Review of Air Sénégal flight from Nouakchott to Dakar in Economy

Intro

Hi everyone, quick disclaimer: This report mainly touches on the airport of Nouakchott, as well as the cabin of the A319 for Air Senegal. Due to reviewing the food offerings on the previous flight, I decided to sleep due to the 1 hour redeye at 2 am. 

Additionally, for those that were interested in reading about the iron ore train, there is a bonus at the end. 

Aye, yai yai, we are finally back to a full flight review. Following a lovely time in Mauritania and experiencing one of the most incredible aspects of life (riding the iron train across the Saharan desert), it was time to make my way back to Dakar, Senegal.


This flight on Air Senegal was just a quite bad flight in general. For starters, the A319 is just a shambolic aircraft; the legroom is tight, there was no wifi/IFE, no charging ports, and we landed at 3:10 am… On the plus side, the aircraft was relatively empty, and we weren't delayed by 7.5 hours like last time! 

Routing

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How I Booked

Originally, I was due to fly with Mauritania Airlines from Nouakchott to Dakar on the following day. The plan was to have a long rest in Nouadhibou and then head off to Dakar the next day. However, considering Mauritania Airlines reliability and my plan to visit one of the most off-the-beaten countries in the world in 2 days' time (in East Africa, think Pirates 😉), I decided to book a last-minute fare with Air Senegal for 198$.  

Check-In

Arriving at the airport around 6 pm Nouakchott time, I had a long wait before my flight. Unfortunately, Air Senegal only opens their check-in lines about a few hours before departure, meaning I had about 4 hours to kill in this small airport with no restaurants (miles better than the Juba airport I just flew out of, oh my). Ahh, the joys.

Are you really traveling/backpacking if you don't somehow end up sleeping on the floor of an airport😉.

Thankfully, I met a couple of fellow Englishmen, and we had some conversations about their life working in Mauritania. Another aspect I love about Africa is how I met all of these expats who have the most interesting jobs.

Hours passed, and we were told that there was a delay in the flight (here we go again) by about an hour. My friends that I had met flying from Dakar to Nouakchott showed up at the airport to check in for Royal Air Maroc, and they informed me that Air Senegal does online check-in (this would be an issue later).

So, we headed through to the departure area together, with my online boarding pass in hand. 

Around Nouakchott Airport

Nouakchott airport is not the place to be if you are looking to spend hours in an airport. There is one restaurant and one lounge, which is owned by Air France. In addition, Mauritania is a dry country, so if you are thinking about having a beer at the airport, think again.

The sole restaurant is reasonably priced, and I had a delicious panini accompanied by chips. 

Boarding

Hours passed, weeks passed, months passed. I'm joking, but it did feel that way due to the one hour of free wifi. To top it off, my SIM card stopped working the second I went through security (fate)…

Thankfully, just before the wifi ran out, I saw that the inbound aircraft was actually airborne; wow!!

The next hurdle is finding the boarding gate!

Right, Nouakchott doesn't actually announce the boarding gates, not by voice or on the screen. Considering there were 5 gates at the airport, it wasn't the end of the world, but it was tedious nonetheless.

Finally, at 1:20 am, we began boarding! I met a Frenchman in the line who told me that he really dislikes flying Air Senegal, but it is the only choice for a lot of flights.

The agents at the front took a look at my boarding pass on my phone, and allowed me on the plane (yay). 

Or so I thought…

As I hear an agent running down from behind, I step to the side, thinking it is for someone else, but he asks me to come with him back to the boarding gate. Apparently, I needed a physical boarding pass to board the plane, and he was adamant this was the case. Somehow, someway, another agent came over saying that my digital boarding pass was the same thing, and they let me on the plane.

The Seat/Cabin

Stepping onboard as one of the last passengers, I was informed that the seating was open for today's flight!

This is slightly infuriating since I had reserved a seat near the front due to my last customs experience in Dakar, but it is what it is.

The A319 of Air Senegal features 12 Business Class seats across 3 rows in a 2-2 configuration and 108 economy seats in a 3-3 configuration.

Wahala. Not quite sure how I have ended up on the right hand side of the plane for this picture… 

You can say goodbye to anything that isn't the actual seat or the recline button. I found no charger ports or USB ports. It is almost as if you are on Spirit😞 (minus the food and drink). 

The Flight

Ordinarily, I would stay up to review a flight in more depth, but seeing as I had barely slept from the train in the morning and that I already knew what Air Senegal served from the previous flight, I slept the whole way to Dakar. In that regard, that specific sleep saved my life.

Arrival

All I know is that I woke up when almost the whole plane had deplaned, and it was 3:10 am in the morning. Seeing as the flight is about 250 odd miles, there must have been yet another delay somewhere 😉.

To put the icing on the cake, we had a remote stand at 3 o'clock in the morning. Really?

It was nice, though, to be one of the few passengers on a bus at an airport. Usually, airlines squish everyone in like sardines, so this was refreshing. 

Not all hope was lost, as immigration was surprisingly efficient at his hour! No more than 5 minutes has passed before I had been stamped into Dakar, quite the difference to the last time huh.

Honestly, if immigration had taken over 30 minutes like last time, I might have fled the airport and swam to Addis Ababa (impossible, I know).

Stay tuned for what a horrific time I had in Senegal the next few days: nothing to do with the country, more to do with serious lung issues after the train… 

Rankings for meal is based off of the previous flight since they load catering both directions. 

