iron ore powder, with no trace of soul around. The driver was located 4 wagons ahead, and as far as I could see in the dark, there was no other passenger except me!
I won’t lie, it felt like a panic attack: what if something happens at night? who would help me? where would they find me? Fortunately, in seconds I got over it: “so many people have already done this, I will be fine!”
I put my stuff in the center of the wagon, so I could reach food or anything I might need without moving. I took off my small mattress I was carrying along the trip, I laid down on the iron and looked at the sky…the milky way was visible in the crystal clear sky, we were crossing the Sahara desert and a warm breeze was blowing making the evening really wonderful!
Unfortunately, the rest of the night was not so dreamy. The iron pile in my wagon was almost vertical, and I couldn’t sleep on it. At some point when I fell asleep, it started raining. I wore my raincoat, but then it was windy. Later, the train speeded, it was raining constantly and the temperature dropped abruptly due to the strong wind. The next hours felt like torture and I was just waiting for our destination or at least the dawn.
I didn’t even feel like eating all night, and despite I was totally covered in black powder, I managed to snack a couple of cookies and a banana I had packed with me. But the big problem was actually the toilet! What should I do? One corner of the wagon was my bed and the other was the toilet. I got up with difficulty: it was freezing, I was wearing a bunch of clothes that I had to take off to reach the other side, while the train was running and I couldn’t even stand up. And then, I wondered: what’s the pleasure of that? I’m sure that if I was there together with other people, it would have been different, but actually, I think the weather played a major role. Furthermore, other tourists had met locals in the next wagons, preparing tea or cooking, so they lived this special experience, I did not have the chance. And while I was feeling mad and disappointed since I was sleepless the whole night, my mood changed straight away as soon as it slowly began to dawn.
A vast, arid, flat desert, which reminded me a lot of the Western Sahara, stretched out in front of me, with a few scattered camels here and there. The whole landscape was simply breathtaking, and our own “snake” crawling through this lunar landscape was the real highlight!!!!
And just like that, the last hard night was deleted from my memory, and my one and only feeling was excitement for every single moment I was living up there.
This special adventure of crossing the Sahara desert came to an end an hour later, reaching our destination, just outside the city of Nouadhibou. Luckily, they were a couple of taxis waiting at the station, so I left immediately heading to my hotel (Al Jazira).
TIPS:
- In Choum, the train station is located in the village, and the locomotive stops a little bit further from the army police station
- It would be better for you to choose one of the first wagons, in order to have the best view of the whole train and less dust from the front wagons (I climbed to the 5th)
- The route from the mines to the port is considered the best, as the wagons of the train that starts from Nouadhibou to Zouerat, are totally empty
- There is no need for a special preparation for this trip and there is absolutely no danger. But since the iron dust is toxic, you need some protection (however, no worries for health issues in such a short exposure). Although anyone is free to bring whatever he likes, my list is as follows:
-
-
- Surgery mask and scarf or other face protection
- Full shades or ski mask for the eyes
- Shoes, long pants and long-sleeved blouse
- Torch or other kind of light
- Water & packaged food from the markets in Atar or Zouerat
- Wet tissues/baby wipes (because you and everything on the wagon will turn into black from the dust) – I found them only in a mini market in Atar and in large supermarkets in Nouakchott
- Warm clothes/windproof jacket/blanket for the low temperature at night (some people buy second hand stuff from the street market in Atar)
- Waterproof poncho (it was raining, so I was wearing it the whole night)
- Garbage bags for suitcase/bag protection – I didn’t find in Atar market
- Mattress/blanket/sleeping bag or any other stuff to sit/lie on the dust. I was carrying a small yoga mat I was using throughout the trip anyway
- Good mood and patience, especially during the hard night
-