Atar

Atar, the capital of the Adrar region, lies in the Sahara in a date-palm oasis on a gently rolling plain, edged to the south-east by the escarpment of the Adrar Plateau; it is the economic centre of the north of the country, and much of Mauritania's date harvest comes from around it. The Oued Seguellil, a sandy wadi on the north side of town, fills with water in the summer rains. North of the central roundabout lies the old town, the ksar, whose market is busiest in the mornings, with household goods, seasonal vegetables from the gardens around, dried dates and crafts; behind it stretches the old quarter of homes and workshops, its single-storey, mostly windowless houses built of rubble stone and plastered with mud, some still with carved wooden doors and wooden bolts. Atar also has a museum and a historic mosque built in 1674, one of the oldest in the country, and leather sandals called samaras are made here.

Background

Atar, whose name is Berber for mountain, is the capital of Mauritania's Adrar Region and the main settlement of the Adrar Plateau, in the north-west of the country. It stands on the Oued Seguellil and has an airport and a museum, and its historic mosque dates from 1674; in 2023 it had 35,170 people. The climate is hot desert, with an average temperature close to 30 °C and about 108 mm of rain a year, falling mainly in August and September. Atar is the usual gateway for visitors to the old Moorish towns of Ouadane and Chinguetti, and it was a key stop on the Paris-Dakar Rally.

Source: Wikipedia, "Atar, Mauritania"

What you'll find

• The market - in the old town north of the central roundabout, busiest in the mornings, with vegetables, dried dates and crafts.
• The old quarter - single-storey houses of rubble stone plastered with mud, some with carved wooden doors.
• The date palms - the oasis that grows much of Mauritania's date harvest, picked in the Guetna season.
• The 1674 mosque - one of the oldest in the country, and a museum of archaeological finds from the nearby desert.

When to go

November to February, when average highs are about 27 to 33 °C and nights about 12 to 18 °C; from June to August average highs pass 40 °C. What little rain there is, about 108 mm a year, falls mainly in August and September.

Good to know

Atar is the starting point for trips into the country around, with about half a dozen restaurants and as many simple campsites with rooms. Several bus companies run to Nouakchott, while most other towns of the Adrar have a single shared taxi a day. The airport, on the eastern edge of town, was upgraded to international standard in 2001. The way east to Chinguetti and Ouadane is an unpaved road through the broken north-western edge of the Adrar Plateau, climbing to more than 700 m (2,300 ft) by the old Amojjar Pass, a demanding drive, or by the shorter Ebnou Pass.

Nearby

In a straight line, Azougui, an oasis with ruins from Almoravid times, is about 7.5 km to the north-west, and the palm grove of Terjit, with its springs, about 29 km to the south. Chinguetti is about 72 km to the east, Ouadane about 156 km to the east-northeast and the Richat Structure about 184 km in the same direction, while Choum, on the railway from Nouadhibou to Zouérat, is about 87 km to the north.

Key facts