Senegal Travel Agent FAM Trip, April 11 to 18, 2027

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

Early breakfast and departure for the Djoudj National Bird Sanctuary, approximately 1 hour north of Saint-Louis. Djoudj is a UNESCO World Heritage Site and the third largest bird sanctuary in the world. You explore the sanctuary by motorized canoe, approximately 2 hours on the south bank of the Senegal River. Great white pelicans, flamingos, cormorants and herons gather here in very large numbers, and your guide will name the species your clients are most likely to ask about. The viewing season runs from mid-October to April, so these April dates fall inside it. Return to Saint-Louis for lunch. The afternoon is reserved for hotel inspections, Hotel Sindone, Siki Hotel, Cap Saint-Louis and Mermoz Hotel. Depart Saint-Louis for the Lompoul Desert, approximately 1 hour 30 minutes. The camp sits between the eucalyptus forest and the Atlantic, and the night is spent under comfortable Moorish tents. Dinner at the camp, followed by djembe drumming and dance under the stars. 

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 

After breakfast, an early departure south to Joal-Fadiouth, approximately 1 hour. Joal sits on the mainland. 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 cross back by pirogue and drive on to the ancient baobabs of Fadial, trees that have stood for more than a thousand years and remain sacred to the communities around them. Return to Saly for hotel inspections at Palm Beach Hotel, Lamantin Beach Resort, Royal Saly, and Royal Baobab in Somone. The rest of the afternoon is yours for the pool, the beach and the warm water of the Petite Cote. Dinner at the hotel. 

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