# eSIM for Mauritania Viasimo's Mauritania eSIM starts at $13.99 for 1 GB over 7 days, running on Mattel with 4G LTE where available. Plans last 3 to 180 days, arrive by email in minutes and install from your phone's settings, with no app. Canonical page: https://viasimo.com/destinations/mauritania/ ## Mauritania eSIM prices | Plan | Data | Days | Price | Price per GB | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | Unlimited, 3 days | Unlimited | 3 | $79.99 | - | | Unlimited, 5 days | Unlimited | 5 | $134.99 | - | | 1 GB, 7 days | 1 GB | 7 | $13.99 | $13.99 | | Unlimited, 7 days | Unlimited | 7 | $179.99 | - | | Unlimited, 10 days | Unlimited | 10 | $244.99 | - | | 3 GB, 15 days | 3 GB | 15 | $35.99 | $12.00 | | Unlimited, 15 days | Unlimited | 15 | $369.99 | - | | 3 GB, 30 days | 3 GB | 30 | $37.99 | $12.66 | | 5 GB, 30 days | 5 GB | 30 | $58.00 | $11.60 | | 10 GB, 30 days | 10 GB | 30 | $109.99 | $11.00 | | 20 GB, 30 days | 20 GB | 30 | $219.99 | $11.00 | | Unlimited, 30 days | Unlimited | 30 | $679.99 | - | | Unlimited, 60 days | Unlimited | 60 | $1,339.99 | - | | Unlimited, 90 days | Unlimited | 90 | $2,009.99 | - | | Unlimited, 180 days | Unlimited | 180 | $4,019.99 | - | ## Which networks does the Mauritania eSIM use? - **Mattel**: 4G LTE Your eSIM picks one automatically; you do not choose or switch between them. The operator list comes from the network partner that carries this eSIM. Verified October 30, 2026. ## eSIM Details - **Data**: 1 GB – 20 GB or unlimited - **Validity**: 3–180 days - **Speed**: 4G LTE - **Hotspot / tethering**: Supported on most devices - **Activation**: Starts when you first connect in your destination - **Speed management**: Roughly 2-3 GB per day at full speed, sometimes less depending on the local carrier, then reduced - **Top-ups**: Add more data from your account, before the plan expires - **Text messages (SMS)**: Data only: use an app for verification codes - **Connects via**: United Kingdom - **Unused validity**: 180 days before it must be installed ## Mauritania: what to know before you land Source: https://viasimo.com/destinations/mauritania/#destination-guide · Researched October 2026 by Viasimo In Mauritania your eSIM connects to Mattel's 4G/LTE network, which works best in Nouakchott and the larger towns and fades quickly in the desert. The authorities shut mobile internet down for 22 days after the July 2024 election, the economy runs almost entirely on cash, and the UK advises against travel to much of the east and the borders. ### Mauritania: quick facts | Fact | Mauritania | | --- | --- | | Emergency number | 117 (police), 101 (ambulance), 118 (fire) | | Main airports | Nouakchott–Oumtounsy International Airport (NKC) | | Plug types | Type C, E (230V) | | Currency | Mauritanian ouguiya (MRU) | | Apps worth having | WhatsApp, Google Translate (offline Arabic and French), Google Maps (offline), Bankily (local accounts only) | ### The 22-day mobile internet blackout of July 2024 (Mauritania · https://viasimo.com/destinations/mauritania/#guide-the-22-day-mobile-internet-blackout-of-july-2024) Mauritania's authorities have shown they will switch off mobile data during unrest. On **2 July 2024**, after protests over the presidential election result turned deadly in Kaédi, mobile internet was blocked nationwide. Freedom House reports that the mobile blackout lasted **22 days**. Your eSIM connects through Mattel, a Mauritanian network, so a government order to cut mobile data would affect you exactly as it affects local users. Plan as if it could happen again, especially around elections or major protests: - **Keep key documents offline**: your passport and visa, return ticket, hotel bookings and insurance details. - **Agree a fallback with people at home.** If you go silent, they should know that a shutdown is a likely reason, and when to escalate. - **Find out whether your hotel has fixed-line internet.** During the 2024 blackout, reports focused on mobile data, so a hotel's wired connection may still work. - **Watch local news** and avoid demonstrations, which the UK Foreign Office says can start with little warning. ### Cash only: ouguiya, dollars and euros (Mauritania · https://viasimo.com/destinations/mauritania/#guide-cash-only-ouguiya-dollars-and-euros) Mauritania's currency is the **ouguiya (MRU)**, and according to the US State Department the country runs mostly on cash. Only a few places accept cards, mainly the large hotels in Nouakchott and Nouadhibou, and card payments often come with a large fee. ATMs that accept foreign cards are limited, even in Nouakchott, and the State Department says they are often out of order and may not be secure. Don't count on finding one outside the capital. Two unusual rules to keep in mind: - **You can't bring ouguiya into the country or take it out.** Bring US dollars or euros and exchange them after you arrive. - **The visa fee is paid on arrival** in dollars or euros, so keep enough cash for it separate from your spending money. Work out a rough budget for the whole trip before you fly, and change money in Nouakchott before heading inland. Keep small notes for drivers, markets and tips, as change can be hard to come by. ### Desert travel to Atar, Chinguetti and Ouadane (Mauritania · https://viasimo.com/destinations/mauritania/#guide-desert-travel-to-atar-chinguetti-and-ouadane) The historic towns of the **Adrar** region, including Atar, Chinguetti and Ouadane, are the main draw for visitors. They are also where mobile coverage runs out. Before you plan a route, check the UK Foreign Office map. It advises against all travel to the east of the country and to within 25 km of the Mali border, and against all but essential travel to much of the north and south-east. Parts of Adrar west of Choum and Ouadane, and the town of Ouadane itself, are excluded from the stricter warnings. For desert journeys, the US State Department recommends: - **Travelling in a convoy of at least two 4WD vehicles**, with a local guide, extra water, food and fuel. - **Carrying a GPS device and a satellite phone**, because mobile signal can't be relied on away from towns. - **Never driving at night** or going into the desert alone. - Carrying an International Driving Permit as well as your licence. Use the eSIM to send your route and timings to someone before you leave town, then treat the time between towns as offline. ### Sources for the Mauritania guide - [Mauritania travel advice (GOV.UK)](https://www.gov.uk/foreign-travel-advice/mauritania) - [Mauritania International Travel Information (US State Department)](https://www.travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/international-travel/International-Travel-Country-Information-Pages/Mauritania.html) - [Mauritania: Freedom in the World 2025 (Freedom House)](https://freedomhouse.org/country/mauritania/freedom-world/2025) - [2024 Mauritanian presidential election (Wikipedia)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2024_Mauritanian_presidential_election) - [Nouakchott–Oumtounsy International Airport (Wikipedia)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nouakchott%E2%80%93Oumtounsy_International_Airport) - [Telecommunications in Mauritania (Wikipedia)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Telecommunications_in_Mauritania) ## Seven days in Mauritania: Nouakchott and the Adrar's oases, dunes and caravan towns 7-day itinerary · 7 days · Source: https://viasimo.com/destinations/mauritania/#itinerary A guided desert road trip for travellers comfortable with long drives and little signal: Nouakchott's fishing beach, then the Adrar plateau for Terjit's oasis, Chinguetti's libraries and dunes, and the ruined caravan town of Ouadane, staying inside areas the FCDO does not restrict. **When to go:** November to March is the only sensible season for the Adrar, with warm days and cold desert nights; from April to October temperatures inland are extreme and sandstorms more frequent. ### Day 1 in Mauritania: Nouakchott: the fish market beach - **Base:** Nouakchott - **Getting there:** Nouakchott–Oumtounsy airport (NKC) is about 25 km north of the city; arrange a driver in advance, and complete the e-visa pre-registration before you fly and keep cash for the visa fee on arrival. - **Plan:** Change dollars or euros into ouguiya and meet your guide, who should arrange a convoy of two 4WD vehicles for the desert. In the late afternoon, go to the fishing beach at the Port de Pêche, where hundreds of painted wooden pirogues land their catch through the surf and teams haul the fish ashore. Visit the National Museum earlier in the day if it is open. - **Mobile signal:** Mattel 4G works in Nouakchott and is the best you will get all week; download offline maps of Adrar and save documents offline tonight. ### Day 2 in Mauritania: The long road north to Atar - **Base:** Atar - **Getting there:** About 450 km and 6 to 7 hours by road; leave at first light. - **Plan:** Drive north-east across the desert via the mining town of Akjoujt, watching the landscape turn from flat scrub to dunes and then to the dark escarpments of the Adrar plateau. Stop for tea and fuel in Akjoujt. Arrive in Atar, the regional capital, in time for a walk around its market and old quarter before dark, as you should never drive at night. - **Mobile signal:** Coverage drops away soon after leaving Nouakchott, returns briefly around Akjoujt, and is back in Atar town; tell someone at home when you expect to arrive. ### Day 3 in Mauritania: Terjit oasis and the Amogjar pass to Chinguetti - **Base:** Chinguetti - **Getting there:** About an hour from Atar to Terjit, then 2 to 3 hours on to Chinguetti by 4WD. - **Plan:** Drive to Terjit, a narrow gorge where warm and cool springs feed a stream under date palms, and rest in the shade. Then cross the Adrar plateau to Chinguetti via the Amogjar pass, a steep climb with views back over the plains; look out for the rock paintings near the pass and the fort built as a set for the 1984 film Fort Saganne. Arrive in Chinguetti for sunset over the dunes. - **Mobile signal:** Expect no signal at Terjit or on the Amogjar pass; Chinguetti has