Amazing Teranga, is what defines Senegal. Land of hospitality in Wolof. I myself was surprised after having been in several African countries by how hospitable the Senegalese are. Although in tourist places this changes, in rural areas everyone is charming and wants to meet and talk to those “Tubabs” (white in Wolof).

A somewhat unusual and short itinerary because Senegal was part of the second part of my trip through Mauritania and I decided to spend those last days in the neighboring country. Focusing especially on the central part of the country between Dakar and the Sine Saloum Delta.

Everything you need to know for your trip to Senegal:

1. Best time of year to visit Senegal
2. Basic tips for Senegal
3. 7 Day itinerary for Senegal
   1. Day 1: Dakar and Ile Goreé
   2. Days 2 to 4: Sine Saloum delta and Toubakouta
   3. Days 5 to 7: Joal Fadiouth and Petit Cote
4. Senegal daily budget
5. Where to stay in Senegal
6. What to do in Senegal if you have more time

Official exchange rate 1EUR = 655 CFA (Central African Franc) It is the currency used by most of the countries included in West Africa with the exception of Gambia that uses Dalasi and some other countries.

Best time of year to visit Senegal

It is a country close to the equator, and although it has relatively marked seasons, they are usually quite mild. Everyone had warned me about how hot it is in Senegal in May, but honestly, it’s not going to be hotter than in Barcelona in summer…

What can impact your visit to Senegal the most is the rainy and dry seasons. When it rains the whole country turns into a quagmire. The dry season runs from October to May, the rainy season runs from June to September, although in the Casamance region it starts a month earlier, around the beginning of April. From there it usually takes a month to get to Sine Saloum and Petit Cote

Basic tips for Senegal

• French: Whoever tells you otherwise will be deceiving you, I couldn’t get anyone to speak to me in English, not even in the most touristic places or big cities. French, apart from Wolof, is the official language. If you know how to get by in four words of French (assuming you don’t know Wolof), you’ll have plenty of room to negotiate prices and discuss and talk with the locals.
• Septplace / 7place: It is the easiest and cheapest way to move around the country from one place to another. In the absence of buses, the Senegalese built this magnificent work of automobile engineering. They added one more row of seats to the typical station wagons (cars with long trunks), if you are tall, avoid at all costs being touched in the back… If you want to live the local experience you should get on at least one or you will not have been to Senegal for real.
• AirBnB: Like many other neighboring countries, the absence of streets and chaotic growth in rural areas makes it impossible to find anything on booking, so you will have to use Google maps and AirBnB to find accommodation outside of Dakar and the big cities.
• Security: Although Senegal is a safe place, be a little careful in the big cities when you move at night. Rural areas seemed much safer and calmer to me, but in Dakar I was told to be careful a couple of times. Although from my point of view it is to go with caution and not attract excessive attention in an extravagant way.
• Border with Gambia: If you enter through Gambia they will search your bags and try to seize your medicines. Make sure you have a prescription for the major ones or just drop some bills (€5-10 should do the trick or CFA equivalent). I read about it on several blogs and people who personally experienced it told me about it.

7 Day itinerary for Senegal

As I mentioned at the beginning, it is a somewhat atypical tour of Senegal, due to its brevity and because most people tend to focus on the north of the country, through Saint Louis, and then the south through the Casamance region.

Although coming from a very physically demanding trip through Mauritania, I had little desire to invest time in long commutes and desert areas, as I had already seen enough sand the previous week.

So I am going to try to give you as much information as possible about the Sine Saloum Delta, which for me is the best known of this country and also about which there is less information.

Day 1: Dakar and Ile Goreé

If you arrive in Dakar you will probably do it by air through Dakar, because it is the only international airport with good connections and the land borders of neighboring countries are not very popular.

Dakar airport is located about 50 – 60 minutes from the city center, keep in mind that the Dakar metropolitan area has 4 million people and is very extensive. The city’s airport became too small, so they built a new one on the outskirts. The taxi to Dakar will cost you around 25k – 30k CFA.

Dakar, like most African capitals, does not have much to offer, they are very large cities that grow very quickly with little history and tourist attractions. Its exception is Ile Goree. Ile Goree was the main West African slave port from where slaves were shipped to the Americas.

You can take a taxi for about 2,000 CFA from the city center to the Port of Dakar and from there the Ferry that leaves every hour more or less from 7am until practically midnight.

