If there’s one thing you need to do in Mauritania, it’s the iron ore train. It is one of the most special experiences I've had in my life. You'll see why.
Table of contents:
F A S T F A C T S
This remarkable train has been operating since 1963. It runs every day between the mine in Zouérat deep in the Sahara and the port of Nouadhibou, a city on the Atlantic coast.
With a length of >2km and 200 carriages, it is the longest and heaviest train in the world. It carries up to 17 thousand tons of iron ore. Exporting this mineral has become one of the basic pillars of the impoverished Mauritanian economy.
For the locals, this 704km train ride wasn't some fun expedition but rather a necessity. We did meet some of them on our journey. Some transport fish from the coast to the desert, and some take it as a means to go to work in the mines.
It is free of charge to go onto the cargo train wagons, you're simply hitchhiking. There is an option of riding in the passenger carriage too. It costs 6 euros. There are no assigned seats and usually described as having worse conditions than riding in the wagons.
Why do people regard this as an extreme train ride? It runs in the middle of the desert, along the borders of Mauritania and West Sahara. The weather in the desert can be extreme in its own right. It can be super hot during the day and freezing during the night. You can also fall off in the middle of the desert with no chance of getting help if you're reckless.
M Y E X P E R I E N C E
Our plan was to catch the train at Choum instead of the mines in Zouérat. I don't know if this is a common practice, but our local guide has a friend working in the mines who acted as our "source" and told us when the train was leaving Zouérat. The train needed a few hours to go from Zouérat to Choum, so we had time to head over and prepare for the ride.
From a photographer's point of view, we had THE perfect timing. If the train is on time, we would be getting on the train right at sunset and getting off at sunrise, which means that we wouldn't be able to see either golden moment properly. If you came during the "winter" months, the daytime would be shorter and you probably wouldn't get any daylight when on the train. We arrived at Choum at around 6 pm, just before sunset. The train came at 8 pm. We had just enough time to enjoy the sunset by the train tracks, pack everything up, and get ready.
It was a long driving day from Chinguetti to Atar to Choum. I was so giddy and excited when I saw the train tracks, the reason why I came to Mauritania in the first place. I could literally feel my heart racing. There was another train idling on the adjacent tracks, and we took the opportunity to practice how to get onto the train. The sunset was amazing that day, illuminating the sky with different shades of pink. Then darkness came and we all just sat there, trying to contain our excitement.
The train came slightly earlier than we expected. We all jumped onto the back of the 4x4s and raced towards the first few wagons of the train. We didn't know how long the train would be stopping for, so it was a bit hectic. The fact that the ladders on some of the wagons were broken didn't help. We quickly loaded our belongings onto the wagons and climbed up. Though, our anxiety was completely overblown, cos the train stopped for an hour at Choum. We had more than enough time to board and made ourselves comfy on the train.
It was nighttime when we got on, but the vast Sahara desert was lit by the full moon that night. Despite the bright moon and the dust, we were still able to see a sky full of stars. The train wasn't as bumpy as I thought. It was way milder than sitting in the back of a pickup truck it felt more like a gentle oscillation to help you sleep. I tried sleeping on top of the iron ore at first, but it was quite windy and I was scared that I would roll off the train if I fell asleep. So I moved back to the front of the wagon. I am not exaggerating when I describe it as a comfy ride. Five people were on each of our wagons. We all got extended legroom and were able to lie flat. The types of iron ores can be in chunks of rocks or in the form of fine granules. We got fine ores luckily.
Twelve hours of darkness on an open-top train easily flew by when you were with the right crew. There were some nice conversations and some rejuvenating sleep. By the time I woke up, the train had stopped and we were already 70% through our journey. We waited at the red light for more than an hour for another train to pass. And the sun slowly crept up from the horizon as the train started moving again.
Sunrise in the middle of a desert was as magical as I had imagined. The stars slowly melted away and the sky was already bright way before the sun came out. As we waited with excitement, the sun slowly rose up at the horizon and shone through the desert dust. Others from our group who were on another wagon told me afterwards that I looked like a war zone photographer shooting photos non-stop for an hour straight. All of us wanted memories of this once-in-a-lifetime adventure to be captured perfectly.
As we turned south towards Nouadhibou, we could see where the Sahara desert met with the Atlantic Ocean. We arrived in Nouadhibou at around 10:30, before the iron ore became scorching hot under the sun. Vans were waiting for us as we slowly got off the train. We were whisked to a fancy hotel in Nouadhibou to clean up. Even though it took me three showers to get everything off me, the iron ore was less messy than I expected. I planned to ruin my camera lens, the headscarf I bought in Atar, my sleeping bag, and basically everything I wore on me. I only had to throw out my leggings cos it was torn before the train ride.
For such a highly anticipated adventure, it surely did live up to my expectations which is hard. Growing up watching Thomas the Tank Engine every dinner, knowing every word to its theme song, cargo trains will never be not cool to me (ffs, my brother's name is Percy).
F A Q
Is it safe?
Yes! No one bothered us on the entire journey. As long as you don't do anything dumb, you won't really fall off.
What to bring on your train ride?
Same with hiking trips, you have to wrap yourselves comfortably to make this an enjoyable experience. It is a good idea to cover every inch of yourself to keep the iron ore away and to keep yourself warm.
-old T-shirt, long pants, and sturdy shoes
-Headscarf to cover up the hair (bought in Atar)
-Headlamp
-SKI GOGGLES for the eyes
-Vaseline for the nose
-N95 mask +/- neck gaiter
-Garbage bags to put your bags in
-Sleeping bag/ blanket
-GoPro (camera can be used at your own risk. I only used my backup lens, not my main lens on this trip)
How to get to the train?
To enter Mauritania, it is a visa on arrival for most. You simply have to fill in some forms and pay 55 euros in cash. (Someone in our group handed in the cash with his passport. The officer took it and accused him of not paying. So make sure you hand in your passport and the money separately.)
You can technically ride it both ways. But the train would be empty if you rode from Nouadhibou to Zouérat and it would be hot during the day time. We got on at Choum. Our guide drove us there.
What's the schedule of the train?
On the official "timetable", the train leaves the mine at 12 noon and gets to Choum at 18:00. But in reality, the train sets off when it's full and the speed and stops it takes are also day-by-day. But it runs every day, so you just need to wait patiently and it would show up eventually. At Choum, it can stop anywhere on the tracts, there is no platform.
The train usually takes 12-16 hours to get from Choum to Nouadhibou. But it may stop randomly during the journey. It is the unpredictability of the ride that makes this adventure so special.
How to eat/drink/pee on the train?
We brought food and drinks onto the train but with my hands all covered with iron ore and that I wasn't really hungry at all, I didn't really eat anything on the train. I didn't drink much too, so I did not have to pee. But we did set up a pee corner at the back. It wasn't a big fuss. With its impressive length, the train could not accelerate or decelerate quickly, so it was actually quite steady. We could move around with ease.
We heard stories from previous groups that someone had an absolutely horrible time having diarrhoea on the train. So I also took Imodium as prophylaxis.
Would I do this again?
Heck yeah! If you're wondering whether to go or not, hop on and find out yourself!
(vlog coming soon!)
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