Things to do in Senegal
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Café de Rome
You want to mingle with Dakar's jet set? This is the place. So pretentious it borders on hilarious.
reviewed
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Marché des HLM
The fabulous Marché des HLM is the best place to buy African fabrics. Hundreds of rolls of wax-dyed bazin (dyed fabrics beaten to a shine with wooden clubs), vibrant prints, embroidered cloth, lace and silk lend colour to the ramshackle stalls and dusty streets of this popular quartier. You can get matching shoes, bags and jewellery at the same place, and even have your new ensemble sewn here.
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Héliopolis
The Piscine Olympique (869 0606; Tour de l'Œuf) in Point E has excellent fitness facilities. In town, Héliopolis is brilliantly equipped with state-of-the art machines and weights, and offers a range of classes from aerobics to yoga. Otherwise, try the large hotels. Many of them have gymnasiums that nonguests can use for a fee.
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Lac Rose
Lac Rose owes its name to its pink colouring, caused by a high mineral and salt content, which also makes for very buoyant swimming. It's a popular Dakarois picnic spot, attracting tour groups and, inevitably, souvenir sellers, and has achieved notoriety in modern times as the terminus of the annual Dakar motor rally.
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Cap Skiring
The beaches in the Cap Skiring area are among West Africa's finest. Unsuprisingly, a thriving tourist industry has developed around it, though it remains pleasantly low-key. And just a short drive away from the bustle of the Cap, the tourist bustle gives way to small villages, and the golden beaches are calmer.
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Chez Loutcha
Ignore the air-conditioned front room and head out back to the fan-conditioned garden, where the fountains embellish an aquatic theme. The Cape Verdean and 'Euro-Africaine' cuisine is excellent and comes in enormous portions, and there's often a griot playing the kora here as well.
reviewed
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E
La Palmeraie
This place is usually buzzing - but that's got to be due to the central location. It can't be the food, which is ordinary, nor the setting, which is gloomy. The service? Disgruntled. Still, for a quick bite in the centre of town it's a reasonable option.
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Casino Terrou-Bi
Right on the sea, this chic garden restaurant serves highly recommended French cuisine. It's a favourite with Dakar's monied classes, and the perfect place to sip cocktails near the pool before blowing the holiday budget in the adjacent casino.
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Lagon I
In this expensive restaurant the nautical theme is consistently pursued, from cruise-ship décor and cabin-style toilets to the terrace suspended on stilts in the ocean and scrumptious platters of seafood.
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Jardin Thaïlandais
There's no better Thai, perhaps no better Asian food altogether, in the whole of Senegal than that served at this pretty place in Point E. Prices are a bit steep, but every bite is worth it.
reviewed
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La Royaltine
Guarded by a uniformed porter and drenched in soft, golden lighting, Dakar's most polished patisserie oozes class. Affluent Dakarois swagger in here for tasty cakes, desserts and chocolates.
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Ali Baba Snack Bar
Dakar's classic fast-food haunt keeps turning thanks to the undying love of the Senegalese. Serves the whole fast-food range: kebabs, shwarmas and other quick snacks.
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Saveur d'Asie
Hugely popular, this takeaway restaurant makes an enticing promise of serving Senegalese-Asian cuisine. It sells almost the complete works of Youssou N'Dour in its adjacent boutique.
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Café Restaurant de l'Institut
In the cool shade of the Institut Français' mighty fromager tree, this oasis of calm has an excellent range of simple meals, delicious desserts and great coffee.
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Les Grilladins
This is a good address for pizzas and crêpes. Food here isn't fancy but it's reliable, and even served relatively speedily. Les Grilladins also does home delivery.
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Marché Sandaga
In the endless sprawl of street stalls here you can buy about anything, as long as no one steals your purse.
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Pirogue Trips
The standard day trip from Ziguinchor includes a pirogue trip to Affiniam and Djilapao on the northern side of the Casamance River and a trip to Île des Oiseaux. These three places are set in beautiful surrounding. Affiniam has a stunning case à impluvium (the campement villageois), and in Djilapao, you can see some beautiful cases à étages (traditional two-storey mud houses).