Ile Goree is a mixture of brutality and harsh history with a beautiful colonial town. All the architecture, colors of the island and its views make it a very photogenic and beautiful place. However, it hides a dark past and that is that this island was a fortress, where the businessmen who dealt with slaves lived, and a prison where thousands of slaves passed and died. The conditions and humiliations to which they were subjected is perfectly explained in their many houses, museums and exhibitions. If you want to know more about its history you can hire a guide. Ile Goree is also now a trading spot where you will find many local artists selling their paintings and art pieces.

You can combine this visit with a walk through the west of Dakar where you can find the Divinity Mosque and the Monument to the African Renaissance, a statue donated by North Korea that is more than 45 meters high.

For those who want to stay longer in Dakar, they can visit Ngor and its island, the Yoff area and its beaches, or the Lac Rose (pink lake). I, however, preferred to focus my short visit on the Sine Saloum.

Days 2 to 4: Sine Saloum delta and Toubakouta

The Sine Saloum Delta is a vast delta that stretches over 180,000 hectares (the size of Mauritius). Mostly made up of an immense labyrinth of mangroves that extends practically throughout the region and that gives life to this unique ecosystem.

The great tides of the Atlantic cause the water level to change constantly throughout the day tens of kilometers from the coast. The waters of the delta are mostly salty and a large part of these regions live from the production of salt that is mainly destined for Europe to melt the snow in winter.

At this point you will have to decide where to access the Sine Saloum delta, and you will see that if you search on Google you will not know where to start due to the great extension of this place. There are two main access points:

• Fimela: In the northernmost part of the Delta and the closest to Dakar in 3 hours in a private vehicle you could arrive. By public transport, probably bus/7 place from Dakar to M’bour, M’Bour to Joal and Joal to Fimela, in about 4-5 you should be able to get there. It is also where most tourists go.
• Toubakouta: It’s where I went, much farther from Dakar in kilometers, but perhaps not in time, since you take very main roads and little congestion. In total it took us 7 hours (yes, it’s quite a lot) but it was worth it, since we didn’t come across any tourists for 3 days and the experience couldn’t have been more authentic and local (keep reading).

We left the hostel with my friend to get to the bus terminal before 8 in the morning. The first thing you should learn in these countries is that the buses always leave at 8 in the morning, after that time you have to wait until they fill up and God knows when that can happen. So we took a taxi from the center to Gare des Baux Maraichers for 3,500 francs for both of us.

From there direct bus to Toubakouta for 4,500 francs (of which 1,000 for the suitcase). I say direct to say something because to do 250 km it took us 7 hours and we stopped 50 times and without prior notice we all changed buses on another occasion.

Once in Toubakouta, our accommodation that we found through AirBnB (the best way to find them, since some streets do not exist and booking cannot list most homestays), was in Dassilama Serer. Some very nice guys who we probably overpaid took us on their motorbike for 1,000 francs per person, the real price was 500 francs, but it doesn’t come from here anymore.

At Dassilama Serer we asked about Mamadou until we found his house. The experience could not have been better. Mamadou was charming, very funny, although I didn’t understand all the jokes in French and he welcomed us into his house like one of the family. Exquisite food at a very good price and probably the cheapest accommodation in the entire Delta.

The houses were very rudimentary, you showered with a bucket of water and flushed the toilet in the same way, but everything is clean and spotless.

Throughout those 3 days we did all kinds of activities. For the delta and for the neighboring towns.

The first thing we did after eating was to go for a swim among the mangroves, at first it can be a bit scary, since the water is a bit dark and the bottom is quite slippery mud and a crab may prick your finger. But the waters are very calm and if you let yourself go with the current and the tide will always return you to the mainland.

The next day we hired a pirogue excursion through the delta, some kids took us to a couple of islands. Sipo among them, the only island in the area where the chief (queen) of the tribe or community is a woman. We were with them for a while and they explained to us the peculiarities of their community and we continued sailing through the Delta until we returned to Dassilama Serer.

In the afternoon, just like the next day, we were walking around the area, walking and discovering the villages and talking with the local people, until I ended up buying a boubou (traditional clothing).

On the third day we were lucky enough to be invited to join a conference to share best practices with representatives from the Gambia and the Senegalese Government for the protection, development and maintenance of deltas and wetlands.

We were with this great team of professionals all day where they explained to us how they collect oysters, plant more mangroves, pollinate and produce honey with bees, protect the birds in the area and help women’s communities to be more self-sufficient.

The Sine Saloum Delta will not leave you indifferent. I hope I have convinced you and put it on your route. For me the indisputable highlight and where I would have stayed more days.

Days 5 to 7: Joal Fadiouth and Petit Cote

To conclude this short visit to Senegal we focus on the Petit Cote area. The Petit Cote is a region of beaches that stretches from the south of Dakar to practically Joal Fadiouth. There are many towns where you can stay, most of them quite touristy and it is where the largest area of resorts in Senegal is concentrated, focused on beach tourism.

