Surprising Senegal

05 August 2009 - The Travel Channel - Petra Shepherd

Working for The Travel Channel, I’m not surprisingly the envy of all my friends who always wistfully ask “So where are you off to now?” My answer more often than not is greeted with gasps of envy and looks of pure jealousy.  However, when I announced I was heading off to Senegal at Easter, the replies were more along the lines of “Whatever for?” or “Where is that?”  Senegal as a holiday destination doesn’t really seem to have registered, although the French have been going there for years.  The British on the other hand tend to favour The Gambia, the small country entirely enclosed within Senegal.  The two destinations share many similarities, though French-speaking Senegal is bigger, brasher and has a host of unique excursions to tempt the hardened traveller. Just viewing the photos on my return was enough to silence the more cynical of my acquaintances.

Firstly, be prepared for a culture shock the moment you land.  This is Africa at its most raw and basic.  My first impression of the cars at the airport was that they all seemed to be tied together with string; there were cars with literally no floors, and others where the front end seemed to be have been stapled to the back end of a totally different make. It was all noisy, colourful, dusty, chaotic, and strange – I loved it. I didn’t love it quite so much after having been stuck for hours on end in grid-locked traffic on a city centre road with more pot holes than actual surface.  To be honest, this was one of the worst roads I encountered on the trip. Most of the main roads were tarmaced, and the taxis and 4 x 4s provided for tourist transfers and excursions were new, safe and very roadworthy.

Senegal is located on the extreme West Coast of Africa with direct flights from Paris and Brussels.  It’s in the same time zone as Europe so there’s no jet lag. Year round high temperatures are a big draw for Europeans looking for some winter sun.  Most head for the beach resorts at Saly Portugal, a two hour (if you’re lucky) 50 mile drive south of the airport.

The top notch 4* and 5* hotels are in sharp contrast to the African experience outside the resort area.  My hotel, the Hotel Espadon was charming, spacious, fully air conditioned, low level and smack on the beach.  I shouldn’t really say this but the French are not going to settle for second rate, over cooked, mass market holiday food and so perhaps the best thing about all the hotels was the standard of the cuisine – faultless and deliciously fresh. If it’s a fly and flop holiday you want, then Senegal is an obvious choice, guaranteed sunshine, stunning beaches and first rate hotels with good sized swimming pools and all the amenities. When it comes to water sports Senegal is not a primitive backwater. There a number of centres with the usual waterskiing, jet skiing, kayaking, windsurfing and catamarans. Some people purely come to fish and there are well established fishing clubs on hand aimed mainly at the enthusiast; they did tend to be quite pricey.  However, if its adventure and a taste of the real Africa, you’re after, then Senegal will not disappoint.

There are a surprising number of different excursions on offer from Saly.  Having fought my way there from the airport, the last thing I wanted to do was head back to Dakar so my first choice (and one of the most popular on offer) was a jaunt south to one of Senegal’s most beautiful regions, the Sine Saloum Delta. Two rivers flow into the Atlantic Ocean to form a 180,000 hectare area of mangrove swamps, bolongs (creeks), islands made entirely of shells and salt craters.  It’s best explored by pirogue (local canoe) and is a favourite with birdwatchers and fishermen.  For non-twitchers or anglers like myself, the scenery alone has a magical quality and the local life of villages and donkey carts is straight out of National Geographic.  Women pound cassava, and seemingly hundreds of snotty nosed smiley children run amock. 

On day two I headed for the Senegalese capital. Dakar will forever be associated with the Paris-Dakar Rally, and for Brits, with Mark Thatcher getting lost in the desert.  There’s no chance of you getting lost if you choose to enjoy your own rally experience in a 4 x 4 plus driver along what used to be the Rally’s final stretch.  It’s great fun and not dissimilar to wadi bashing in Dubai.  Sadly, regional political instability has forced the Paris-Dakar over the Atlantic to South America but you can still get a taste of what drivers went through, although probably not at the same speed.  After pounding the dunes, my tour continued with a mad drive along the beach trying to beat the incoming tide to one of Senegal’s major fishing villages,  Kayar. Here literally hundreds of colourful pirogues can be seen plunging through the breakers, nets are cast and the whole town seems to be out and about on the beach.   Nearby and no where near as noisy is Lac Rose.  Like the Sine Saloum Delta and Kayar, it’s billed as one of Senegal’s must see sights.  To be honest Lac Rose or Pink Lake was something of a disappointment. The lake is supposed to look pink thanks to its high concentration of salty minerals.  Maybe I’ve seen too many “Disneyfied” waterways; a river died bright green to celebrate St Patrick’s Day and an unnaturally blue Venetian canal at The Venetian Hotel in Las Vegas, but this lake did not in any shape or form look pink to me!  Apparently, the spectacle isn’t always visible and the sun does need to be especially high to see it, so maybe I was just unlucky. 

The islands and bolongs of Sine Saloum are a full day excursion, as is Lake Rose and Kayar.  If you’re wanting more, then as a 3rd must do excursion I’d recommend Goree Island.  If you’re on a one week break then this still gives you half your holiday to enjoy time on the beach and by the pool plus a late afternoon’s quad biking. Goree Island, a UNESCO World Heritage Site and a short 30 minute ferry ride from Dakar’s main port is totally different from the mainland; you suddenly feel as though you’ve been transported to a Mediterranean island.  The roads are narrow and the houses adorned with bougainvillea but it’s history you’re coming for, specifically the island’s role in the Atlantic slave trade.  An old Slave House has been turned into a museum and offers a glimpse of the horrific conditions that were endured.  There are no cars on Goree Island, making it an incredibly peaceful and easy place to walk around and reflect on the island’s sad past.

Quad bike tours (the French call them buggies) are available from all the main resort hotels.  They’re safe and very easy to drive; that’s coming from someone who took 150 lessons before she passed her driving test. All sorts of rides are available from a relatively short two hours exploring the rough roads of the baobab forest and traditional bush villages, to a full day trip to Lake Rose.   I wouldn’t recommend buggies in the heat of the day but they’re a great way of spending a late afternoon after a day on the beach, watching the sun set behind the curiously shaped baobab trees. 

Lots of people get to back pack, travel and explore “off the beaten track” destinations in their gap year between school and uni.  Once the taste of exotic travel is in your blood, it’s difficult to shake it off but work, family, 20 days of annual leave, and life in general takes over. However, this need not be the case and if you’re looking for a unique adventurous experience, some great photo opportunities as well as guaranteed sun but only have a week to spare and don’t want to fly too far, I’d highly recommend Senegal. Far from being a badly developed backwater, travellers will find welcoming people, numerous resorts, incredible beaches and a blossoming tourism industry.