Backpacking In Mauritania 🇲🇷: Camping ⛺️By The Atlantic Ocean 🌊 At Villa Maguela In Nouadhibou

Backpacking In Mauritania 🇲🇷: Camping ⛺️By The Atlantic Ocean 🌊 At Villa Maguela In Nouadhibou

I’ve camped out so many times in my life that I’d forgotten the charm of it the last few years. I ended up renting flats so lost the wildness of tent loyalty. It had been a long time coming.

As a child, I’d camp out in Northern Ireland manys a time including on Boys Brigade, Youth Club and School Trips, most notably Castlerock Guysmere, Larne and Ganaway. We even would camp out in our own back garden as Mum and Dad owned a trailer tent. Aside from this, we were also tent and caravan loyal on family holidays to France and England.

When backpacking in Australia I also bought a tent and lived in it in Poatina while working on broccoli 🥦 farms in Tasmania. On backpacking journeys I slept in tents during hikes in places like Peru (Inca Trail), Jordan (Wadi Rum) and Guatemala (Santa Maria). I also spent many desert and jungle tentic nights which including overnighting The Serengeti in Tasmania and Darvaza in Turkmenistan.

Here in December 2024 I made a welcome return to those camping nights when I was back in Mauritania. Most people will think about the Sahara Desert here, but you’d be wrong. Instead of camping in the textbook Sahara spots, I camped out for two nights by The Atlantic Ocean in the city of Nouadhibou. Here, I’d be sleeping 100 metres from the Atlantic Ocean and on a peninsula which Mauritania shares with Western Sahara.

About Nouadhibou

This trip was my second time in Nouadhibou. The first time was as recently as July 2022 when I arrived here after riding the nuts 16 hour iron ore train from Choum.

Nouadhibou is a city famous for being the end point of that 24 hour train. It is also well known by overland backpackers because it is the border city between Mauritania and Western Sahara, or for those who call it Morocco, or even still Spanish Sahara. On this trip however we would not be doing the iron ore train but still had two nights in this border city. I was travelling with Marek Bladowski, one of the most well-travelled Polish men in the world.

Nouadhibou sits on a peninsula shared between Mauritania and Western Sahara. We stayed on the Mauritania side at Hotel And Campsite Villa Maguela, which is right on the coast, on a peninsula off its own, about 10 kilometres from Nouadhibou. We also stepped into Western Sahara on the peninsula at Cap Blanc, White Cape, White Point.

Hotel And Campsite Villa Maguela

Hotel Villa Maguela is a hotel, hostel, guesthouse and campsite all in one. For a change from the norm, I opted for a brace of nights in a tent here, within 100 metres of the Atlantic Ocean.

As you sleep beneath a moon and stars, you can feel and hear those crashing Atlantic Ocean waves from your tent.

This might not be the Sahara but it’s certainly an excellent quirky place to sleep. It’s basically where the desert meets the ocean and it had that travel magic to it. We backpacked the sights of Nouadhibou, chilled out and drank camel milk.

The advantages are the cheaper price, the sunset views and the intriguing adventure.

The disadvantages are the fact you’ll be offline (no WiFi, computers or televisions here) and in a remote location, since it’s not even easy to find from Nouadhibou city. Ask Michiel and Victor to collect you.

Down the years the Villa Maguela has become a regular sleeping spot for overland bikers, drivers and cyclists. We were just backpacking it as usual but we did meet a lot of that hattrick here too.

You have four options for sleeping here.
1.Hotel Room.
They have a few rooms here with beds, showers and toilets.
2.Your Tent
You can bring your own tent snd camp here.
3.Your Vehicle
You can sleep in your car, campervan or caravan.
4.Their Tent
They have a few tents up here already for you to sleep in.

As I was travelling without a tent or vehicle, I decided on option 4.

There is also a cosy lounge, a fire at night, books, a kitchen and a dining area. Oh and 5 dogs.

I had never camped this close to the Atlantic Ocean before, so I had to do it. I have actually slept closer to the Atlantic Ocean in the past though in hotels/apartments so not camping, including at Azor Azul in Azores, Apartment in Fuerteventura, Coco Ocean resort in The Gambia, Coco Beach Resort in Togo, Maison Abaka in Senegal and Hotel Barmoi in Sierra Leone. That also doesn’t include my Atlantic Ocean sleeps on boats, in Europe, in South America and in The Caribbean of which I had many.

 

My travelmate Marek opted for two nights in one of the rooms, the irony being he slept closer to the Atlantic Ocean than me as I was in the third tent back!! But it was his birthday celebration and we had a decent dinner that night.

I had two fast nights here in December 2024 and was welcomed by hosts Victor and Tish.

While camping here I also met many other travellers including Kai from Germany, Frederico from Italy and Andy from Australia. It’s a good place to mingle and meet long term overlanders, bikers, campers and whackpacking lunatics!

Here are the details for booking a room, a tent or the campsite at Hotel Villa Maguela in Nouadhibou, Mauritania:

Email: [email protected]
Address: Hotel Villa Maguela, Nouadhibou, Mauritania
Phone: +222 41 56 54 90

Here are some videos from my stay camping at Hotel Villa Maguela right by the Atlantic Ocean in Nouadhibou, Mauritania: