DESTINATIONS WINTER SUN | SENEGAL


exper expert ASK THE


Karen Durham, product manager,


The Gambia Experience


“Senegal attracts visitors with its wonderful sandy


beaches where you can enjoy watersports galore, and is also a fantastic destination


for migratory birds, with vast nature reserves to explore. Unlike other winter-sun


destinations, it offers a taste of African culture and French-influenced cuisine


CLOCKWISE FROM TOP LEFT: Fishing boats in Saint Louis; cemetery on shell island Fadiouth; street on Gorée Island; giraffes in Fathala Wildlife Reserve PICTURES: Shutterstock/Vladimir Zhoga, Wynian


Nearby, the Bandia Reserve offers a slew of bigger animals to spot, including giraffes, monkeys and giant tortoises. It’s just one of the many wildlife parks and bird sanctuaries to be found in Senegal, including the Unesco-listed Djoudj National Bird Sanctuary. And at the southernmost Fathala Wildlife Reserve, clients can join game drives to explore the 6,000 hectares of land where rhino, zebras, Derby elands and warthogs roam. There are also mangrove boat excursions, and bush and birdwatching walks.


CITY LIGHTS


Dakar is a cosmopolitan city that makes a great beginning or end to a Senegal adventure. We loved exploring sights like the Mosque of Divinity and the African Renaissance Monument, and were mesmerised by the stunning craftsmanship at the Théodore Monod African Art Museum. By day three, a short excursion out of town to see the bright pink waters of Lake Retba and relaxing by the hotel pool feel well-earned. Nights are spent enjoying live music – this is the home of two of Senegal’s (and Africa’s) most famous musicians, Youssou N’Dour and Baaba Maal – and delicious local Senegalese dishes such as the fish and rice dish thieboudienne or mafé, a nut-based stew.


32 31 AUGUST 2023


HERITAGE AND HISTORY Two of Senegal’s Unesco World Heritage Sites reward in very different ways. The former capital of Saint Louis still retains impressive architecture from centuries of Portuguese, French and English colonialism, making a horse-drawn caleche ride around it and its neighbouring fishing village delightful. But the car-free island of Gorée is a truly compelling site. One of Africa’s first Unesco World Heritage Sites, it’s a tiny, sleepy place and it’s hard to imagine its one-time role as the centre of a 400-year-long slave trade in which an estimated 12 million people were forced across the Atlantic from the continent. A visit to its focal spot, the House of Slaves, to honour those souls is something that will stay with you long after you’ve left this multi-faceted country.


TW BOOK IT


The Gambia Experience offers seven nights’ all-inclusive at the five-star Royal Horizon Baobab in Saly from £1,449, based on two sharing a standard room, including flights and transfers, with a November 27 departure. A three-night add-on at Fathala Wildlife Reserve is available from £555 based on two sharing a deluxe tented lodge on a B&B basis. gambia.co.uk


(along with local dishes), and wildlife experiences where big game can be witnessed in its natural habitat. The Gambia Experience flies directly into Dakar to visit the Senegal


resorts of Saly and La Somone, with an array of excursions and activities. Alternatively, clients can fly into Banjul, The Gambia, from where it’s simple to travel across the River


Gambia to Senegal by ferry for a holiday set around the Sine-Saloum Delta.


Customers can expect a fantastic beach holiday in the


tourist areas, with plenty to see and do. The accommodation provides all-inclusive as well as more traditional B&B and half-board options, and the


hotel restaurants are of a good standard if people don’t want


to venture outside the hotel too much. If there was any trouble we would not run excursions into Dakar, and we will keep monitoring the situation.”


travelweekly.co.uk


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