Atlantic Rising has been having adventures in the Banc d’Arguin in Mauritania.

This national park, along the northern third of the Mauritanian coastline, is home in winter to masses of migratory birds coming from Europe. Some stay for the whole winter and others use the mud flats as a stop off point on their journey further south.

Driving into the park involved a night time race against the tide. The Atlantic was on our left, the Sahara on our right, stars above and sand below us as we sped along the beach.

We arrived at the headquarters of FIBA (Fondation Internationale du Banc d’Arguin) the NGO we were visiting and were treated to a giant plate of rice and mutton eaten communally using our hands while sitting on the floor. This like most meals in Mauritania was followed by several small glasses of very sweet tea.

The next day we drove between villages. A journey that turned into more of an expedition than we initially imagined – our hi-lift jack, bottle jack, spade, winch and satellite phone were all used. It was so dramatic I wont give you all the details now but promise it will be the subject of a subsequent blog.

We visited the village of Iwik, it’s a few small shacks several built using old fishing nets, lived in by the Imraguen people.

The village is almost entirely surrounded by the sea and at particularly high tides some of the buildings are washed away. It appears to be a crazy place to build a settlement especially because the nearest source of fresh water is over 40 miles away.

The few meters of litter strewn, fly blown foreshore hardly seem like something worth clinging to but the village is on the edge of a channel and for the villagers proximity to their boats is a priority. Fish are the only way these people can generate any income. The men do the fishing and the women preserve the fish by drying.  Indeed to even be an Imraguen hinges on understanding these traditional techniques. Rising sea levels can only make an already hard life more difficult for these people.

More about our trip to the park will appear on our case studies page shortly.