basic mobile coverage, often 3G or 2G rather than 4G. ### Day 4 in Mauritania: Chinguetti's old town, libraries and dunes - **Base:** Chinguetti - **Plan:** Walk the old town across the dry riverbed, part of the UNESCO-listed Ancient Ksour, with its stone houses and the square minaret of the Friday mosque, which non-Muslims may view only from outside. Visit one of the family libraries that still keep medieval Islamic manuscripts. In the late afternoon, walk out into the dunes with a guide and camel, and spend the night in a desert camp or guesthouse. - **Mobile signal:** Weak coverage in the new town, enough for a text or a short WhatsApp message on a good day; in the dunes there is nothing, so a satellite phone is worth carrying. ### Day 5 in Mauritania: Ouadane, the ruined caravan town - **Base:** Ouadane - **Getting there:** About 3 hours by 4WD on desert piste from Chinguetti; travel in a convoy with a local guide. - **Plan:** Drive across the plateau to Ouadane, another of the four UNESCO-listed ksour, founded as a stop on the trans-Saharan trade routes. Climb through the ruined stone lanes of the old town on the hillside, past the old mosque, to the top for views over the palm grove and the desert. Stay overnight in a simple guesthouse; the FCDO excludes the town of Ouadane from its wider Adrar warning. - **Mobile signal:** No mobile signal on the piste and only patchy coverage, if any, in Ouadane; agree a check-in time with home for when you are back in Atar. ### Day 6 in Mauritania: Back across the Adrar to Atar - **Base:** Atar - **Getting there:** About 5 to 6 hours by 4WD from Ouadane to Atar via Chinguetti. - **Plan:** Drive back west across the plateau, stopping in Chinguetti for a last look at the dunes and for tea. Descend to Atar in the afternoon and rest. If you have time, visit Atar's date palm groves and buy dates and crafts in the market. Use the evening to recharge every device and send news home while you have signal again. - **Mobile signal:** Little or no signal until Chinguetti, then nothing again until Atar, where Mattel's network returns. ### Day 7 in Mauritania: Return to Nouakchott - **Base:** Nouakchott - **Getting there:** About 6 to 7 hours by road from Atar; airport transfers take around 40 minutes. - **Plan:** Make the long drive back to Nouakchott, leaving at first light. Stop at Akjoujt for fuel. In the evening, if you are not flying straight out, take a final walk along the beach or visit the Marché Capitale for fabrics and silver jewellery. Allow plenty of time for the airport, which is well outside the city. - **Mobile signal:** Gaps for most of the drive, then reliable 4G again in Nouakchott and at the airport. ### Staying connected on this Mauritania route - Carry a satellite phone and GPS for the desert days, as the US State Department recommends; Mattel has nothing between towns. - Mauritania cut mobile internet for 22 days in 2024, so keep tickets, visas and insurance documents offline and agree a fallback with home. - Do not go east of Ouadane or near the Western Sahara or Mali borders: check the FCDO map before agreeing any change of route with your guide. - Bring enough cash in dollars or euros for the whole trip; ATMs and card payments are rare. ### Sources for the Mauritania itinerary - [FCDO travel advice: Mauritania – terrorism and regional advice](https://www.gov.uk/foreign-travel-advice/mauritania/terrorism) - [Chinguetti (Wikivoyage)](https://en.wikivoyage.org/wiki/Chinguetti) - [Mauritania International Travel Information (US State Department)](https://www.travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/international-travel/International-Travel-Country-Information-Pages/Mauritania.html) - [Mauritania: Freedom in the World 2025 (Freedom House)](https://freedomhouse.org/country/mauritania/freedom-world/2025) ## About this eSIM ### Arriving at Nouakchott–Oumtounsy (NKC) Most visitors fly into **Nouakchott–Oumtounsy International Airport (NKC)**, which opened in June 2016 and replaced the old airport in the city. It sits about 25 km north of Nouakchott, out in open desert, so you will need a transfer rather than walking out to find a ride. Arrange a driver through your hotel or guide before you travel and save their number and a photo of the car, if they send one, on your phone. Most nationalities need a visa. The US State Department says travellers should complete the **e-visa pre-registration** before departure and then pay the visa fee on arrival in US dollars or euros. Bring that money in cash. Local ouguiya can't be brought into the country, so you can't arrive with any from a previous trip. Install your eSIM at home, then switch it on once you're off the plane. With data working before you leave the terminal, you can tell your driver you've landed and share your live location for the drive into the city, which is useful on a road you don't know at night. ### Mattel and Mauritania's three mobile networks Mauritania has three mobile operators. **Mauritel**, the former state monopoly, is now owned by Maroc Telecom. **Mattel** is