Kaedi

Kaedi sits on the Senegal river in Mauritania's south, a market town in the agricultural belt where the country stops being desert, with Fulani and Soninke populations and a large weekly market. Its regional hospital, built in the 1980s by the architect Fabrizio Carola, is made of local brick in a series of domes and vaults raised without steel or timber shuttering, and it is much better known abroad than in the town.

What you actually see

• The domed hospital - brick vaults raised without steel or shuttering.
• The river - the Senegal running past the town toward Senegal itself.
• The market - the trading centre for the southern agricultural belt.
• The green south - farming country where the desert gives out.

When to go

November to February is the cool season. The rains fall around July to September and the river rises. Summer heat is severe.

Honest expectations

The hospital is a working medical facility and access is limited to the exterior. There is little tourist infrastructure in the town. The drive from Nouakchott takes around six hours.

Nearby

The Senegal river is south, and Aleg is northwest.