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Mauritania - tourism -- Review --
Tourism is a very recent phenomenon in Mauritania. This has partly been due to a lack of infrastructure, but it also reflects a long-standing reluctance on the part of the authorities to expose a deeply traditional society to the influences and probing eyes of foreign vacationers. Over the past few years, there has been a significant change of heart, with the realization that appropriate tourism can actually help preserve cultures and sites, rather than destroy them.
Moreover, in an age when a growing number of African states are beginning to cash in on what is now the world’s biggest business, Mauritania has a definite edge, in being able to offer a tourism product that enables the discerning and adventurous traveler the opportunity to escape the pressures of modern life and to savor something totally different.
Four towns in Mauritania, including Chinguitti, have been declared World Heritage Sites by UNESCO, and work is under way to prevent them from being swallowed up by the desert sands. Tourism can help by bringing in badly needed funds, as well as jobs for local people, especially in the production of handicrafts.
Mauritania - tourism -- Places --
CHENGUETTI is 90 km from Atar and 120 km from Ouadane.
Atar is located less than 100 kilometers from, the capital of the area of Adrar, Chenguetti. It is now more accessible since the opening of the new trail, which is more viable than the old one, which goes through the Amogjar pass.
Regarded as the 7th Holy City of Islam, Chenguetti was a religious centre and famous intellectual with many Koran schools and universities. The city attracted many scientists. A caravan city, Chenguetti played a significant commercial role. It was especially a stop over for the pilgrims going to Mecque.
The influence of Chenguetti largely exceeded the borders of current Mauritania. Its scholars were renowned as far as the Orient. As a matter of fact Mauritania was known as the “Bilad Chenguetti”. The city reached its apogee during the 17th and 18th century.
Today Chenguetti is a city mostly buried under the dunes. It offers an impressive spectacle for the visitor who will note the inexorable advances of the desert. Some rare constructions still remain in the old city, of which the Mosque which dates from the XIII century with its rectangular minaret.
The Libraries of Chenguetti contain hundreds of invaluable manuscripts and well preserved according to traditional methods. They are jealously protected family libraries.
OUADANE is 120 km from Atar, approximately 4 hours of trail to Chenguetti; Atar is 200km.
Ouadane or the City of the “two oueds” is an old city whose foundation would date back to 1140. It knew its moments of splendours as a flourishing caravan city for the Trans-Saharan trade. It was the most significant city of the Mauritanian Sahara. Its rich palm plantations were famous. It had seven mosques and large libraries. The city was visited by the Portuguese as early as the 17th century. They established trade with the inhabitants. Ouadane reached its apogee during the 17th century. Its decline started with the massive diversion of the trade to the coasts by the Africaans towards the end of the 17th century.
UNESCO classifies the city as part of the World Inheritance to humanity. In the middle of the desert, Ouadane seems lost in the great expanse of the Sahara. The disappearance of caravans brought about the decline of this city.
Ouadane offers exceptional landscapes because of its geographical situation. Ouadane attracts visitors by the architecture of its houses built in cliffs. Today, tourism offers to Ouadane a new chance to rise again.
Mauritania - tourism -- Products --
Accessibility has been a problem, as some of the country’s greatest attractions can only be reached by four-wheel drive or, for the most intrepid travelers, by camel. But the inauguration in 1998 of charter-flights from France to Atar has opened up large tracts of territory to visitors, without the need to transit through Nouakchott. The number of flights has increased substantially, which was a main reason why foreign tourists topped 60,000 last year, though that is still very low by international standards.
Outside air connections are vital for the sector’s development, which means that Air Mauritania also needs to expand its network.
It is probably just as well that the growth in tourism is not too rapid, as a great deal of infrastructure needs to be put into place. Not all visitors fancy sleeping under canvas in the desert, though there is a niche market for that sort of vacation. In this regard, it is needed to be built more inns, little restaurants and hotels.
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Bulgarian