Senegal: Bicycle Tour Travel Guide

WE WOULD LOVE
YOUR SUPPORT!
Our content is
provided free as
a public service!

IBF is 100%
        solar powered

Follow us on Twitter

by David Mozer

[An introduction and overview to travel in Africa is available by clicking here.  If you are look for a bicycle tour to this country, this link might help you.]

The information below may have been extracted from a more comprehensive "Country Supplement" to the book "Bicycling In Africa".  For information on these publications click on the links.

Senegal and Gambia have nice beaches, warm weather in January and are a short trip for European tourists, so they come in large numbers and there are a lot of large beach resorts that cater to them.

There are a few other things that I also recommend about Senegal: historical sites like Goree Island; the enormous variety of birds of the West African flyway; the culture and the general beauty. The diversity of points of interest is very satisfying.

Routes

There are a number of paved roads that fan out from Dakar. It is difficult to get between them, so once you pick your direction you are pretty much committed to seeing that part of the country. Each offers a different visual and cultural experience, but common to all of the routes is a lack of significant hills.

Most people will probably find the most interesting direction to the south, into Gambia and Casamance and then east to the upper Casamance. The segments on this trip might be: Dakar­Mbour, Mbour­Foundiougne via Fatick, Foundiougne­Passi, Passi-Toubakouta, Toubakouta­Banjul, Banjul­Diouloulou, Diouloulou­Ziguinchor. Each stop has food and lodging and there are a number of side trips you can build in to the trip to enhance the experience: From Dakar go to Malika, Niaga and Theis; from Mbour visit Joal-Fadiouth and Palmarin; from Diouloulou head for the beach at Kafountine or Abene; from Ziguinchor visit one of the many villages Campement in the Basse Casamance region.

Going east from Zuguinchor is more of a challenge, because there are no hotels and very few other services between Zuguinchor and Kolda, unless you travel via Bignoua and Sedhiou. Tanaf, at the midpoint of the direct road has some small restaurants. Kolda is a great town if you can get there. It would get many peoples vote for the nicest town in Senegal. It is not because it has one highlight or special feature, it is just a very relaxing atmosphere. Kolda to Tambacounda presents another problem. There was a Campement in Velingara, but it has been closed for several years and no one seems to know when it will be reopened. There is another Campement a mile west of Kounkane, but it is only open during hunting season ­­ a few months of the dry season.

Going east from Banjul also has it challenges, not the least of which are the roads. The roads on the north side of the river are dirt. In theory the road on the south side of the river is paved as far as Basse Santa Su, but there are long sections which are torn up and much of the paving seems to have been done by throwing down globs of asphalt embedded with billions of little seashells. It is a horribly rough ride! The next challenges are services: the are rustic guesthouse in several of the villages between Bwiam and Kalaji, Farafenni has a hotel and restaurant and you can find accommodations in Georgetown and Bassa Santa Su. Other than that you are going to have to be prepared to improvise. One thing that makes Gambia a delight for cycling is a lot of capped borehole wells with hand pumps. And the water tastes good.

Links of Interest:

• Africa Guide Senegal
• Bibliography
• Senegal Page
• Senegal Guide Useful information and tips on living and traveling in Senegal.
• Senegalese Association of United Volunteers (SENEVOLU).  Alternative tourism and language program.  NOTE: A few years back we received a couple scathing critiques of this program by  participants. They seem to have moved beyond this.  In recent years we have also received feedback saying this is an excellent experience.  As with any, program, it is wise to contact past participants and ask tough questions, before making a decision.
• Tostan Women's Health and Human Rights
• Languages of Senegal
• U.S. Embassy Dakar

Regional Resources:

Guinea
Mali
Mauritania

For current news on Africa and more web sites with country-by-country information go to the link section and click on "Africa: News, Background, Travel."

Africa Guide Home   IBF's Bibliography: Africa   IBF's Travel Page   IBF's Africa index 

Home | About Us | Contact Us | Contributions | Economics | Education | Encouragement | Engineering | Environment | Bibliography | Essay Contest | Ibike Tours | Library | Links | Site Map | Search

The International Bicycle Fund is an independent, non-profit organization. Its primary purpose is to promote bicycle transportation. Most IBF projects and activities fall into one of  four categories: planning and engineering, safety education, economic development assistance and promoting international understanding. IBF's objective is to create a sustainable, people-friendly environment by creating opportunities of the highest practicable quality for bicycle transportation. IBF is funded by private donation. Contributions are always welcome and are U.S. tax-deductible to the extent allowed by law.

Please write if you have questions, comment, criticism, praise or additional information for us, to report bad links, or if you would like to be added to IBF's mailing list. (Also let us know how you found this site.)

"Hosted by DreamHost - earth friendly web hosting"
Created by David Mozer.
Copyright ? 1995-2024 International Bicycle Fund. All rights reserved.