At the invitation of Untamed Travelling I made an 8 day tour of Senegal with director Jozef Verbruggen. An adventure to remember!
It started in Brussels, from where you fly a scheduled flight to Dakar within 5 hours. The hectic is immediately noticeable, you are in different spheres. Our trip took us past lodges and boutique hotels in Dakar, St Louis, Gorée Island,Kaolack and in the south Toubacouta on the Sine Saloum Delta.Senegal is predominantly French-speaking, French culture, friendly people, pleasanttemperature in December and lots to see.With guide and driver we crossed the country.With the first night at the Rysara hotel we had a nice starting pointfor our visit to Radisson Blu and many other beautiful accommodation locations in andaround the city. Here you enjoy history mixed with present. Travel in luxury without missing the present. Walking through the streets of Dakar and then having lunch at Cafe Roma constantly brings you into different spheres.
After Dakar we visited Gorée Island. After a short boat ride from Dakar, you arrive on the island of Gorée. Our overnight stay we had at Villa Castle, a three-room guest house with peace and style. This island is full of artists and there is no traffic. In the evening in the open air dined at the port at Boufflers, and at 21h00 the island is in deep rest. Then you can take another evening walk and let the magic work on you of the history of this island. Fantastic!
The next day early on, driver and guide wait at the port in Dakar for our next destination St. Louis, the Venice of Senegal. Pelicans on the salt flat when you drive from the south. The advantage of a driver is that you can focus on what you see on the road, take pictures and arrive at your destination rested, (and never have to look for a parking space…). We stayed at Hotel la Poste and the Siki Hotel. The latter had a bit of Brazilian influences, great food, quiet hotel and very nice owner and staff. There is a lot to see, very much impressed the fish market.
The men go out to sea to catch fish and in the harbour the women are waiting with buckets to distribute the catch. There are porters, who with a bucket on their heads bring the fish from the boat to the waiting women. What’s left is sold and continues in trucks. You first have to go through the village where the polygamists live with children everywhere on the street. Impressive, culture shock.
In the evening have a beer with the locals because that is also St Louis. After St Louis, the trip to the Sine Saloum Delta in the south followed, again early on for a long journey. Lunch in Kaolack at Le Relais de Kaolack on the river.In the afternoon we arrived at Les Paletuviers.A beautiful location from which you can discover a lot about Africa and Senegal.By the evening when the sun goes down, the color game, the pictures we tookon the pier were phenomenal. In the mangrove area, the birds go in search of their place to sleep for the night, an impressive ritual.
The next day to plage D’Or. After a boat trip of almost 2 hours through the mangrove area you arrive on a desert island overlooking Gambia.No power, but water and from 20h00 there is only light from the torches or your lantern.What an experience, one with nature. Langouste on the menu makes dining by the seaand far from the inhabited world very special. Morning breakfast and a long beach walk completely one with nature. Beautiful birds, Baobab trees and ebbs and flows make it a beautiful game of shouwspel.
In the afternoon we have a delicious lunch and then we all leave again with a small boat from the island back to Les Paletuviers. Nice resort, good cuisine and very nice staff.The last day of our trip had arrived and in the afternoon we were brought back, a6-hour journey by car through the rugged landscape of Senegal, where we have culture and naturehave experienced and behold in its many forms.We saw buffaloes, pelicans, monkeys by road, vultures, wows above the city of Dakar, parakeets,Storks…We saw the similarities and differences between Europe and Africa, between rich and poor,perfection and imperfection, past and present, the magic, the dreams, the history, and things againwesterners have become so self-evident.
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Credit Etienne Overdijk
