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1205 of 1223 WHS have been reviewed by our community.

Paysage culturel d'Azougui (T)

Els Slots The Netherlands - 03-Jan-25

Azougui is now a small village at the bottom of a valley just outside the city of Atar. Here lies a modest archaeological site dating back to the early Almohavids (11th century). It seems to be on the itinerary of every tour covering Mauritania, so we made a quick visit as well in the late afternoon. Those who later became known as the Almohavids chose a very fine setting, at the foot of the mountains. Their date palm groves still dominate the landscape.

The main site lies within a walled and gated compound, of which the key can be obtained in the white building [...]

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Al-Ahsa Oasis

CugelVance Germany - 28-Dec-24

Time of the visit: the 4th of dec.2024

I stayed for three days in Riad in order to get to know SA's capital a bit, and to visit the Al-Ahsa Oasis and the Turaif-quarter (both unesco whs).

I had booked my ticket online for the train from Riad to Hofuf just a few days earlier to make sure that I got one as I had read that that train is often booked out. However,the train was quite empty. I took the one early in the morning.

After my arrival in Al-Ahsa I took an ueber taxi from the railway station first to the Jawatha mosque. As I had read that the mosque is tiny I told my driver to wait for me as I would be back within 5-10 min. I stormed out of the taxi and saw a man leaving the mosque and the door wasn't closed when I was already inside. I took some pics and went out where the aforementioned man looked at me quite puzzled. As I was in a hurry I didnt start a conversation.We headed then to the mountain Jabel Al-Quarah. On the way the taxi driver,a former saudi policeman,gave me all the important infos to know about Hofuf which I wanted to know.I stayed inside and outside the mountain Jabal Al-Quarah for almost 2 h

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Tartus (T)

Aspasia Luxembourg - 02-Jan-25

I have visited The Cathedral of Our Lady of Tortosa (since 1956 The National Museum of Tartus) during my visited with a guide/driver in May 2024. The building is impressive both for what it is (a Romanesque/Gothic cathedral) as well as for the collection it holds (of which my favourites were the sarcophagi from 5-4 BC centuries). Unfortunately photos are not allowed inside (unless you manage to sneak a few if you're lucky so as to avoid the guard/ticket officer and cameras (?)

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Mudejar Architecture of Aragon

Kyle Magnuson California - United States of America - 31-Dec-24

My interest in Al-Andalus and what came after was first perked with the novel 'The Lions of Al-Rassan' by Canadian author Guy Gavriel Kay. A major theme of the novel is the interplay between bigotry and tolerance. Zaragoza, a city under Muslim rule from the 8th century (around 718) to the 12th century (1118), is a city I longed to visit. However, it was not originally part of our itinerary for Barcelona and Bilbao, until I started researching trains. From Barcelona you can reach Zaragoza by high speed rail in 1 hour and 23 minutes. This inspired me to plan 1 night in Zaragoza and then continue on to Bilbao (slower train) the following day, happily my spouse agreed.

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Coro and its Port

Alejandro Lau China - 30-Dec-24

(Visited 2024.10)

In these years Venezuela seems to be a bit "removed" from the plan of international tourists. After an overnight bus from Caracas we arrived at Coro in early morning. We had some empanadas as our breakfast near the terminal, which is fair and delicious.

After the breakfast we walk ~15 min to the WHS area

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Community Reviews.

Blog WHS Visits

WHS #946: Banc d'Arguin

Mauritania’s Banc d’Arguin NP is rarely visited and has only been reviewed once, about 18 years ago. However, this is the number one place for waterfowl and migratory waders among the several "bird WHS" along the West African Coast. It is “better” than Djoudj and the Saloum Delta, and only the 2025 nomination Bijagos Archipelago in Guinea-Bissau comes close but still has only 50% of its numbers. We spent a full day and a night in its core zone, stretching 170km along the Atlantic Coast.

The Banc d’Arguin is so rich because it lies next to an ocean upwelling that produces nutrient-rich cooler waters. This sets a whole food chain of phytoplankton-filter feeders-fish-birds-marine mammals in motion.

We approached it from the South, driving for 2.5 hours from the capital Nouakchott. This is mostly a good paved road, where our drivers even clocked 130km/h. The surrounding landscape is rather featureless, though you will see some dromedaries roaming around. We made a first stop at Mamghar, one of the seven fishing villages inside the park. The smell of fish is predominant here: the people leave their gutted fish drying out on the fences of the corrals for the goats.

On the outskirts of town, you can walk onto the seabank and observe bird colonies that have found their nesting or resting spot right there. We saw two sandbanks right offshore fully covered by a variety of bird species, including larger ones such as pelicans. A bit more inland, there are lakes surrounded by green bushes (a rare sight here in the desert) and there even is a bird hide. It was a fine short visit, but when you’re a serious birder, you really need to allocate more time to this park – you can go on full-day boat trips to sand banks further away.

After an hour we drove North, taking the great beach road and sometimes diverting a bit into the dunes. It’s very windy along the coast and the weather has created shell middens and finely carved sand dunes.

We overnighted in a permanent camp near Iwik, which is run by a local cooperative. The living conditions in this fishing village built out of shipping containers and wooden sheds look very tough, as it gets very hot out here and there are hardly any amenities. We could admire the works of the fishermen though, preparing their tall wooden sailing ships for another morning at sea.

The next day we drove another 1.5 hours North through the park. In this area, you can clearly see the offshore sandbanks – they look a bit like icebergs floating by in the ocean (see photo 3, the white bit in the distance); to me, it’s the most characteristic image of this WHS.

We also visited Cap Blanc, about 4 hours from Iwik, which is labelled in the official documentation and at its visitor centre as a ‘satellite site’ to Banc d’Arguin NP, but has been excluded from the final inscription on the instigation of IUCN because of border issues. It comprises the Mauritanian part of the peninsula that protrudes into the ocean from the city of Nouadhibou. You need to pass through the very busy port area, where the infamous Iron Ore Train arrives. Just on the tip, there’s a nature reserve, not much more than a small but pretty beach. Its pride was the colony of rare monk seals, but they all - except for 1 or 2 that still come by occasionally - have migrated to the Western Saharan side of the peninsula as it is much quieter over there.

Els - 12 January 2025