Lac Rose
Lac Rose located 21 kilometres from Dakar, Senegal’s capital is a shallow salty pink lake owing its color to the Dunaliella salina bacteria attracted by the lake’s salt content. The lake is separated only by some narrow dunes from the Atlantic Ocean. Its salinity content compares to that of the Dead Sea and exceeds it during the dry season.
Île de Gorée
Île de Gorée was an important stop on the slave transport route from the 16th to the mid-19th century. It is located19 kilometres from the city centre of Dakar. It has a number of historic forts, houses, and museums including La Maison des Esclaves, where visitors can see where slaves and their traders lived while waiting to be transported to the New World.
Fathala Reserve
Fathala Reserve is part of the Parc Nationale du Delta du Saloum (Saloum Delta National Park) located 125 kilometres from Dakar. The reserve is known for its forest and wetlands, with hundreds of species of wildlife including zebras, white rhinoceros, giraffes and warthogs.
Stone Circles
Stone Circles are found in two locations in Senegal; Sine Ngayène Kaolack and Wanar Kaolack. The stones weigh up to 10 tons apiece. Stone circles make up the largest group of megalithic complexes in the world spread over central Senegal and Gambia. Sine Ngayène Kaolack is found in Sine-Saloum, western Senegal 167 kilometres from Dakar while Wanar is found in the town of Kaolack 214 kilometres from Dakar.
Sine Saloum Delta
The Sine Saloum Delta is a 180,000 hectare area that encompasses the Saloum Delta National Park 125 kilometres from Dakar. The delta is formed where two rivers converge on the mighty Atlantic Ocean. The highlights are the gorgeous rivers and forest groves, which are great for hiking, bird watching and boat tours.
Djoudj National Park
Djoudj National Park is situated on the Senegal River delta about 232 kilometres from Dakar. It is one of the most important bird sanctuaries in the world with an estimated three million migrants of more than 400 bird species every year. Mammals and reptiles that can be seen here include warthogs, jackals, hyenas, monkeys, mongeese, and gazelles, and, often resting by the water’s edge, an enormous python.
Bassari Country
Bassari country is a great place for hiking found in Kédougou region in the southeastern tip of Senegal about 683 kilometres from Dakar. Bassari Country represents an isolated, multicultural society of traditional communities of the Bassari, Fula and Bedik peoples believed to date back to the 11th and 13th century. These people are poor but highly traditional and their initiation rites take place between April and June every year.
Saint Louis
Saint Louis is a town on an island at the mouth of the Senegal River in northern Senegal about 7506 kilometres from Dakar. It is a city of great structural wealth, bearing witness to its glorious past. The city retains much of its colonial-era architecture.
Keur Moussa Abbey
Keur Moussa (House of Moses) is a large Benedictine complex secluded in the hills about 50 kilometres outside of Dakar. It was founded by nine French monks in 1963 and became an abbey in 1984.Masses at Keur Moussa are popular for the indigenous musical instruments incorporated into the liturgy. The monks sell goat cheese after services.
Niokolo-Koba National Park
The Niokolo-Koba National Park located on the banks of the Gambia River is found 518 kilometres from Dakar. The park is known for its wildlife consisting of elephants, lions, leopards, chimpanzees, baboons, hippopotamuses, the Western giant eland and about 330 bird species. The vegetation includes of relatively flat woodland savannah and semi-arid Sudanese forest, with large areas of wooded wetlands and seasonal wetlands.
Delta du Saloum National Park
Located in the Delta of the Saloum River, Delta du Saloum National Park is situated 125 kilometres from Dakar. It consists of mangroves and small islands of sand dunes. The common animal life here includes deer, antelope, hyenas, pelicans, herons, warthogs, teals and monkeys.
Langue de Barbarie
Langue de Barbarie National Park constitutes a narrow bed of sandy terrain between the Atlantic Ocean and the Sénégal River 244 kilometres from Dakar. It is a shelter for the birds and sea turtles that come here in the mating season. It hosts over 160 different species of migratory and sedentary birds as well as numerous reptile species, crabs, monkeys and other wildlife.
