The Port de Peche

Nouakchott's Port de Peche is West Africa's fish-beach theatre at maximum volume: several hundred painted wooden pirogues work the rich upwelling offshore, and from mid-afternoon they return through the surf in continuous waves - crews leaping into the shallows, teams hauling boats up the sand by chant and muscle, headloads of sardines and courbine streaming to the auction sheds where the shouting sets prices by the crate. Carts, gulls, ice-men and net-menders complete a working choreography that absorbs any camera pointed respectfully at it. It is the capital's essential sight, and it costs nothing but attention.

Highlights

• The pirogue landings - boats surfing in through the shorebreak.
• The haul-up chants - crews walking hulls up the beach by song.
• The auction sheds - the catch priced at full voice.
• The painted fleet - hundreds of hulls in Saharan colour.

When to go

Late afternoon into sunset daily - the fleet's return hour; November to March adds kind temperatures. Mornings show the quiet net-mending version.

Before you go

It is a hard-working place: slippery sand, moving boats and no barriers - stay out of the haul lines, ask before close portraits, and keep footwear expendable. Freelance guides attach; a polite arrangement or decline both work. The smell is part of the purchase.

Nearby

Nouakchott's markets and mosques, and the Banc d'Arguin road north.