Toubab Dialao and Sally are the main places to stay, perhaps the first with more affordable offers and the second more focused on resorts. But both have many options.

My intention in this case was to rest a bit before finishing the trip, taking the opportunity to do some local tourism and visit Joal Fadiouth.

To get to Saly by public transport, wherever you come from, you must travel to M’Bour. 7,500 CFA from Karang at 7 place and about 4 hours drive. From M’Bour to Saly a taxi costs about 1,000 CFA to get to your hotel.

Joal Fadiouth is a small island in the coastal town of Joal south of the Petit Cote just before reaching the Sine Saloum delta. This island is famous for being built solely with shells.

In Joal Fadiouth there are about 10,000 people, contrary to the rest of the country, this is 90% Christian majority and the rest 10% Muslim. Everyone lives together in peace and harmony and it is the wisest people (not the oldest) who resolve conflicts and make decisions on this island. Attached to Joal Fadiouth is the local cemetery, which is also made up of a mountain of shells in which Christians and Muslims are buried each according to their religion.

Entry to Joal Fadiouth costs CFA 5,000 + 10% – 20% gratuity. To get there you must go to M’Bour station and from there 7place to Joal for 750 CFA and from there take a taxi or walk to Fadiouth.

The next two days I spent wandering around and discovering Saly Portudal in my own way, taking walks on the beach and even going out one night with more people I met in my hostel. The night in Saly is not very lively, but to go out for a drink it is quite good (RDC among them), beware that there is a lot of prostitution in the street and clubs, since it is an area with many Westerners who come for sex tourism.

Daily budget in Senegal

Senegal is a very cheap country to travel to, considering that I was moving relatively frequently and sometimes in a hurry than another €39 a day is a very good price. Although it can be lowered to around €30 if you are more relaxed.

• Accommodation: In countries with little tourism, in most cases there is little supply of accommodation or due to lack of competition or clients, prices are usually higher. Although €13 a day including breakfast (quite basic, but generous) is a good price for Africa.
• Food: I am still surprised by this price, less than €4 per day. Although it is true that outside of Dakar there is a lot of street food or being rural areas, prices are significantly lower compared to the capital. But you can eat streetfood for 500 CFA (less than one euro).

• Transport: Very cheap individually, but the price rises as you realize the distances between places, for any visit you need at least two taxis and a bus or 7place and in the end it all adds up. But motorcycle rides 500 CFA and 40min in 7place around 1,000 CFA. Suitcases or backpacks usually charge 1,000 separately or 500 depending on the distance.
• Entertainment: Tickets to museums, Ile Goree, Sine Saloum pirogue tour, nightlife etc… unlike its neighbor to the north, Mauritania, where I was before Senegal, you will want to have a very cold beer at the end of the day.

Where to stay in Senegal

• Dakar International House // Dakar: It is probably the worst hostel where I have stayed, I would not put it on this list if it were not the only hostel there and where the only backpackers who travel alone in the city stay. Dirty, inattentive staff and a little unpresentable.
• CURAAN // Dassilama Serer (Sine Saloum): This friendly, rustic homestay run by Mamadou will make you want to stay. Very clean, very attentive and at an unbeatable price in the entire area. You will have to shower with water from a bucket and you will live the most local experience. (Only appears on Google)
• Auberge Khady // Saly Portudal: The hostel/hotel with the best value for money in the area, it has a swimming pool, it is very clean and the staff is very nice and attentive.

As you will see, Senegal lacks a bit of infrastructure for backpackers, so you will have to look for a bit of life and find those few travelers who move around the country.

In the more rural areas there are no streets, so you will have to search for many of these accommodations either through AirBnB or Google, since Booking cannot list if there is no address.

What to do if you have more time in Senegal

What wouldn’t I do! The truth is that I was very tight on time and there are so many places that I would have liked to visit.

• Saint Louis: Nicknamed the Venice of Africa. This coastal town in the north of Senegal built on an island with canals that is sinking and will end up disappearing under the sea in a few years.
• Touba: Religious and pilgrimage city for Islam in this region. It houses one of the most spectacular Mosques in Africa.
• Casamance: For most people who have spoken better even than the Sine Saloum Delta, it is a region of rivers and mangroves in the south of Senegal.
• Gambia: What better than doing a 2×1 on your trip and get to know Banjul and the narrow country located within Senegal.

I will definitely return to Senegal in the future to travel to the south of the country when I travel to Gambia.