MAURITANIA, FIVE-WEEK ROAD TRIP

By Erwin and Sandra van Dijk · published 3 April 2026 · updated 9 October 2026

The short answer

Five weeks in Mauritania with a 4x4 and a hardshell rooftop tent. No campsites, no showers, just desert. The biggest surprise wasn't the heat but the dust: fesh-fesh sand gets into everything. Thanks to the rubber seals, it stayed out of the tent. Nights with force 8 winds and the car shaking. And we were lying in a clean bed in about a minute.

Footage from Mauritania: sand tracks, black rocks, the iron ore train and opening the rooftop tent in an oasis (32 seconds).

What is it like to travel through Mauritania?

When you cross the border from Morocco into Mauritania, you notice it straight away: the tarmac ends, the guides are waiting and the real work begins. No campsites, no showers, just the desert. We wanted to get to Chinguetti, straight through the sand, and we knew it was going to be a wild trip.

That also means you bring your own place to sleep. There is nowhere to fall back on when things go wrong.

How did the rooftop tent hold up in a sandstorm?

“The Sahara is beautiful, but it can get pretty rough too. We had nights with force 8 winds and the car shaking, and even snow in Morocco. That's when you're really glad you have a hardshell. While the world outside was ending in a sandstorm, we were lying in a clean bed in about a minute. Clamps off, tent up and dive in. No flapping fabric.”

That flapping is exactly where a softshell loses out. Fabric that vibrates in the wind all night wears at the folds, and you don't sleep well with it either.

From the travel diary

Sandra kept a diary on the road. Three extracts from it, translated word for word, because this is what a night in the desert is really like.

“It kicked off again last night. Two tremendous claps of thunder one after the other. You could actually hear it pulling through the bowl of the crater. Then came the rain. That's when you're glad to be lying so high off the ground.”

Sandra van Dijk, at the Tenoumer crater, 21 March 2026

“A restless night with a stiff wind that keeps rocking the car back and forth.”

Sandra van Dijk, camp among the dunes near Akjoujt, 16 March 2026

“It stayed restless in the rooftop tent for a long time. It rattled and rocked as if we were lying in a boat.”

Sandra van Dijk, camp along the railway near Choum, 27 March 2026

And this is how every morning started, here at the Ben Amira monolith:

“Like every morning, Erwin goes down the ladder first and takes the pillows and the blanket, I let the air out of the mats and climb down too. Then Erwin folds the tent shut and I make coffee, tea and pancakes.”

Sandra van Dijk, at Ben Amira, 26 March 2026

Does sand get into your rooftop tent?

“The biggest thing might actually have been the dust. In Mauritania that ‘fesh-fesh’ sand gets literally everywhere, except into our tent. Those rubber seals did exactly what they were supposed to do: the mattress stayed free of sand. That's real luxury when you've been driving through dust all day.”

What did suffer from the sand: zips. Zips that work fine for years on a Dutch campsite get stiff after a few days in the desert. Brush them out and keep them dry, don't lubricate them: grease attracts sand.

What were the best places?

• Camping by the iron ore train. You're lying in your rooftop tent and then that train, kilometres long, thunders past in pitch darkness. You never forget that. The camp was near Choum, on the country's only railway line, which runs from the iron ore mines at Zouérat to the port of Nouadhibou.
• The White Canyon. Wake up, pull the zip open and see nothing but white dunes all the way to the horizon. Coffee in hand, enjoying the silence.
• Chinguetti. What we came for, and a place you only reach through the sand. A UNESCO World Heritage site, with libraries full of centuries-old manuscripts.
• The Tenoumer crater and the Eye of Africa. An impact crater almost two kilometres across, and a few days later the Richat Structure near Ouadane, so vast that you cannot make out the circle from ground level.

Why a hardshell and not a softshell?

“We often get asked: why a hardshell? Simple. It just works. Whether it's 45 degrees or a stormy night on the coast, that tent doesn't flinch. By now it has become our permanent little home on wheels. Mauritania gave the tent a proper beating, but it didn't flinch.”

The honest counterargument: a hardshell is heavy and your sleeping space is what it is. After ten hours of driving through soft sand you're wrecked, and then you want to lie down straight away. That's the trade-off we made. If you want to make it yourself, read hardshell or softshell.

What does this mean for the tents we sell?

These tents were chosen on the road, not behind a desk. What didn't survive those trips, we don't sell. That's the whole story. In Mauritania it was the Dune in grey that sat on the Land Cruiser. Have a look at the hardshell rooftop tents, or first read which of the three suits you.

Want to know whether a tent like this can go on your car? Do the roof load check. All roof load information is indicative only; your car manufacturer's specification takes precedence.

Frequently asked questions

Can you drive through Mauritania in an ordinary car?
No. Off the main roads you need four-wheel drive and experience with soft sand. We drove a 4x4 and had a guide for the toughest stretch.

Does sand get into a hardshell rooftop tent?
Not in ours. The rubber seals closed tightly, even after weeks in fesh-fesh sand. The mattress stayed free of sand. The zips did get stiffer after a few days. You brush them out and keep them dry.

Can a rooftop tent handle force 8 winds?
Ours did. We had nights when the car was shaking. A hardshell has no fabric that can flap, and that makes a difference to both wear and sleep.

How long does it take to set up camp?
About a minute. Clamps off, shell up, ladder out. After ten hours of driving on a desert track, that's the difference between pushing on to a nicer spot or not.

Where are you allowed to spend the night in the desert?
In Mauritania the rules are more relaxed than in Europe, but always ask locally and respect inhabited areas. In the Netherlands and many other European countries wild camping is not allowed, this is how those rules work.

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