Mauritania: A rare glimpse at one of the world's least-visited nations

Located almost entirely in the Sahara, Mauritania is home to centuries-old cities, desert oases and a coastal spectacle so vast you can see it from space.

In an age when it's increasingly easy to explore the furthest reaches of the world – from the tallest mountains to the most remote islands – there are still entire countries that few travellers ever see. One such place is Mauritania.

With approximately 90% of its land located within the Sahara Desert, Mauritania is one of the world's least-densely populated and least-visited nations. Because of a lack of tourism infrastructure and security concerns, fewer than 10,000 international travellers arrive each year in the sand-swept, sun-bleached country, compared to several million who visit neighbouring Algeria and Senegal. But Mauritania hasn't suffered a terrorist attack since 2011, and according to the Global Terrorism Index, the nation is less affected by terrorism than most European nations.

During a recent three-week solo journey, I used a mixture of public transportation and 4x4 hired pick-ups to crisscross the nation, and never once felt unsafe. Along the way, I discovered mythical desert oases, fabled cities that once flourished along trans-Saharan trade routes plied by camel caravans and a fishing culture along its Atlantic coast so rich you can see glimpses of it from space.

After crossing the border from Western Sahara, my Mauritanian odyssey started in Nouadhibou, the country's second-largest city and its most important fishing port. Thanks to the Canary Current, which pulls deep, nutrient-rich waters up towards the surface along Mauritania's northern coast, huge concentrations of sardinella, mackerel, sabres and octopus thrive here. As such, thousands of fishing pirogues dock along the harbour, waiting for the right conditions to cast their nets. The concentration of boats is so vast that it even is visible from space.

A capital rising from the Sahara

"Welcome to Mauritania!" a man in a small black sedan said to me when I flagged down a taxi in Nouakchott after a seven-hour bus ride south from Nouadhibou. The man refused to accept payment for the ride and then clarified: "I'm not a taxi. I only picked you up because you're a foreigner and I wanted to know what you think of my country."

Roughly one-third of Mauritania's five million people live in its coastal capital, Nouakchott. Dynamic, noisy and vibrant, Nouakchott reminded me of many African capitals at first glance, but with one important exception: it seems to rise magically from the Sahara. Beyond the city centre, where modern government buildings and mosques line paved roads, most streets remain covered in sand, giving the 1.6-million-person capital the feel of an enormous, welcoming village.

A 30-minute taxi drive east from Nouakchott's modern sprawl, a more traditional side of the nation emerges. There are roughly two million camels in Mauritania, and residents have long relied on them for everything from meat and milk production to transport. Members of the Mauritanian military even ride them to patrol the border in remote desert areas.

The Beila dromedary camel market is the second largest in Africa and a popular day trip from Nouakchott. Here, hundreds of camels are exhibited and shown to potential buyers, with would-be purchasers paying upwards of $1,000 (£748) per animal.

A bus-camping odyssey

Starting in the 1970s, the........

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