Senegal Safari

Day 1: Dakar – Isle de Goree
Arrive in Senegal's capital Dakar and head to the Isle De Goree, an island renowned for its Atlantic slave trade memorial, three museums of, respectively, Senegalese history, women and the sea, and a small beach. Meet your tour guide and fellow travellers in a pre-departure meeting early evening. Your tour guide may recommend a place for dinner – the local restaurants feature terraces overlooking the water and serve fresh fish.
Day 2: Isle de Goree – Lac Rose
Visit the House of Slaves and it’s ‘Door of No Return’ and tour on foot the rest of the carless island once run by, in turn, the Portuguese, Dutch, British and French. Ride a ferry back to the mainland and briefly visit Dakar city before heading on to camp in the sand dunes by Lac Rose. Perhaps enjoy a relaxing float in the high salt, high buoyancy pink lake –Africa’s version of the Dead Sea and often the end point for the Paris-Dakar rally.
Meals Included
Breakfast
lunch
dinner
Day 3-4: Barbarie National Park – Saint-Louis
Spend the next two nights camping on the beach on the narrow peninsula of Langue de Barbarie at the mouth of the Senegal River. We visit the adjacent Barbarie National Park by pirogue (flat-bottomed boat) and revel in its famed birdlife and peaceful ambience. The park is a refuge for numerous species of birds, particularly from November to April, where it hosts many European migrant species. On the second day, we travel about 20km north to explore the lively cobbled streets and colonial facades of the former capital of Saint-Louis by horse and buggy. The old centre of town is situated on a narrow island near the mouth of the Senegal River at the heart of the current city. It was the capital of the French colony of Senegal from 1673 until independence in 1960. We return to camp for dinner as the sun sets, however if you wish to kick on then Saint-Louis has a fascinating musical presence and its worth seeking out local bars and restaurants down the alleyways – you never know what gems you may uncover. Your local tour guide can assist in making arrangements for transport back to camp as the night ends (own expense).
Meals Included
Breakfast
lunch
dinner
Day 5-6: Touba - Kaolack
Visit the holy Sufi city of Touba and see the fairytale minarets and domes of the grand mosque. Touba is the holy city of Mouridism and home of the Mouride brotherhood, founded by the Muslim mystic Amadou Bamba, who is most renowned for his promotion of a strong work ethic. His disciples are particularly industrious and his white-robed image can be seen painted all over Senegal. Visitors are only allowed within the mosque if they are Muslim, but the exterior is captivating enough for all others. Later, we head to town of Kaolack on the Saloum River and wander through the makeshift grain and goods stalls of the local market – a great place to interact with the locals. The following day, we explore the languid waters and mangroves of Sine-Saloum Delta, a picturesque mix of river land and sea, by boat.
Meals Included
Breakfast
lunch
dinner
Day 7-8: Gambia River Excursion - Makasutu
Cross into The Gambia and embark on a journey down the namesake river. Sleep overnight on the boat and ease into the relaxed rhythms of life along the waterway, as well as visit the ‘Baboon Islands’, a national park comprising of five islands and a chimpanzee rehabilitation centre established by English woman Stella Brewer on a cliff edge overlooking the sea. Our next stop is the charming Makasutu cultural forest, a tropical 1000-acre reserve encompassing five different eco systems and playing host to a plethora of wildlife including a wealth of birdlife, monitor lizards, monkeys, and ever-increasing troupes of baboons. Here we can sample the palm wine that is made from the indigenous people of the area, observe the oyster women on their daily collections or visit Makasutu’s holy Marabou (medicine man).
Meals Included
Breakfast
lunch
dinner
Day 9: Wassu Stone circles – Georgetown
Visit the World Heritage-listed stone circles of Wassu, the remarkably preserved, 1200 year-old burial sites of local kings and chieftains that appear like African versions of Stonehenge or Avebury. Little is known about the circles as extensive archaeological studies have yet to be undertaken, but their appearance and mystery is fascination nonetheless. The enigmatic circles usually consist of 20 upright rocks, up to 2.5 metres tall and weighing several tonnes, made of reddish brown laterite quarried from nearby deposits. Afterwards, we drive to Georgetown, now most often known by its pre-colonial name, Jangjang-bureh, and explore the colonial relics and busy streets of this upstream island city. Including the ‘Freedom Tree’ – Georgetown was where many slaves were freed and it is said that immediately prior to release they would touch a particular tree before their names were registered and they were freed– the original tree is long gone, but another now grows in its place and is celebrated by the locals.
Meals Included
Breakfast
lunch
dinner
Day 10-12: Wassadou - Dakar
We cross into Senegal before camping the night by the thatched village of Wassadou, overlooking the Gambia River. We farewell our tour guide and fellow travellers and take a private transfer back to Dakar where out tour ends on arrival in the evening.
Meals Included
Breakfast
lunch