A TRAIN IN THE DESERT
2017 • Mauritania
In Mauritania, a 2,5 kilometer long train transports thousands of tons of iron ore three times a day, from Zouerate to the port of Nouadhibou.
Unique in the world, this train is one of the heaviest and longest, but also one of the slowest.
Once a day, a single passengers wagon is added to the train. Usually crowded, some Mauritanians choose to travel for free on the open-air wagons.
In the Nouadhibou-Zouerate direction, traders and shopkeepers use the empty wagons to supply their stocks of vegetables, furniture. In the opposite direction, the shepherds supply the Nouadhibou markets with livestock. Goats are piled up on the iron ore. Exposed to the dust, they turn black over the journey.
It is an 18 hours trip along a border, in the dust of the desert and the iron, the metallic clinking of 200 wagons, and the bleating of the goats.
Unique in the world, this train is one of the heaviest and longest, but also one of the slowest.
Once a day, a single passengers wagon is added to the train. Usually crowded, some Mauritanians choose to travel for free on the open-air wagons.
In the Nouadhibou-Zouerate direction, traders and shopkeepers use the empty wagons to supply their stocks of vegetables, furniture. In the opposite direction, the shepherds supply the Nouadhibou markets with livestock. Goats are piled up on the iron ore. Exposed to the dust, they turn black over the journey.
It is an 18 hours trip along a border, in the dust of the desert and the iron, the metallic clinking of 200 wagons, and the bleating of the goats.
