Unexplored West Africa – 26 Days

Meet at the airport and transfer to the hotel. Your experienced tour guide will brief you on what to expect during your stay in Senegal  The rest of the day is at leisure.  Overnight at Djoloff Dakar 

After breakfast, we will head to Dakar, for a city tour of this former capital of French West Africa.  From Independence Place and the presidential palace, we will continue by a seafront drive towards the main cathedral, to feel the contrasts between some upscale residential areas and other popular neighbourhoods.   We will stop at the African Renaissance Monument, being the highest world bronze statue, and the Museum of black civilisation. Since 1966 after the success of the first World Festival of Negro Arts, the idea was to show the African influence in today's progress. From the ground floor with the first hominids to the fourth floor, different concepts and different exhibitions showing Africa the cradle of humanity, to the invention by Africans of metallurgy, mathematics, chemistry, astronomy, medicine ...  Lunch and departure for the port, there a ferry will lead us to Gorée Island a UNESCO World Heritage Site.   Land of martyrs and suffering, Goree Island was an important slaves transit center before their deportation to the Americas  Our visit will start at the famous slave's house, built in 1776 by the Portuguese, a presentation by the curator in this last house of slaves, to know about the captive’s life and to observe the “Door of No Return” through which millions of Africans passed on the way to slavery in the Americas.  We will walk through the alleys of Goree, to better discover its homogeneous architecture, the first buildings of which date from the 15th century.  Overnight at Djoloff Dakar  Meal(s) Included: Breakfast and Dinner   

After breakfast, we will check out from Dakar for a tour of the Pink Lake, a rare phenomenon caused by a unique combination of microorganisms and a high concentration of salt which gives the lake its different colours. With 380g of salt per liter of water, the concentration is beyond saturation, so everything is floating in this lake.  We will experience the swim floatation, before heading north to St. Louis, the former French colonial capital of Senegal.     Meal(s) Included: Breakfast and Dinner  Overnight at Residence Hotel