Iron Ore Train Tourism Bonus

Waking up on a blissful Tuesday summer morning in Zouerat after a long 13-hour sleep, I was ready to tuck in for the long evening ahead. The first order of business when I wake up is traditionally coffee, so my new friends and I decided to go on the hunt. One shop to another found that all of the coffee machines seemed to not be working. Great…

With no coffee in hand and the time looming closer and closer to departure, I guess I would have to survive without coffee. The driver picked us up and off, and off we went to the station in Zouerat (where we thought the station was).

As you can read about in my previous post, this was the wrong location…

Figuring out that this was the wrong station, we had to haul it over to F’Derick and quickly. The Iron Ore Train seems to leave anywhere between 12-3 pm out of Zouerat, but it is always advisable to show up at 12 in case it leaves right at that time.

The driver hustled, and I mean truly hustled, to get us there by 12:30 pm, only to find no train in the vicinity. What does this mean? Did we miss it? 

We waited and waited and waited until, just out of the corner of our eye, we saw a magnificent locomotive approaching the station. It happened to stop just in front (about 300 meters) of where we parked, so we packed up shop and took a short drive over.

The exact marker is KM mark 628

Reading online through a few sources, it is nicer to get a train car nearer to the front of the train. This is due to the wind blowing loose iron ore off the top of the trains. I would recommend cars 3-9, but we ended up in car number 9. With the help of my new friends, we loaded up our belongings for a long night

Tip: buy plastic wrap for your bags in Atar so your stuff doesn’t end up all filthy like mine does. 

We climbed up on board as quickly as possible, ready to get on our way. A moment went through my mind as if it was one of those instagram reels saying, “We’re alive, woooo!”. A feeling I will never ever forget. I digress a bit later. About an hour later, we see a tourist running over to our carriage, throwing all of his stuff into the carriage in front. We told him he should join us, and so he did

Moments later, the train began moving (2:30 pm). Every one of the four of us onboard was excited over the moon. Planning the iron ore train was a lot of work, and it had finally paid off! 

It was hot, and the next 4 hours were going to be filled with the Sahara Dessert sun. Naturally, due to my lack of planning, we had no sunscreen, which meant keeping my long sleeves on. But the beauty made up for it; we passed by an unbelievable amount of camels, but the strangest part was how we would be 50 km from the local town and see a single shepherd with his camel.

Joke: we were thinking, if for some reason we fall off, do we think the shepherds have Netflix in their little huts?

Tip: Bring lots of water, at least 6 liters of water per person. 

As the day progressed, laughs were being shared, stories were being shared, and it was as if all of the world's responsibilities had vanished from our heads. The first ride from Zouerat to Choum was about 4.5 hours (depending on how fast your train driver was), and we eventually pulled in as the sun was beginning to set into Choum.

Tip: The train stops in Choum for 10-15 minutes maximum. Jump on quickly. Sometimes it doesn’t stop. 

We bid farewell to the new friends who had taken the journey to Zouerat with me (they wanted to go and visit the Unesco sites the next day) and continued on the treacherous part of the journey. This next part of the journey from Choum-Nouadhibou is a dangerous journey. Crossing over 400 km, with no roads around the whole way and rocking carriages. It was alright, though, as I still had the fellow American with me in the carriage. Taking this train alone, I am not so sure about…

Tip: Do not fall off…

So, let’s discuss the elephant in the room before we discuss the next part of the journey. Where did we use the toilet? Once you get on the train, you are going to want to designate a corner of the train car to piss in and another corner to stash your stuff in. Usually, you will sit/sleep in the middle part of the car, meaning you will have to go back to pee (back because of the wind). It is crucial that you do not stand up in the middle of the night to go to the back of the car. Try to have both hands and feet on the iron ore if you can. If you fall off, that’s it; you are probably dead, so unless you have great balance, do not attempt this.

As we steamed our way out of Choum, the sunset was coming into full effect. It was a beautiful feeling, just me, this guy, and two locals in the very front of the train, traversing through the Saharan Dessert. This was the time when we really took out our phones properly to get some great pictures of the sunset. We attempted to stay off our phones throughout the journey, but this was an unforgettable moment. The sun began to die down, the weather went from hot to breezy, and we were beginning to feel peckish.

Tip: make sure you bring simple food for the train. Make sure the food is wrapped. 

Sleeping under the stars…

The journey continued, but my teeth began chattering; I was freezing cold. We passed by a very small town at around 2 am and saw a couple riding the train in the other direction (that looked even more miserable).

As the night progressed, I curled up in a little ball in the back of the car (not on this piss side) to attempt to shield myself from the wind. Occasionally, we would see police checking the tops of cars for people (as this is an illegal train to ride). If you see this during your journey, do not stand up!

The first light came just around 4:45 am on a cold Mauritania morning. I looked down at my hands and realized that they were all black, my face was black, and even my yeah… from going to the toilet… 

Around Km mark number 22, the train came to a brief halt. This is where we saw taxis chasing, hoping to get a passenger ride from a tourist to town.

We had made it through the night!

Tip: This is where you get off. Do not keep going to the port, as you will be arrested and have to pay a bribe to be released.

A sense of Euphoria filled the veins as we flagged down a taxi and headed off to Hotel Delphin!