Île des Oiseaux is great for bird lovers; with very little effort you can see pelicans, flamingos, kingfishers, storks and sunbirds as well as many more species.Many hotels offer trips to these destinations including Le Flamboyant, the Hôtel Kadiandoumagne and the Relais de Santhiaba. Prices…
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Institut Fondamental d'Afrique Noir (IFAN) Museum
The IFAN Museum is one of the best museums in West Africa. Lively, imaginative displays show masks and traditional dress across the region (including Mali, Guinea-Bissau, Benin and Nigeria) and provide an excellent overview of styles, without bombarding you with more than you can take in.
The museum is a testimony to former President Senghor's interest in promoting African art and culture. You can also see beautiful fabrics and carvings, drums, musical instruments and agricultural tools, though there are no English explanations and, sadly, not much from Senegal itself.
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Ferme de Djibelor
Heading 5km west out of town, you can walk through the vast greenness of the Ferme de Djibelor, which has a large, tropical fruit and flower garden to enjoy (and from which to purchase fresh produce).
It also has a rather bizarre crocodile farm at the back, where you can get close to Nile crocs in all ages and sizes - from tiny babies to 'granddads', though knowing that they're kept to be one day slaughtered for their meat and skin spoils the fun a little (the crocodile products from the farm can be exported legally, as they're not taken from wild animals).
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Maison des Esclaves
This building is one of the last remaining 18th-century slave-trading houses on the island. Built in 1786 and renovated in 1990, it serves as a graphic reminder of that cruel commerce. There is, however, considerable debate as to the building's historical significance.
Although it's probable the dungeon was used to hold slaves, it's unlikely that this building or indeed any other on the island was used to ship considerable numbers of slaves. Still, a visit here is an evocative way to bring to life the horrors of that era.
reviewed
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Soumbédioune
Northwest of the centre, and well worth the trip, is the fishing beach and market of Soumbédioune, originally a village but now a suburb engulfed by the city. It's best in the late afternoon when the fishing boats are returning with their catch.
This is also a major centre of pirogue (canoe) building, and behind the fish market you'll see carpenters turning planks and tree trunks into large ocean-going canoes. The Village Artisanal nearby is full of craft stalls and large groups of tourists.
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Île de Gorée
With its colonial brick-structures and sand-blown, bougainvillea-flushed alleyways, this island is a haven of tranquility. But there's a sad background to all this calm beauty - Île de Gorée used to be an important slave trading station, and many visitors come here for traces of this tragic past.
Try to visit Gorée on its annual Jours des Portes Ouvertes in May/June, when the island's numerous artists' ateliers and many private homes are open to the public.
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Layen Mausoleum
There's a fantastically wide beach near the fishing village of Yoff. The stretch of beach closest to the village is quite polluted, with a fish market dominating most of the scene. The traditional Yoff village and its majestic Layen Mausoleum, however, are well worth a visit. The residents there are noted for the strong Islamic culture. Smoking and drinking are not allowed and visitors should be appropriately dressed (meaning long skirts for women, long trousers for men).
reviewed
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Club Thiossane
World music fans should head for this hot and crowded club in La Médina, north of Marché Sandaga. It's owned by the legendary Youssou N'Dour, and when he's not touring the man himself performs here most Friday and Saturday nights. Club Thiossane can be very hard to find, and seeing as you probably won't be heading there until late it's best to take a taxi - it's pronounced Cho-sahn and all the drivers know it.
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Mosqué de la Divinité
Taking the coastal road northwards, you'll see the stunning Mosqué de la Divinité perched on the coast near Les Mamelles quartier. Les Mamelles Lighthouse, off Rte de la Corniche-Ouest, is just a 25-minute walk or 1km drive north from here, on a small volcanic hill. You get an excellent view across Dakar from the 1864 building; visits are best made during the day and are free of charge.
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