Sene-Gambia Culture & People – 10 Days

DAKAR – GOREE ISLAND

After breakfast, begin the city tour of Dakar and vicinity. Sites include: the African Renaissance Monument: a 164 Feet high monument unveiled in 2010, overlooking Dakar and is taller than the Statue of Liberty. The once controversial bronze statue is a popular attraction among locals as well as visitors. It features a man, woman and child pointing, a symbol of renewed African hope. The woman is now decently clothed, as conservative groups forced the government to lengthen her formerly short skirt, at a cost of more than US$ 10 million, to more modest length.

We will also visit the Independence Place, the heart of the city, you will pass by the presidential palace and the main cathedral. Enjoy a scenic drive by the ocean on your way to the Soumbedioune market and the mosque de la révélation. The tour of Dakar will show you the contrasts between some upscale residential areas and other popular neighbourhoods.

We will also visit tourist hotspots like Kermel or Sandaga market.

In the afternoon, depart on a 20 minutes ferry ride to visit the charming yet infamous Goree Island, a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Explore the usually quiet Streets lined with mostly pastel colored colonial era buildings from where you can enjoy an amazing view over the Dakar bay. Among the most famous buildings here is the House of Slaves which records the painful history of Goree’s past.

Observe the “Door of No Return” through which millions of Africans passed on the way to slavery in the Americas. The tour includes a visit to the ethnographic museum and a lecture by the curator on the history of Goree. We return to Dakar for overnight.

Meals included: Breakfast

Hotel: N’diambour Hotel or Similar

ST. LOUIS – LOMPOUL

Following a well-deserving breakfast, we embark on a tour by horse carriage to explore the narrow streets of this area; the Kingdom of the Signars founded in the middle of the 17th centuries. The Signars are mixed ladies – who are descendants of black African mothers’ slaves and Europeans fathers’ slaves’ masters.

Stop at the governor palace, a fortress built in the 18th century. We will visit Nguet Ndar area, the famous fishermen village settled between the river and the Atlantic Ocean

After lunch, we drive back to Lompoul desert nestled between the great coast and the eucalyptus forest; this desert is characterized by its pink and orange sand dunes. Enjoy a camel ride and at the top of the dunes, stop for a picturesque view of the coastline and sunset. Dance your way into the night to a Djembe dance entertainment or enjoy a Senegalese tea tasting around a bonfire.

Overnight in tents and feel like nomads admiring the moon or the stars.

Meals included: Breakfast

Hotel: Ecolodge Lompoul

KAOLACK – SINE NGAYENE – JAME ISLAND – BANJUL

We depart early morning to visit the Sine Ngayene stones circles complex, a UNESCO World Heritage Site. It consists of 52 circles of standing stones, including one double circle. In all, there are 1102 carved stones on the site. Nearby is the quarry from which the monoliths were extracted and where the sources of around 150 stones can be traced.

We travel to Gambia by road entering the border by the East of Banjul. After completing immigration formalities, we will drive a short distance to the twin villages of Juffureh and Albreda which lie on the North Bank of the River Gambia about 25km upriver of Banjul. Juffureh is the land of Alex Haley’s “Roots movie”. The Albreda is regarded as an important slave trade post and gained popularity during the slave period because of its Flag Pole, which many believed would guarantee freedom to anyone who touched it after escaping from the nearby James Island.

Observe the ruins of Kunta Kinteh island, a place of lust between French, English, Portuguese and Dutch in the middle of Gambia river.

Sail back to the village of Juffureh to where the ancestry of “Kunta Kinteh” of Roots fame was traced.

The restored original home of the Kinteh clan still occupied by the Kinteh family can be visited.

After lunch, we drive towards Bara- the border at the West and sail by a ferry to reach Banjul. Transfer to your hotel and check-in.

Meals included: Breakfast

Hotel: Lemon Creek or Similar

BANJUL – JOAL AND BUSH – FISHERMEN ARRIVAL

After breakfast, cross again by the ferry into Senegal for Joal at the mouth of Saloum river. Enroute, visit the oldest (1500 years old) and biggest baobab tree in West Africa followed by a visit to typical villages the Serere farmers, which are the second largest ethnic group in Senegal or make a stop at a Fulani nomadic camp – the third largest ethnic group.

nomadic camp – the third largest ethnic group.

After lunch, visit the shell island of Fadiouth- a symbol of tolerance where Muslims, Christians and animists co-exist peacefully and have a cemetery where they bury their dead side by side.

Late in the afternoon, we drive to Mbour fishing port and observe the return of the fishermen. Intense trade activity around, unique atmosphere in sensation and smell.

Continue to Saly for your overnight stay.

Meals included: Breakfast

Hotel: Royam Beach or Similar

DEPARTURE

Enjoy this morning at leisure or go out for shopping or doing other excursions which may be outstanding. You will be transferred at the airport in time for your onward flight.