NOUAKCHOTT from the air with its small homes made of tinfoil

by Hans Hut

NOUAKCHOTT is the capital of Mauritania. This is a special moment I will never forget. The small plane that had taken off from a sandy runway next to the post mercury on the edge of the desert the Sahara. Iwik, is a coastal town in western Mauritania and had just taken off for the capital. Flying with us was a passing who had problems with his back. The flight actually didn't take very land forget about the two-day trip by jeep. across the beach. The city was very special and looking down I could make this image that made me feel like I was watching an alien culture pass by. The expedition was about bird counts on the Banc d'Arguin the tidal sea on the west coast all there. Our migratory birds go there every year to overwinter. The tiny houses told me that the hand-built shacks could not stand there for long. Until 1957, Nouakchott was a small fishing village, but after Mauritania gained independence from France, it grew into the city it is today. In 1958, the city became the capital of independent Mauritania. Growth exploded in the 1970s. This happened largely because of the drought in the Sahel, which drove people to the city. more than a quarter of Mauritania's total population lived in the city, and there were many more such houses.