Hi ctc,

Yes we drove direct to Atar from Nouadhibou and back again along side the railway track. Its not so much difficult but slow going for long stretches due to small soft “tussock like” dunes in places. We took 5 days each way but spent much of the time messing around with kite buggies. Realistically you could get to Attar in a couple of days driving in daylight only in a 4x4. Anyone doing this in a 2x4 will have a an adventure...

I would agree with what CS says in the book, it would be a tough first piste in Mauritania but in a properly equipped vehicle its a rewarding trip through the middle of nowhere.

The piste itself is very easy to follow by keeping an eye on the railway track but unless your lucky you will probably get stuck at least once. The sandy bands are just west of Bou Lanouar, again at N15.30 – N15.00 (ish) and N14.30 – N14.10(ish). The bits in between are nice flat reg. It is quite empty round there though so breakdowns ect would be serious. There are a number of small camps / villages every 150k or so down the railway but would be of very limited help – I wouldn’t expect they would have fuel ect. I don’t think there is anything south of the railway at all. We saw 2 other vehicles when we went east and nothing at all on the return trip.

A slightly “hammed up” description with limited info of the trip is at www.saharanexploration.co.uk – At the moment the site is mainly to keep our sponsors happy and aimed at parakarting but should have more info in about a month or so when we fill in the gaps.

Hope this helps