Yes, Morocco is North Africa, but it’s certainly relevant to West Africa travels because it offers the only overland route here from Europe. Passing through Western Sahara and into Mauritania puts you firmly in West African territory, and you can go where you need from there.

Western Sahara is technically not a country, but a “disputed territory” controlled in part by the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic and mostly administered by Morocco. The route is sandy, windy, and desolate.

Visas/paperwork

Since Morocco asserts that Western Sahara is part of Morocco, and they administer most of it, all you need to move around is your Moroccan visa. In a further assertion of Morocco’s control over the territory, Moroccan flags line many of the roads along the route to Mauritania.

There are several police checkpoints along the way too, so it’s a good idea to print several copies of a “fiche”.. Fiche is the French word for form, paper, or document, and the soldiers at the many checkpoints along the way will make your passage a lot easier if you have it on hand. It consists of whatever paperwork may be necessary – a scan of your passport, your driver’s license, and a document which can be downloaded on the Sahara Overland website and filled out ahead of time.

And, by the way, Sahara Overland (https://sahara-overland.com/western-sahara/) is an excellent resource for trans-Sahara routes, especially while overlanding by car or motorbike, and has a section on the Morocco-Mauritania route that was updated in April 2022. Visas can be obtained on arrival in Mauritania for 55 euros for all nationalities.

By bus

Busses can be taken from Morocco into Western Sahara’s capital, Dakhla. From there, busses go into Nouadhibou, a border town just on the Mauritanian side of the border, or all the way into Nouakchott, the capital. A company called Supratours runs busses between Morocco and Mauritania and their office in Dakhla can be found on Google Maps. Tickets from Dakhla to Nouadhibou are 290 Moroccan dirhams (around 26 euros), and from Dakhla to Nouakchott are 440 dirhams (around 40 euros) at the time of this writing (December 2022). 

By car

Nouadhibou is situated on a peninsula, and if you’re traveling in a private vehicle or motorbike you can skip the peninsula. Fuel stations are common enough that you won’t have to carry extra with you if you’re in a car, but not common enough that you can skip them. Get the fuel when you can. If you’re in a motorbike with a smaller gas tank, you might want to carry an extra can or two.

Onward Travel

Once in Mauritania, you can go on straight to Senegal or – what we would recommend – see some of the sights that the country has to offer. Check out our recent post on how to hitch a ride on the iron ore train.