Fun things to do in Senegal

The mahogany trees that line the streets are being made unsightly by the natives debarking the trunks. They make concoctions from the bark as medicine against malaria. [The same belief has been found in Sudan]. The ugly scars have been painted white to camouflage the scars and to deter further debarking.

1 more image

If you are interested in Senegalese music, whether it be traditional or modern, these classes are for you. My husband, Mass M'Baye, is a professional sabar drummer and dancer. What is sabar, you may ask? Sabar is the traditional drum of senegal. It is NOT a djembe. Djembe is found throughout west africa - sabar is special to Senegal.

Mass comes from the renowned M'baye griot family. He can teach you not only how to play the sabar, but he can also show you how to make one, teach you about the fascinating role sabar plays in Senegalese culture, and introduce you to the world of modern mbalax (Senegalese) music. He can organize excursions to night clubs where you can see the sabar in action. Classes can be tailored according to your interests, time constraints, and monetary budgets.

This is definitely an opportunity not to be missed. If you are interested, you can email Mass at sabarindakar@gmail.com, or call me, Terry, at +221 77.706.51.09.

If you have an opportunity to visit Touba, Senegal, you should go and see one of the fastest growing cities in Senegal. For most visitors, take an opportunity to drive around the great mosque in the city. Its very nice mosque. However, you need to be aware of some drawbacks.

If you do not practice Islam, your best and really only option is to remain outside of the mosques boundaries which are bounded by a fence. We were both fortunate and unfortunate, we actually were invited by an imam at the site to visit, unfortuantely some of his fellow imams weren't very happy about are being there.

After a brief discussion between the men, it was decided we could continue with the tour, with the same restrictions we have been given earlier, women had to keep their heads covered, shoes would remain off, and we were not allowed into most sections of the mosque.

However, we were allowed enter one small room where we were given a lecture on the Mourid Brotherhood and the mosque.

Muslims are allowed throughout the facility. Although some mosque in various countries allow for visitors, many do not, and this is one of them. However, if returning from St. Louis to Dakar, it makes a nice detour for some great pictures.

Part of the vieux vlle of St Louis is located on an island in Senegal river, the train station being on the mainland. Of course you can take a cab or a bus to get from one point to the other, but as the place is not really that big, you can just as well join local folks and walk across the bridge, thus not only watching life at a slower pace, but eyeing the kind of outdated technical state of the bridge (seeing those rusty spots and holes gives you some second thoughts....)

St Louis, about a 4 hours drive from Dakar, is a beautiful town full of French colonial architecture in warm colors - some of the buildings in decay (which somehow only adds to the charm of the place), others being restored and shining in new color. Compared to bustling street life in Dakar, life goes on with a slow pace in a laid back atmosphere here - you can stroll through the narrow streets, have some cafe in a little cafe or haggle with the counless souvenir vendors. Still, compared to the pushy behavior you find for example in tourist markets in the Maghreb countries, even shopping in the tourist mile is very relaxing. You can probably see everything there is to see in a day or two, but it is so nice that hanging out for a bit longer feels quite tempting

The 39,537-acre (16,000-hectare) Djoudj National Park (referred to simply as the Djoudj) is made up of a stretch of the Senegal River, as well as large lakes, channels, marshes, reedbeds, mud flats, and surrounding areas of dry scrub. It is the first major wetland south of the Sahara Desert and is therefore a major wintering area and stop-over point for birds migrating south from Europe. It is also home to millions of resident birds. So many birds rely on the Djoudj that it is a wetland of global significance, and has been designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

The Djoudj is popular with birdwatchers, of course, but other tourists make day trips from nearby Saint-Louis just to see the colonies of nesting pelicans and flocks of wintering flamingos. The largest lake in the Djoudj has three blinds where visitors can keep out of sight while observing the birds.

The highlight of my visit to the Djoudj was taking a boat ride through reed-lined channels to visit the pelican colony (pictured here). In addition to great white pelicans and pink-backed pelicans, we saw white-breasted cormorants, long-tailed cormorants, darters, herons and egrets of several species, yellow-billed storks, greater flamingos, lesser flamingos, literally tens of thousands of white-faced whistling ducks, spur-winged geese, comb ducks, raptors of several species, and two species of kingfishers. I also saw my first Nile crocodiles here. They linger around the pelican colony, waiting for young birds to fall into the water for an easy meal.

Despite people thinking it is a tourist trap, Ile de Goree is full of history and tranquility. The slave fort is very touristed but tours are done by a charming and educated curator (only in French) that is more than happy to share his knowledge with interested customers. The rest of Goree is worth a stroll as well, a nice small town that has a colonial flair but is still very much African.

Construction on the Grand Mosque was started in 1936 by the son of Amadou Bamba upon Bamba's death. (See my Touba tip for more information about Amadou Bamba and his Mouride Islamic Brotherhood). The Grand Mosque, built in the Mecca style of mosque architecture, is almost continuously under construction, since all caliphs since Amadou Bamba have added to the building. The Koranic library contained on the grounds of the mosque is said to be the largest such library in the world.

Unlike in many parts of the Islamic world, non-Muslims can visit the Grand Mosque outside of prayer hours. However, a guide is absolutely necessary--non-Muslims cannot enter without a guide.