Tourist Places to Visit in Zouerate, Tiris Zemmour, Western Africa, Africa

Tourist Places to Visit in Zouerate, Tiris Zemmour, Western Africa, Africa

Zouerate is the capital of Tiris Zemmour region, lying around 380 meters above sea level, between 22°41′ N latitude and 12°28′ W longitude. It is the heart of mining in Mauritania, mainly for iron ore mining and holds three different mine sites, Tazadit, Rouessa and Fderîck. Zouerate is the north Mauritania’s largest town in terms of population. Zouerate generally experiences a hot and dry climate year round. Iron ore was first discovered in the region near the mountain Kediet ej Jill in the year 1952. Later, in 1981 and 1990, two other iron deposits came to limelight at guelb el Rhein and Guelb M’Haoudat respectively. The town of Zouerate houses a club, a pool, a school, a shops and a health facility as well.

How to reach Zouerate?

Zouerate is located near the border of Western Sahara with Mauritania, around 760 km northeast of Nouakchott, the capital and largest city of Mauritania and around 600 km northeast of Nouadhibou, the second largest city and commercial centre of Mauritania.

Zouerate hosts an airport with frequent flights from Nouadhibou. The country’s primary airport, the Nouakchott International Airport is situated around 760 km away from Zouerate and operates flights from and to Istanbul, Dakar, Gran Canaria, Madrid, Abidjan, Casablanca, Bamako, Brazzaville, Casablanca, Conakry, Paris, Algiers and many other European and African cities.

To move within Zouerate, visitors can use rental vehicles like car and bikes rented from natives.

Shopping and Food in Zouerate:

Zouerate is home to all basic facilities like clinic, club, pool, school and shops. Shops in the town offer some locally produced handicraft products at reasonable prices for visitors. There are some traditional restaurants.

Things to do in Zouerate:

Visiting mining sites
Shopping
Hiking

Places of interest in Zouerate:

Mining sites in Zouerate:

Being the mining capital of Mauritania, Zouerate houses many internationally recognized mining sites with decades of history. Visitors are allowed for mining sites with the prior permission only, where visitors can know mining processes of Mauritania.

Kediet ej Jill:

Kediet ej Jill is a mountain within the city premise of Zouerate and is the Mauritania’s highest peak with a height of 915 meters. It features blue color as the whole peak is made of magnetite. Near Kediet ej Jill, the first mining ore deposits of Zouerate were discovered in the year 1952.

Atar:

Atar is a town, situated around 320 km south of Zouerate, housing a museum describing the local history and culture. There is also a historic mosque and a large traditional market in Atar. Atar can be reached by a rental vehicle from Zouerate.

List of other places of interest near Zouerate includes:

Chinguetti
Atar Mosque
Atar Museum
Ouadane
Terjit
Atar Market
National Library in Nouakchott
Beaches in Nouakchott
National Museum of Mauritania
Stade Olympique
Banc d’Arguin National Park
Nouakchott Museum
Cathedral of St. Joseph
University of Nouakchott
Franco-Mauritanian Cultural Center
Nouakchott Silver Market

Best time to visit Zouerate:

Probably the best time to visit Zouerate is from January to March while the weather in condition.

Accommodation options in Zouerate:

Zouerate houses a less number of hotels. In the below list, the first eight hotels are in Nouadhibou (around 600 km from Zouerate) and the rest of hotels are located in the national capital, Nouakchott (around 760 km from Zouerate):