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8 days
Daily Tour
Unlimited
English
Teranga, the Wolof word for hospitality, is not a concept in Senegal. It is a way of life. Over eight days you travel through one of West Africa’s most varied countries, from the energy of Dakar to the stillness of the desert, from the colonial streets of Saint-Louis to the beaches of the Petite Cote. Consider this your full immersion in a destination your clients will fall in love with.
You land at Blaise Diagne International Airport (DSS). Our team meets you in the arrivals hall with a Continent Tours signboard and clears you through. Private air-conditioned transfer to your hotel, approximately 1 hour to central Dakar. Check in, settle in, and take the evening at leisure to rest. Meals: None on arrival day. Refreshments on arrival at the hotel.
Hotel:Azalai Dakar
After breakfast your bilingual guide leads a full tour of Dakar, combining cultural highlights with professional hotel inspections. The Monument de la Renaissance Africaine, one of the tallest statues in Africa, with panoramic Atlantic views. The Museum of Black Civilizations, holding three thousand years of art from across the continent. The Soumbedioune handicraft village. The IFAN Museum of African Arts. The city center, the Cathedral of Dakar and a view of the Presidential Palace. Massalikoul Djinane, the great mosque of the Mouride brotherhood, opened in 2019 and the largest in West Africa. Hotel inspections: Pullman Dakar, Novotel Dakar and Ndiambour. Dinner at Le Cabanon, a Dakar institution known for fresh seafood and Senegalese cooking.
Meals: Breakfast and dinner
Hotel: Azalai Dakar
Board the ferry to Goree Island, a UNESCO World Heritage Site and for centuries a major hub of the transatlantic slave trade. Today it is a place of memory and reflection, and one of the most significant sites your diaspora clients will ask about. The crossing takes approximately 20 minutes. On the island: the Maison des Esclaves and its museum, the artist galleries and cultural centers run by local artisans, and the preserved colonial architecture. Lunch on the island, a good opportunity to try thieboudienne, Senegal’s national dish, before the crossing back to Dakar. Afternoon hotel inspections: Terrou-Bi, Noom Dakar (formerly Radisson Blu) and Madrague. Dinner is at your own arrangement. Your guide will recommend from La Fourchette, Le Lagon, La Fare des Mamelles, La Playa or Basilic, all at your own expense.
Meals: Breakfast and lunch
Hotel:Azalai Dakar
After breakfast and check out you head north for Saint-Louis, Senegal’s former colonial capital and a UNESCO World Heritage city. This is a long driving day, so we start early. Approximately 1 hour to Pink Lake (Lac Rose). Its rose color comes from algae and very high salinity, and it is among the saltiest bodies of water on earth. You watch the traditional salt harvest and visit Keur Salim, a boutique hotel on the shore. From the lake, approximately 3 hours 30 minutes to Saint-Louis. Arriving in the late afternoon, you take the classic horse carriage city tour through the colonial quarter of the Ile de Saint-Louis, over the Faidherbe Bridge, and into the fishing village of Guet Ndar, where the painted pirogues line the shore at dusk.
Meals: Breakfast and dinner
Hotel: Residence Saint-Louis
After a sumptuous breakfast, check out and depart to the central region. Un-route, visit Assin Manso, Slave River is the burial site of two former slaves from the U.S. and Jamaica whose remains were re-interred in August 1998 during Ghana’s first Emancipation Day celebration. You will see the ‘Slave River’ where captured Africans were washed before being confined in the Slave castles to await shipment to the Americas and the Caribbean. Proceed to the Cape Coast Castle and Museum for a guided tour. Cape Coast Castle is a UNESCO World Heritage Site, and the home to the “Door of No Return”.
Meal(s) Included: Breakfast, Dinner
Hotel: Okai Lompoul
Rise early for sunrise over the Lompoul dunes. After breakfast at the camp you depart for Bandia Nature Reserve, approximately 4 hours, the road passing through Dakar. This is the longest transfer of the week and we leave in good time. Bandia is Senegal’s finest private wildlife reserve, 3,500 hectares of savannah woodland covered by open vehicle. White rhinoceros and giraffe, zebra, buffalo and several antelope species, warthog, patas and green vervet monkeys, crocodile, Aldabra giant tortoise and ostrich, and over 120 bird species. You also see the sacred baobab known as the Tomb of the Griot, a tree of deep cultural significance in Senegalese tradition. Continuing south approximately 30 minutes you reach Saly, Senegal’s leading beach resort on the Petite Cote. Check in and take the rest of the day at leisure. Dinner at the hotel.
Meals: Breakfast and dinner
Hotel:Hotel Royam
An early departure south to Joal-Fadiouth, approximately 1 hour. Joal sits on the mainland, and Fadiouth, known as Shell Island, is joined to it by a wooden footbridge about a quarter of a mile long. The island is built entirely of shells, gathered over generations by the fishing families who live there. Streets, building fronts and craftwork are all formed from shell. There is nothing else quite like it in West Africa. You also visit the ancient baobab forests of Fadial, trees that have stood for more than a thousand years and remain sacred. Back in Saly, hotel inspections at Palm Beach Hotel, Lamantin Beach Resort, Royal Saly and Royal Baobab. The rest of the afternoon is yours for the pool, the beach and the warm water of the Petite Cote.
Meals: Breakfast and dinner
Hotel: Hotel Royam
The morning is yours to pack, walk the beach or make any last purchases before check out. Your airport transfer is timed so that you reach Blaise Diagne International Airport three hours before your flight departs. The drive from Saly is approximately 1 hour. We hope this journey has given you not only memories, but the knowledge and the confidence to sell Senegal to your clients. Teranga, the warmth of Senegal, travels home with you.
Meals: Breakfast
Member Since 2021
