Dakar Getting there & around

Getting around

Car & motorcycle

Car

Car rental is only an option if you’re in a spending mood, and if you feel brave enough to plunge into the chaotic Dakar traffic.

The major self-drive car-hire agencies in Dakar include the following:

Avis (849 7757; www.cfaogroup.com) At the airport and the Hôtel Meridien President.

Budget (822 2513; cnr Ave du President Lamine Guèye & Ave Faidherbe) Also at the airport and the Hôtel Meridien President.

Hertz (820 1174; www.hertz.sn; Rue Gomis) Also at the airport.

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Bus & tram

Bus

Dakar’s Dakar Dem Dikk (DDD; www.dakardemdikk.com) bus network is a fabulous thing. Buses are modern, reliable and regular; tickets cost between US$0.30 and US$0.40. Check the website for a detailed list of DDD routes.

More frequent but less user-friendly are the white Ndiaga Ndiaye minivans and the blue-yellow cars rapides, Dakar’s battered, crammed and dangerously driven symbols of identity. They are eventually supposed to be replaced by the pretty, blue-white Senbuses. These are reliable, clean and display their destinations clearly, but still only cover a few routes.

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Local transport

Taxi

Taxis are by far the easiest way of getting around town. Rates need to be fiercely negotiated before stepping into the cab. A short trip around the town centre should cost around US$1.50. From the centre of Dakar to the suburbs of Point E and Mermoz, you’re likely to pay around US$3, and up to US$5.50 if travelling to Yoff and N’Gor.

The official taxi rate for trips from Léopold Sédar Senghor International Airport into the city centre is US$6, though you’re unlikely to get there for under US$8 to US$10. If you haul your luggage to the main road outside the airport and stop a passing cab, you can save a couple of CFA.

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