Mauritania

West Africa's largest coastal national park, spanning tidal flats, islands and desert shore, and hosting hundreds of thousands of migratory birds.

A medieval Saharan trading post on the Adrar plateau, famous for its 13th-century Friday mosque and a library of ancient Islamic manuscripts.

A vast geological dome in the central Mauritanian desert, appearing as concentric rings of rock 50 km across, visible from space and long a puzzle to scientists.

A 16th-century fortified trading post at the edge of the Adrar plateau, commanding the route between the Tagant oasis region and the Sahara.

One of Mauritania's oldest continuously inhabited settlements, at the southern terminus of the historic trans-Saharan caravan trade, famous for its intricately decorated doorways and façades.

A year-round spring-fed palm oasis in the foothills of the southern Adrar, popular with Mauritanian families and offering swimming in natural pools beneath a canopy of date palms.