Driving slowly through this picturesque village with its superb background scenery ......

.... we could see a marvellous selection of traditional housing styles ....

.... built on the soft sand at the bottom of the valley. Everywhere was immaculately clean.

Heading further on, I realised why Gabriel had said it was important to have sturdy four-wheel drive transport, as we drove down to cross a rock-strewn river bed with very steep sides.

At the end of the track was a small circular car park .. with a collection of modern vehicles.
We followed a group of Mauritanians carrying picnic accessories along a winding path
and through a grove of palm trees, at the base of some very steep and spectacular cliffs.
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Bearing in mind that although we were then nicely shaded from the direct sunshine and the open desert temperatures in the upper 40c degrees .. we were also in the middle of a mountainous, barren, poor and sparsely populated area, hundreds of kilometres away from most types of European-style 'civilised comforts' .. in one of the hottest and driest countries in the world.
The incredible sights awaiting us at the end of the path were truly amazing !