The Legendary Desert Crossing: Nouadhibou to Nouakchott

There’s a moment on every Paris-Dakar Challenge when the mood shifts.

You’ve ridden through Europe, crossed into Morocco, tackled mountain trails and tasted the first flavours of Africa. But then you reach the edge of the Western Sahara — and ahead lies Mauritania.

This is where the real adventure begins.

Back when I first crossed Africa on my old XT600 Tenere, there was no road beyond the Western Sahara border. At the crossing, the tarmac simply stopped. A guard pointed me forward — straight into the sand. I rode off alone into the no man’s land, skirting the minefields, heart thumping (yes, real minefields and they are very much still there today).

It was hot, silent, vast. I made it to Nouadhibou (aka NDB) to refuel and take on water. Then came the crossing to Nouakchott (aka NKT) — three days of riding with no roads, just navigating tracks and compass bearings through the endless  plains and dunes of the Sahara. We camped under the stars, cooked in the dust, and rode through heat and emptiness so intense it stripped everything else away.

When I finally rolled onto the tarmac outside Nouakchott — wild-eyed, sunburnt, and caked in dust — I felt something I’ve never forgotten: absolute exhilaration.

And here’s the thing — the route we take today is still that same one. Before the coastal road was built, this was the way to get from NDB to NKT. For years, adventurers, traders, overlanders and original Dakar Rally riders followed this path — through the shifting sands, across the old iron ore railway, and finally onto the famous Atlantic beach.

This is not a technical off-road section — it’s about endurance, mindset, and respect for where you are – alone in the vastness of the Sahara. You’ll be supported the whole way by our backup vehicle. But you’ll still need to dig deep. The heat, the emptiness, the remoteness — it gets under your skin.

And when you finally hit the tarmac again near Nouakchott, you’ll understand what makes this part of the journey so special.

It’s not just a desert crossing. It’s a rite of passage. A living link to the golden era of overland adventure.

If there’s one section of the Paris-Dakar Challenge that belongs on every rider’s bucket list — this is it.