"Saagar's Senegal pages" Senegal by Saagar

Sine Saloume canal

I was lucky to carry out a bit of work in Senegal, and some of this activity brought me to the Toubacouta area, This is outside the mainstram tourist area, mainly known to the sports fishing crowd and the French Foreign Legion as a swamp training ground. Neither of these groups are likely to destroy your visit.
Sine and Saloum are two rivers draining the central part of Senegal just north of the Gambia. The rivers as such are not big, but the delta and estuary definitely is. It's a nature protection area, partly a strict bird protection area with limitations on movement. Package holiday goers stranded on the beaches just south of Dakar are offered visits to the northern side of the delta. From Toubacouta you can visit all parts of the delta and the Gambia as well. You can combine watching birdlife, reptiles, tidal aquatic life, red colobus monkeys and dolphins with fishing and bathing. Hotels in Toubacouta can accomodate you, and there is an interesting local community development centre with acommodation bordering the delta 8 km from Toubacouta along the way to Missirah.

• Pros:Ecological wonders, historical remains, good tourism infrastructure,
• Cons:Pushy salesmen, difficult with public transportation
• In a nutshell:Wonderful destination, but somewhat hard going as an independent visitor