After a difficult decade in the throes of an Islamist insurgency, the north-western African nation of Mauritania has mounted an inspiring turnaround and is today among the safest places anywhere in the Sahara.

Set along the Atlantic coast between Senegal and the Morocco-administered Western Sahara, Mauritania is more than four times larger than the UK, but this enormous desert nation – Africa’s 11th largest – effectively remains a blank spot on all but the most die-hard of travellers’ maps. Indeed, there has never been an English-language guidebook to the country.

Hoping to remedy that I approached Bradt, known for its guides to offbeat destinations. Initially sceptical, they came around after hearing my promises of lush oases, towering dunes, and nomadic nights under a sea of stars.

After several journeys around this awesome and austere paysage, and many weeks sat behind a desk, my Bradt Guide to Mauritania will soon see the light of day, introducing more people to a country that, like so much desert sand, has steadily worked its way into my life – and luggage – and refuses to let go.

The longest train, with an even longer shadow

If you have seen anything about Mauritania floating around, it’s very likely got less to do with its ancient culture and thrilling landscapes than it does with its superlative and eminently Instagrammable train. Running through 700 kilometres of open desert between mine and port, the so-called Iron Ore Train is among the world’s longest, with two enormous locomotives and several hundred railcars stretching up to three kilometres.

These are all filled to the brim with pulverised ore – and more recently, a spate of tourists riding on top like the freighthoppers of yore. This Mad Max backdrop has been pure influencer catnip – to the extent that their videos eventually popped up on the phone of somebody at the railway administration and the practice is now officially discouraged.

As for me, my illusions about the romance of riding the rails burst at the same time as my sleeping bag zipper – at about 2am, that is, with seven freezing overnight hours to go before reaching the port city of Nouadhibou half burnt, half frozen, and looking like a chimney sweep.

But despite the train’s outsize importance in raising Mauritania’s economy and international profile, this country is so much more than a train ride – however long, dusty and photogenic it might be.

Ancient outposts and windswept coasts

Arriving here for the first time several years ago, I found a land where my every desert fantasy seemed to actually exist. Men in billowing blue robes and women in metres of rainbow cloth harvested dates, herded camels and pitched their tents on the sand. Mosques called out the sunset prayer while cuts of goat cooked away over an open fire, and an endless stream of sweet green tea greeted me at all hours of the day. The Mauritanian love for a strong cup of atay knows no bounds – and the teapots on their banknotes and postage stamps are proof.

I wandered through crumbling ancient cities, still protecting valuable hoards of ancient calligraphy and scholarship, inked onto fragile parchments during the heyday of these stone-built (and UNESCO-recognised) ksour. For centuries, scholars and traders from the Sahara and beyond flocked to these centres, and their works remain jealously guarded in dozens of family libraries today – but not so jealously that the librarians aren’t happy to welcome you in for a tour!

This desert world ends abruptly at the Atlantic Ocean, where the howling voids of the Sahara meet their opposite number in the roar of the open sea. Here between the hammer and the anvil, a small handful of Imraguen fishermen make their living. An afternoon spent on one of their traditional sailboats will leave you in awe of the ingenuity and endurance that has built their society. On this same stretch of coast, the Banc d’Arguin National Park also protects the largest concentrations of wading birds found anywhere in the world.

The Senegal river hems in the country to the south, and Mauritania’s riverine borderlands offer a taste of a slightly more tropical world, where cows supersede camels, and the languages of Senegal and Mali tickle the ears with promises of new sounds and new spices over the water to the south.

Breaking new ground

At some of the many security checkpoints that dot the country (their presence being a big part of the reason you’re so free to explore), it took several rounds of convincing until the gobsmacked gendarmes examining my passport believed I was simply there for tourism. And while the necessities of guidebook research saw me visiting some fairly odd and out-of-the-way places, the Mauritanian “tourist trail” remains about as obvious as a nomad’s path through the dunescape.

But this distant-seeming land is not as inaccessible as it might first appear. Served by a regular five-hour non-stop flight from Paris, you can wake up at home and be reclining under a traditional khaïma tent by nightfall. And indeed, in many places you might just have to: the obligations of traditional desert hospitality mean that Mauritania’s hotel sector remains stunted, as any travelling Mauritanian would as a matter of course be hosted by family or friends, no matter how distant. Outsiders are also subject to these ancient codes of hospitality – I made the mistake of complimenting an acquaintance’s shawl once, only to find it pressed into my hands a moment later, with no chance to refuse.

But as anywhere, Mauritania too is changing – the dust-blown capital city of Nouakchott will witness the arrival of its first international chain hotel this year when the five-star Sheraton opens its doors. And while it’s possible that this and a new guidebook will go some way towards raising Mauritania’s tourism profile, visitor numbers are still so low the government doesn’t even bother publishing them. So while a few more would be more than welcome, you can rest assured that this dreamy and dazzling country – one of the most sparsely populated in the world – will long remain far, far away from the madding crowd.

The Australian government’s Smart Traveller website currently has a “Reconsider your need to travel” warning for Mauritania, with a “Do not travel” warning for much of the country’s east. Check with your travel insurer prior to travel.

The Telegraph, London