Myths and charms of Senegal tour

Breakfast. Departure for a 6x6 ride on the sand dunes which will make you experience the emotions of the famous Paris-Dakar rally. Visit a traditional Peulh village on the dunes and passage on the great coast. You will have the opportunity to swim in this lake and float on its waters thanks to its high salt content.
Lunch chicken yassa, second Senegalese specialty and tasting of mint tea. Departure for Saint-Louis, arrival at the end of the afternoon. Transfer and installation at the Mermoz hotel (or similar). Dinner and night at the hotel.

Breakfast at the hotel. Visit the city of Saint-Louis where you can feel the atmosphere both strange and familiar, admire the finesse of the balconies hanging from the beautiful colonial houses and follow the gradient of the yellow ochre hues offered by the streets according to the position of the sun. Departure for the visit of the city by horse-drawn carriage: the famous Faidherbe bridge (500 m long) sent to Saint-Louis in 1897 following a monumental administrative error. The fishing village, interesting in the morning and evening when you can see the enormous boats crossing the bar. Passage in front of the Muslim cemetery in the Guet Ndar district, the tombs are stakes covered with fishing nets. The Sor market, with its many stalls of bark of all kinds, each having the property of curing one or more diseases, and the train station with its "New Orleans" style architecture. Lunch at the hotel. Relaxing afternoon by the pool of the Mermoz Hotel or similar. Dinner and overnight stay.

Breakfast. Departure for the Djoudj National Park (listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site), created in 1971 and the third largest ornithological park in the world. This park covers 12,000 hectares in the Senegal River delta. Located in a desert region, the Djoudj basin is the only green spot in this part of the Sahel. It also exerts an irresistible attraction on the avifauna of Europe and Africa. In winter (from November to March), three million birds meet there to winter. Add to that about twenty species of mammals. Excursion by pirogue in the heart of the Djoudj, engine idling, the pirogue sinks into the heart of this river to witness the fantastic ballet of birds: flamingos taking off in tight rows, pelicans flying away, cormorants diving...
NOTE: from the end of April to the beginning of November, the Djouj park is replaced by the park of the langue de barbarie where the birds migrate
Lunch in Saint Louis in the Colonial district.
On the way back, passing through the traditional Lebou village of Guet Ndar and the craft village of Saint-Louis. Dinner and overnight at the Mermoz hotel or similar.

Breakfast. Departure for Lompoul and stop en route to visit a French school (or visit a Koranic school during school holidays), communion with the children then stop for an aperitif under the baobabs. Picnic lunch with drinks. Arrival in Lompoul in the early afternoon. Camel ride in the desert then introduction to tea and Djembe. Installation at the bivouac to enjoy a unique experience in the middle of the desert. Dinner and accommodation in furnished Mauritanian-style tents: night lights, beds, blankets, toilets.

INFO VERITE: Zircon extraction near the Bivouac, possibility of noise pollution.

Breakfast. Departure for the seaside town of Saly. On the way, stop and visit the town of Ngaye, a craft town between Lompoul and Thiès (pottery, basketwork, shoemaking and weaving). Stop and visit the spice market of Thiès.
Lunch in Saly.
Check in at the Afrika Keur or Les Bougainvillées hotel. Free afternoon to enjoy the last rays of sunshine on the beach or possibility of an optional excursion: the Bandia reserve, $42/person to be paid on site.
Dinner and overnight at the Afrika Keur or Les Bougainvillées hotel.

Breakfast. Departure by 6x6 truck through the bush and along the tann track (parts of dry land covered with salt). Visit traditional Serer villages and a weekly market. Arrived in Ndangane, embark on board artisanal and colorful pirogues to discover the Saloum Delta which is 250,000 hectares of land and water and which is a natural landmark for migratory birds (cormorants, pelicans, flamingos, herons, etc.).
Stroll in the bolongs, small water paths lined with mangroves.
Lunch on the edge of the mangrove.
On the way back, visit the largest baobab in the region which is 28 m in circumference and is 900 years old. Visit the M'bour nursery. Return to the Afrika Keur or Les Bougainvillées hotel or similar and dinner and overnight stay.

Breakfast. Transfer to the airport according to flight schedules.

If return flights after 6 p.m., free lunch and departure for a tour of the life of Dakar:
- Independence Square
- African Memorial Cathedral built in 1929 and which mixes several styles with two towers that evoke minarets, a pseudo-Byzantine dome and a monumental facade
- Soumbedioune craft village, founded in 1961 and which brings together more than a hundred artisans (sculptors, weavers, tailors, goldsmiths, leatherworkers, etc.).
Continuation to Gorée. Departure by boat for the visit of the House of Slaves: the slaves were gathered there, sorted and locked up while waiting to embark for the other side of the Atlantic. Testimony of a past of suffering, this moving visit leaves no one indifferent. Then, visit the island: stroll through the alleys covered with sand or paved with irregular basalt blocks under the baobabs, the palaver trees and the bougainvilleas.