Name: Eye of the Sahara Ultra Marathon - FIRST EDITION!
Start: 2024-12-04T00:00:00.000Z
End: 2024-12-11T00:00:00.000Z
Location: Mauritania

John Ward

Email address verified

27 reviews

Dec 4 - 11, 2024

Group size: 4 - 10

Eye of the Sahara Ultra Marathon - FIRST EDITION!

Mauritania

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John Ward

Email address verified

27 reviews

Dec 4 - 11, 2024

Group size: 4 - 10

IRON ORE TRAIN ADD-ON

$500

Single Supplement

$799

Additional Night the night before

$150

Additional night the night after

$150

Day 1
Day 1
Arrival in Mauritania
Arrive in Nouakchott anytime.

Our event is officially recognised by the Mauritanian Government. Immigration know why you're arriving. The visa is on available on arrival for everyone competing in the event. No prior organising necessary. Just get yourself to Mauritania's capital, Nouakchott.

My team will meet you at the airport, and drive you to our starting hotel. We have a briefing at 6pm today, and then a group dinner with all the other maniacs taking part.

NOTE:
You can fly here via Paris (Air France), Casablanca (Royal Air Maroc), Istanbul (Turkish Air), plus a few others.
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Day 2
Day 2
Road Trip to the Eye of the Sahara
Early brekkie in the hotel, then we take our transports deep into the Sahara. Sh*t is getting real now folks.

It's a 9 hour drive, punctuated with tea stops, lunch breaks, and photo opportunities. The adventure is just getting started.

The transport is comfortable, even if the road is not, with 3 people per air-conned SUVs.
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DAY 3
DAY 3
Preparation Day
Prep day. We wake up and eat, eat, eat, and eat some more.

Gear check. Medical check. Stretching. Downtime. If you're feeling antsy, we have an optional trip to the ancient town of Ouadane in the afternoon.
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DAY 4
DAY 4
RACE DAY 1
Today is the day. We start at sunrise. A group breakfast, prepared by our local chef, then we prepare our snacks, our water, and we hit the start point. The gun goes off, and we're good to go.
50km to cover today. 5km check-points with water. One foot in front of the other.
When you get through it, camp will be waiting for you. Hot food, cold water, and a bed. You can do it. Eyes on the prize.
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DAY 5
DAY 5
RACE DAY 2
Waking up this morning will be hard. But nothing food in life comes easy. Everything the same. Brekkie once more, sunrise once more, starting gun once more. The legs, however, they won't be the same. Suck it up. 50 more kilometres today.

Today will be the hardest today. Just get through it. Tears, blood, whatever it takes. Tomorrow night, you made it.
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DAY 6
DAY 6
RACE DAY 3
Listen. I'm going to give it to you straight. Legends aren't made through comfort and 8 hours of sleep. So yes, waking up this morning will be tough. Painful. You'll feel like there's no way you can eat another 50km. But you can.

Get to the starting gun. And focus on metre by metre. The finishing point awaits. The sands dunes of the ancient city of Chinguetti awaits. As does a hot shower and chilled bedroom. Legendary status incoming...
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DAY 7
DAY 7
RECOVERY
Did someone say there's a group of absolute heroes sleeping in Chinguetti? Congrats folks. You can never be an average person again. You have 150km through the soft sands of Sahara under your belt. No-one can ever take that away from you. Today you rest.

Chinguetti is a sleepy outpost in the desert. It's also home to ancient Islamic Libraries, so if you want to experience a bit of culture, we will take you there to experience an ancient way of life.

If you just want to sob in your room all day, knock yourself out. Either way, you're a beast!
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DAY 8
DAY 8
HOME..... OR.... THE IRON ORE TRAIN!!
We have 2 programmes available as part of your Eye of the Sahara Ultra Marathon expedition.

OPTION 1; No Iron Ore Train experience.

If you're in a rush, or the thought of a hitching a ride on the back of a train AFTER an ultra marathon doesn't appeal (who can blame you?!), then Day 7 is the dive back to Nouakchott. You've completed your punishment, and you can fly home tonight. See you on the next one.

OPTION 2: EOTS + The Iron Ore Train. SELECT THIS AS AN ADD-ON IF YOU WISH TO EXTEND!

If you're an actual psychopath, welcome! The trip is extended a couple of extra days to allow us to ride the Iron Ore train. And on Day 7, we live Chinguetti and drive to the train tracks, via Atar (to buy the gear we need for the train). Tonight, we live our Dune fantasies by riding on the longest train on the world. All being well, the train will arrive around 5pm. We climb on, make our beds, and stay on it for the next 15 hours or so.
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(OPTIONAL) DAY 9
(OPTIONAL) DAY 9
Arrival in Nouadhibou
One of the WILDEST of nights of your life is over. Sunrise on the train is something you can't prepare for. This is living life.

That being said, you'll welcome the early arrival into the port town of Nouadhibou. Here we'll have an early check-in to our hotel for a WELL EARNED shower. You'll be filthy from the iron ore. I mean filthy!

I may know a guy who knows a guy in Nouadhibou. So despite Alcohol being illegal here, stick with me kid. It's time to celebrate!

NOTE: This is only part of the itinerary if you have selected, and paid for, the additional add-on
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(OPTIONAL) DAY 10
(OPTIONAL) DAY 10
That's all folks. Home time.
That's the end of the line. We have a bus transfer back to the Capital City, it takes about 6 hours or so. Depending on your flight time, you can stay an extra night or leave the same day, we can help organise that stuff for you.

NOTE: This is only part of the itinerary if you have selected, and paid for, the additional add-on
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Day 1

Arrival in Mauritania

I’m not usually a fan of group travel but necessary for a country like Turkmenistan! The tour was really well organized and I liked the style of travel. Good mix of hotels and roughing it. Our local tour guide was excellent and always on hand. Group was a fun bunch of like minded travelers up for adventure. Would recommend Johnnys tours!

By Geraldine C for Turkmenistan (and the Gates of Hell) on Aug 30, 2025

Fantastic experience in a truly unique location. Would travel again without any reservations or hesitation. Came for the stories which I received in spades and met fantastic people along the way. Loved every bit of the experience.

By Joel W for Highway to HELL Ultra Cycle (Gates of Hell, Turkmenistan) on Aug 24, 2025

Such a blast! Johnny’s trips never disappoint! Loved the overnight camping on a gorgeous island in the Red Sea! Asmara and Massawa were also incredible. Missing those views already. As always, the memories and friendships made during trip will last a lifetime.

By Courtney J for Eritrea on Mar 23, 2025

This was an incredible trip from start to finish! Excellent food, awesome accommodations, and the most kind and welcoming people I’ve ever encountered. Seeing their happiness at having tourists again after so much turmoil at home was something truly special. Witnessing war torn towns and cities and then the beauty of Old Damascus has left me without words.

By Courtney J for Silk Road Trip on Mar 17, 2025

The itenary was great, even without Keren. Actually might have been that having Keren in it would have left too little time to Asmara and Massawa. Lunches on the road could maybe have been included as paying for them as such a mess most of the time. The bus was a bit small, but the group consisted of so nice people that I got more space for my legs when I needed it. For a first-timer the communication in the WhatsApp group especially before trip was a bit overwhelming and contained both important things and people just saying hi to each other. Most important things came however also as emails, appreciated. Would participate again to another trip if the destination would be one I'd wish to do.