Around The Town Of Zouerat, Mauritania (Iron Ore Train 2)
Intro
If you are planning on riding the iron ore train, there is a local town in the North of Mauritania where you will probably stay the night before you take the train. This town goes by the name of Zouerat.
What It's Like
Once taking the long drive from Nouakchott to Zouerat, you will find yourself in a small but quaint Mauritanian village. When I say small, I mean that there cannot be more than 20,000 people here; there are less than 10 hotels and about 5 restaurants maximum.
I’ll touch on the hotel we stayed at in another post, but we had a lovely time in Zouerat. We headed out for dinner at this local place that served Camel Pizza and even kicked a little bit of football with the locals. The light around this town is beautiful, especially around the golden hour since it reflects off of the desert.
There are a few things that you must be aware of about Zouerat, though. Before the train, I really wanted a cup of coffee, so we began searching. There wasn’t a single place in the whole town that had a coffee machine that was operational. Sure, they had the coffee machine, but none of them worked…
Additionally, this place is really small. You can just about get by for the night before the train, but I would not recommend spending more than a night in Zouerat, as there is nothing to do. The only reason that “tourists” come here is because the train departs from a local village close by. There are no real activities, and you could eat at every restaurant within the day.
Final Thoughts:
If you are planning on taking the iron ore train, you will most probably have to spend the night in Zouerat. It’s completely safe and more than comfortable enough for a night's sleep, but I do not recommend staying more than a night as there is nothing to do.
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