Mauritania – history to hip hop

The desert town of Chinguetti was once a must see for the predominantly French tourists in Mauritania but the decimation wrought by  EU government travel warnings meant that Steve and I accounted for at least 25% of the visitors on any day of our 4 days there. Whilst this may well add to the level of “authenticity” of the travel experience for those of us who have bothered, it is difficult to overstate the desperate plight of the inhabitants of…

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Welcome to Mauritania

Lets be honest, how many of you could point to Mauritania on the map?  There is a distinct lack of Thomas Cook package tours to the country to boost its tourist profile and little sign of that changing.  However, the welcome Steve and I received was in complete contrast to the UK and French government advice to travellers, which paints the country as a hotbed of Islamic terrorism where foreigners should tread every step with fear. Mauritania does indeed have…

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