owned by Tunisie Telecom. **Chinguitel** has operated since December 2006. Your eSIM uses Mattel only, on its 4G/LTE network where available, falling back to older technology elsewhere. There is no 5G for this plan. The US State Department describes mobile service as limited in many parts of the country, and communications infrastructure outside Nouakchott as thin. In practice, expect usable data in Nouakchott, Nouadhibou and the regional towns, and along stretches of the main roads near settlements. Between towns, and in the dunes and plateaus of the interior, there may be nothing for hours. Because the eSIM only uses Mattel, it won't hop onto Mauritel or Chinguitel where they are stronger, so ask your guide which network works best on your route and plan accordingly. ### What you'll use data for in Mauritania Messaging is the main thing. Drivers, guides and guesthouses mostly coordinate on **WhatsApp**, and voice notes often get through on weak connections when calls won't. Arabic, including the local Hassaniya dialect, and French are the main languages, so download Arabic and French offline packs in your translation app before you go. Maps are the second use. Many places have no street address, so ask hosts to send a location pin and save it offline. Download offline maps for every town on your route while you still have hotel wifi, as maps that need a live connection stop being useful as soon as you leave town. The local mobile payment apps, **Bankily**, **Masrvi** and **Sadad**, are linked to Mauritanian bank accounts, so they're not an option for most visitors, even though some hospitals and doctors accept them. ### Before you fly to Mauritania - Complete the e-visa pre-registration and keep the confirmation saved offline. - Bring enough US dollars or euros in cash for the visa fee and the first days of your trip. - Install the eSIM at home and check that it shows up in your phone's settings. - Save emergency numbers as plain contacts: **117** for police, **101** for an ambulance and **118** for fire. The UK government warns that calls to these numbers may not be answered, so also save your hotel's and guide's numbers. - UK nationals can contact the British Embassy in Nouakchott. Save its number, and the FCDO's 24-hour line (+44 20 7008 5000), before you go. - Pack a power bank and a car charger. Long drives with the phone searching for signal will drain the battery quickly. ## Frequently asked questions ### Does an eSIM work in Mauritania? Yes. Your Mauritania eSIM connects automatically the moment you arrive, with no roaming fees and nothing to set up at the airport. The host networks it can use are Mattel. Coverage runs on 4G LTE. There is no 5G on our host network in Mauritania yet. ### Do I get 5G in Mauritania? No. Mattel do not yet offer 5G to visitors in Mauritania, so your eSIM connects over 4G LTE or slower. Anyone claiming 5G for this destination is quoting a spec sheet, not the network you will actually get. ### Does Mauritania shut down the internet? It has done so. After protests over the presidential election in July 2024, the authorities blocked mobile internet nationwide, and Freedom House reports the blackout lasted 22 days. Your eSIM uses Mattel, a local network, so it would be affected in the same way. Keep important documents offline and agree a check-in plan with people at home. ### Can I use a card or ATM in Mauritania? Rarely. Mauritania is largely a cash economy. Cards are accepted mainly in large hotels in Nouakchott and Nouadhibou, often with a high fee, and ATMs that take foreign cards are few and often out of order. Bring US dollars or euros and change them locally, as you can't bring ouguiya into the country. ### Is there mobile signal in Chinguetti and the Adrar desert? Only around towns. The US State Department describes mobile service as limited in many parts of Mauritania, and outside towns such as Atar and Chinguetti you should expect long stretches with no signal. For desert trips it recommends a convoy of 4WD vehicles, a local guide, a GPS device and a satellite phone. ### How far is Nouakchott airport from the city? Nouakchott–Oumtounsy International Airport (NKC) is about 25 km north of Nouakchott. It opened in 2016 and replaced the old city airport. Arrange a driver through your hotel or guide in advance, and switch your eSIM on as you land so you can message them from arrivals. ### How much data do I need for 7 days in Mauritania? For 7 days in Mauritania, Viasimo sells 1 GB for $13.99 and unlimited data for $179.99. Our sizing recommendation, not a measurement: maps, messaging and the occasional lookup, about 1 GB a week; maps, social, photos and some browsing, about 3 to 7 GB a week. The data calculator on this site works it out from how you actually use your phone. ## Information and verification - **Prices and plans**: Every price and allowance on this page is read from the live catalog, not typed in. Verified October 30, 2026. - **Host networks**: The operator list comes from the network partner that carries this eSIM. Verified October 30, 2026.