Is it possible to enter Mauritania aboard a campervan? In this article, we’ll share useful information on how to enter Mauritania by campervan, including the documents you’ll need and the passavant. Certainly, if you read the Farnesina  ’s travel advisories, it’s not one of the most recommended places to visit.

Precisely for this reason, and given that we only crossed the country on our way to Senegal (which you can find here), we can’t write a detailed guide to the place. We’ll still share all the information related to customs procedures, costs and road conditions. We’ve also included a few excursions you can take if you want to explore the country in more depth.

The country

Mauritania is a country in deep crisis - 45% of the population lives on less than 2 dollars a day. It has always found itself caught between the tensions of the Arab world and Black Africa. We point you to the Viaggiare Sicuri  to check the latest situation in the country.

Itinerary

As we mentioned, our itinerary was very short and just a pass-through. This is because a 4x4 vehicle, which can also be rented locally, is recommended to visit the interior, and because temperatures in those areas are very high: it wouldn’t have been possible with our animals.

On the way there

On the first day we sorted out the customs paperwork in the morning and headed straight to the capital, Nouakchott, after a 7-hour drive. If you’re entering the country in the afternoon, we recommend stopping in Nouadhibou, where you’ll also find some campsites. Alternatively, you can wild camp right after leaving customs. Along the road you’ll find few inhabited centres, the largest being Chami. We slept at the “Terjit Vacances” campsite for 500 MAU (10 euros), right on the ocean shore. It only accepts local currency. Showers, Wi-Fi and a restaurant are available. No water fill-up.

On the second day we walked along the shore, reaching the port and watching the fishermen’s daily life, then headed south towards the Senegalese border. Be careful which roads you take so you don’t end up in the middle of local markets (that happened to us!). We stopped in the last inhabited village, about fifty kilometres from the Diama border, asking the gendarmerie for a safe place to stay.

On the third day we covered the 48 kilometres of dirt road leading to the border, which took us about two and a half hours. Watch out for the many wild animals, especially warthogs. We crossed Diawling Park (a paid entry) until we reached the customs offices. We went through customs quickly and continued our trip into Senegal (you can find the details here).

On the way back

We arrived at the border between Senegal and Mauritania on a Saturday afternoon around 4.30pm. We went through all the customs procedures within an hour and slept in Diawling National Park to cut down on the kilometres we’d need to cover the next day. By doing this, the next day we reached the capital during the lunchtime lull and, taking advantage of practically non-existent traffic, we arrived in front of the Morocco border crossing, stopping for the night just before it.

Useful information

Documents

To travel in Mauritania you need a passport valid for at least six months. You’ll need to get a paid visa at customs and a paid passavant for the vehicle. For costs, you’ll find everything in the dedicated section further below.

Update Starting from January 2025, Mauritania allows you to apply for a visa online. You can submit the application by visiting this address  and following the guided process.

How to pay

The local currency is the Mauritanian Ouguiya (MAU). The exchange rate is 40.37 MAU for 1 euro. You can withdraw from ATMs in the cities and exchange money at customs (not recommended).

Quando ci troviamo in un paese straniero, soprattutto dove non accettano l'euro, ci affidiamo a questa carta gratuita, che ti permette di pagare senza alcun tasso o addebito.

Health insurance

Before setting off we recommend taking out health insurance. As always, we recommend Genki  health insurance, which offers unlimited coverage worldwide.

Customs

Entering Mauritania with your own vehicle is fairly straightforward. You can handle all the steps on your own, or rely on a passeur, agreeing on a price beforehand (about 20 euros), who will help you cross the no-man’s-land coming from Morocco and handle the various procedures for you at the offices. Having lost time in Morocco due to internet connection issues, we decided to rely on Ibrahim to speed up our entry (on our later exits and entries we handled everything ourselves).

Warning: it’s strictly forbidden to bring alcohol into the country. This can lead to serious legal consequences and even jail time!

Border with Morocco

Entry from Morocco

As we mentioned earlier, we relied on a passeur (there’ll be plenty of them ready to ask if you need help, and if you’d like we can share Ibrahim’s number, +22246025895), but you can do everything on your own by following these steps:

1. follow the soldiers checking the vehicle with dogs
2. go to the building where personal visas are issued, where they’ll take your photo and fingerprints
3. continue towards the exit and stop at the customs inspectors’ office, where they’ll issue the vehicle’s passavant allowing you to stay in the country for 30 days (on the way back, the same document only allowed us to stay for 10 days, we don’t know why)
4. take out insurance for the vehicle (you can request coverage from a minimum of 3 up to a maximum of 30 days)

Exit towards Morocco

Much simpler than entering. We slept in front of the border. Here are the steps to follow:

1. police come by to collect passports (check that they’re really police officers)
2. follow the police as they escort you to an office to get the exit stamp on your passport
3. go and hand over the vehicle’s passavant at the customs exit
4. go with your passports to the military checkpoint (the second-to-last building on the right before entering no-man’s-land, next to the Mosque)

Border with Senegal (Diama)

Along the road leading to Diama you’ll find the entrance to Diawling Park, where you’ll be asked for a fiche de police and, depending on the time, may need to pay a fee to cross the reserve. We paid on the way there, while on the way back, since it was very early morning, we didn’t find anyone. Some travellers told us you don’t need to pay if you’re only crossing the park to reach customs, try asking (we found this out afterwards).

