The best way to explore the area is by boot and on foot.
This is the place to practise your fishing or to spot birds, monkeys or reptiles.
 | Off the Beaten Path in Senegal 
 
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Senegal Travel Guide
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 | Senegal Off the Beaten Path | Tips 1 - 10 of 51 |  | ||
Popular Off the Beaten Path | Miscellaneous Off the Beaten Path Tips | All Tips (51)
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 | The Sine-Saloum Delta.   |  | |
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 |  on September 15, 2005 |
The Sine-Saloum delta is a vast labyrint of creeks and islands wich you can find in Western part of Senegal just above the Gambia. The best way to explore the area is by boot and on foot. This is the place to practise your fishing or to spot birds, monkeys or reptiles. |
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| Niokolo Koba National Park | | |
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| on September 13, 2005 |
Niokolo Koba National Park is one of the biggest national parks located in West Africa, if not the biggest. Niokolo Koba is located in the South-east of Senegal along the banks of the Gambia River and has a surface of 9130 square km. In the south the park integrates the Park of Badiar and the listed Forest of Ndama located in Guinea. The gallery forests and savannahs of Niokolo-Badiar have a very rich fauna. There are about 80 species of mammal, 330 species of bird and 30 reptiles |
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| Monday 18th November 2002. | | |
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 |  on January 13, 2004 |
Monday 18th November 2002. Isabelle and me are pulling water up from the well and with the plastic cans we head towards our bathroom: a fenced place in open air with an opening in front. After washing ourselves we walk outside. At a little bench in the first room of our hut, several kids are sitting neatly next to each other. They are ready to go to school. School starts at 8 am and is meant for kids from 8 years on. The younger kids stay at home in the village, playing, doing nothing or observe the grown ups. Here time is granted to grow up. The same pace goes for aging. Around 8:30 am we are offered breakfast: a baguette and Nescafe powder, milk powder and sugar in separate packages. Dirk gets the melon he bought yesterday on our way to Bantancountou and Isabelle brings the mandarins. The breakfast tastes delicious |
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| The funeral | | |
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| on January 12, 2004 |
We put our luggage in our “rooms”. It is the house of the Chief’s brother who will have to take satisfaction with only one room for his family for the time of our staying. After getting rid of our things, we go to the village central spot to join into the mourning ritual. Isabelle and I are seated amongst the women; Dirk and Wilfried take place amongst the men. |
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| Conversations in the moonlight, reflecting | | |
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| on January 12, 2004 |
Seckou tells me that there are plans to bring electricity to the city very soon. A thought escapes my lips: tu gagneras la lumiere, mais tu vas perdre la nuit”, you will gain the light but lose the night. I explain them our situation: there is so much artificial light at night that we barely can see any stars and that the cocks are so confused about it, they start to cry at any hour. But Seckou already knew this. He wants to do it better then us. He still wants to be able to observe the stars, behold the community and respect the environment. One of his brothers claims that there should be very urgently we worked on a road to the village, that investments in agriculture is a priority to prevent the exodus from the youth towards the cities, and eventually into the unknown world outside the country. The opposing feeling about emigration will occur along many conversations during my trip. Development and self-support, those are the keywords. Picture showing the kids of Bantancountou. Are they doomed to emigrate and disapear into a hostile world? |
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| Sunday 17th November 2002 | | |
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| on January 11, 2004 |
Close to 8 am I join my travel companions, Dirk; Isabelle and Wilfried, for breakfast at the balcony of the hotel. While we are already fantasizing about the village we planned to visit today, a member of the local NGO suddenly appears. He has very bad news about Bantancountou. We will not receive the prepared and planned festivity welcome, because this very morning, the father in law of the ?chief? died. Accordingly to the customs the deceased has to be buried the same day before sunset. Actually being assertive and comprehensive, we were not that much disappointed by missing a welcome party: our aim was to share the life with the village people, and in these circumstances a burial ritual is part of it. |
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| Langue de Barbarie beach ship wreck | | |
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 |  on November 2, 2004 |
Langue de Barbarie beach ship wreck is something very interesting to see. All around West FArican coast you have hundreds of old ships like this on the beach or on the coast forgotten. If you like this please visit my Cansado page in Mauritania for an incredible 50 ships on the coast. In St. Louis just pass to the Island and agina pass to the Langue , look on the beach maybe 800m away from the bridge level south. |
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| When the day has ended  | | |
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| on January 12, 2004 |
After the ceremony, normal life sets in again. We watch how women and children are pulling water out of a well, men’s ritual washing of hands and feet before they kneel down on their little carpet for a prayer. Close to 7:30 pm a wife approaches with a huge pan. We all eat together out of the pan: the chief, his brothers. We are served noodles and onion with chicken. Very tasteful. We can use a fork. We talk.... |
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| Along the road | | |
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| on January 13, 2004 |
The people. Little groups along the road. They sit next to each other or they walk around, all ages, I spot people and animals. Especially the women and the girls are eye catching: how beautiful they are, well maintained from top till toe, proud and gracious, colourful dresses accentuating their nice female shapes. The informal market is profitable: hardboard houses along the road leave us wondering if these are houses of commerce or homes to live in. Sometimes we drive miles without seeing a living soul, and then repeatedly, we will drive through little villages. Each time the same ingredients: piles of melons en citrus fruits, kids seated upon piles of disposed tires, men working at car wretches. Wretches of cars. Disposed by Europe they are resusciliated to live a second life in Africa. ?Garage Vanderkelen? reads a sign on one of them in front of us, when the dark thick smoke has vanished in the air. If there is any car control, then for sure there is no CO test done! |
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| A story about cows and lack of water | | |
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| on January 13, 2004 |
In the morning, Seckou takes us out on a guided tour. First we go see the cows, as Isabelle had announced she would like to milk them. It is a hard job because it is so slippery due to the fact that the cows are still feeding a calf. Me too, I give the milking a try and, being a novice at it, I manage pretty well but …only a scarcely amount of milk is coming out. It probably first had to go in as water and providing that water became a huge problem. Human hand power has to pull it up from the deep well. “Why is there not another grassland pomp?” Isabelle, the farmer’s wife, asks herself. Grassland pomp: the cows push against it with their nose and water is pouring out, just like that. Seckou Kande is listening very interested. |
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More Senegal Tips
| Overview | General Tips Tips: 34 - Photos: 31 |
| Restaurants Tips: 19 - Photos: 13 | Hotels and Accommodations Tips: 43 - Photos: 36 |
| Things To Do Tips: 98 - Photos: 94 | Nightlife Tips: 11 - Photos: 6 |
| Off the Beaten Path Tips: 51 - Photos: 50 | Tourist Traps Tips: 16 - Photos: 12 |
| Warnings or Dangers Tips: 31 - Photos: 22 | Transportation Tips: 34 - Photos: 31 |
| Local Customs Tips: 23 - Photos: 22 | Packing Lists Tips: 6 - Photos: 3 |
| Shopping Tips: 14 - Photos: 14 | Sports Travel Tips: 2 - Photos: 2 |
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