Watch: Tom’s 19-hour journey train-hopping across the Sahara

A travel blogger has documented his journey across western Africa’s Mauritania after train-hopping on the 704-kilometre stretch of railroad.

The railroad starts in the country’s mining centre of Zouérat and connects it with the port city of Nouadhibou, transporting iron ore to be exported globally.

The route is popular with adventurous tourists with Tom of traveltomtom.com explaining that he employed a local fixer to help with the journey – who provided equipment including goggles, sleeping bags, and protective clothes.

Tom told SWNS: “The Mauritania Iron Ore train was an incredible and very unique travel adventure that actually got me excited and a little nervous again for once.

“After having travelled the world continuously for almost 10 years now I, unfortunately, don’t often get that excited anymore.

“Just before hopping on the train, it felt the adrenaline rushing through my body, it was a great feeling!

“Being an avid content creator, in the first hour of the ride I felt like I had to take as many videos and photos as possible, but it kicked in fast that this adventure was more than that.

“For some reason it was a very calming experience, one that I could sit back, relax and actually enjoy the ride to its fullest.

“Riding the train through the Sahara Desert never was boring, even not when the wind picked up at night and temperatures dropped significantly.

“Survival mode on and making sure to get through these cold hours and make it until sunset.

Tom explained that this trip is accessible to regular travellers and but his wealth of experience helped him a lot and managed to seek the help of locals on the trip.

He quit his job in 2012 to become a full-time travel blogger set up his website and has since travelled to 138 countries.

He said: “Travel started with a passion for travelling and that is still what is my main inspiration these days for exploring the world, 10 years after it all started.

“After several yearlong trips around the world in the years 2006 – 2010, I quit my job again in December 2012.

“I saved a lot of money to travel for a couple of years on a budget

“Now that the world is slowly opening I like to visit countries I have not yet been to before and most of them are in Africa.

“So, in the next year you can expect a lot more trips to lesser-known countries in Africa: Libya, Algeria, Mali, Nigeria, South Sudan, Somalia, Congo DRC are part of my upcoming travel plans and I am very excited to show my followers on social media what life is like out there.”

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