Exit towards Senegal

The various steps we went through were:

1. fiche de police check
2. payment of a standard fee to have a barrier raised
3. first building on the left to hand in the passavant (they tried to ask us for money, but it’s not actually owed)
4. next building on the left, last window, for the passport stamp

Proceed towards Senegal

Entry from Senegal

The various steps we went through were:

1. barrier raised by police (in our case, an insurance agent)
2. go to the building on the right where they take fingerprints and photos for the passport visa
3. go to the right-hand counter in the same building for passport checks
4. go to the next building for issuing the passavant (vehicle registration document required, try with a photocopy)
5. take out road insurance
6. barrier raised by handing over the fiche de police and passports and paying the standard fee (we negotiated with the insurance agent to get it raised)

Roads

Road conditions in Mauritania are highly variable. Between our outbound and return trips, over the space of a month, we noticed a considerable improvement (perhaps our perception had also changed). Some potholes present on the way there had been fixed. The most dangerous stretches today are:

1. the no-man's-land (the 4 km separating Morocco from Mauritania, half in good condition and half dirt track), which in strong winds can be covered in sand, masking some dangerous potholes. In this case you can ask a local trucker who knows the route well to lead the way.
2. the stretch from the border to the first crossroads
3. from the first crossroads to the town of Chami (though on the way back we found this stretch had improved)
4. a stretch of pure sand on the N1 crossing the capital, due to roadworks underway
5. the 48 km leading to Diama, especially the last 5, which are dirt track only with deep potholes (here too, on the way back we found an improvement, taking half an hour less to drive)

At every checkpoint we were asked for fiche de police (around forty per person between the outbound and return trips). What is a fiche de police? A document listing the traveller’s details. You can print them from the internet, or make your own by photocopying passports and adding the vehicle’s details, or even write them out by hand as we did. The details strictly required are:

1. first and last name
2. nationality
3. passport number
4. vehicle licence plate

Safety in the country

Safety in the country seems to be maintained thanks to the numerous checkpoints. Be very careful, though, especially in small inland towns, where you risk having stones thrown at your vehicle. If you stop, you’ll be fairly swarmed with requests for money (argent) or gifts (cadeaux).

Excursions

As we mentioned at the start, we didn’t visit the country, we only passed through it. Here are a few destinations and excursions recommended to us by other travellers:

• the longest train in the world, departing from Nouadhibou
• desert tracks to drive on a 4x4
• the town of Atar
• the town of Chinguetti
• the fish and camel market in the capital

Where to sleep

For our stop in the capital, we preferred staying at a campsite  , to avoid any issues. If you’re in smaller towns, you can try asking the gendarmerie where it’s safe to stay.

Travelling with your pet

To travel outside Europe with your pet you need to have:

• passport
• microchip
• valid rabies vaccination
• rabies antibody titration

This last document is obtained through a blood sample analysed at specialized centres and is mandatory to re-enter Europe. Check whether your pet's breed is allowed in the country you're visiting. We recommend always being careful in crowded places, as people might be scared of your pet, and of the many wild animals, which is why we always keep our pets on a leash. In many cases a muzzle is required, so we recommend keeping one handy.

We recommend bringing a bowl (we use one that clips conveniently onto a backpack) and a water bottle if the day is particularly hot.

In Mauritania no further specific preventive treatments are compulsory; in any case, we made sure to give Olimpia and Sakè, our dog and cat, their usual parasite treatments. We recommend keeping your pet on a lead at all times, since numerous wild animals roam every corner of the country.

How much we spent

The cost of the visa depends on which border you enter from. Coming from Morocco you pay 55 euros per person. Coming from Senegal, instead, 40000 F, meaning 61 euros per person.

The cost of the passeur on the way there was 20 euros.

The cost of the passavant is 10 euros at both borders (at Diama they only accept local currency, 400 MAU).

The cost of road insurance varies depending on the number of days you take out. We spent 20 euros for 3 days, both on the way there and on the way back.

The cost of having the barrier raised is 100 MAU (we negotiated down to 2 euros).

The cost of crossing Diawling Park is 200 MAU per person (5 euros).

The only campsite where we stayed charged us 500 MAU a night, 12.50 euros (2 people and a van).

Quando ci troviamo in un paese straniero, soprattutto dove non accettano l'euro, ci affidiamo a questa carta gratuita, che ti permette di pagare senza alcun tasso o addebito.

Total: 331.50 euros

Our maps

Below you can browse all the maps for our trip. If you want to know how to download them and use them offline, you'll find everything at the following link⚠️ we can't guarantee that the marked spots still exist! Please keep the area clean and follow the rules.

Vandipety takes no responsibility for how the information provided here is used.