Senegal is one of the most interesting countries of the African continent, which attracts a lot of tourists from different parts of our planet. And these are not only cultural and historical values, in many respects associated with the colonial past countries, but also natural resources. I want to tell a little about those places that deserve the greatest interest and standing visits during self-journey in Senegal.
Since the bulk of tourists, during such a type of tour, use the air flight and first affect the capital of Dakar, will begin with interesting places that are located in this city and its surroundings.
There are several museums in Dakar, among which Museum of African Art Theodore Mono.
In descriptions until 2007, it is as "the Museum of African Art of the Fundamental Institute of Black Africa." In West Africa, he is considered one of the oldest museums of art, and the collection of exhibits, which has about ten thousand items, is among the best, on the entire African continent. These are objects of life and art, jewelry and others.
In addition, exhibitions of contemporary artists of Africa "Dakar Biennale" are periodically held in the museum building periodically holds. It is located at Rue emile zola. And anyone can visit. The cost of the entrance ticket is three thousand francs of the CFA (a little more than four euros).
One of the business cards of Dakar and Senegal himself, is Monument of African Renaissance
In the commune Ouakam (one of the city regions). He was open five years ago, to the fiftieth anniversary of the independence of the country. The monument is made of bronze and rises almost fifty meters. The cost of the structure amounted to about twenty-seven million dollars, which is very much for such a country as Senegal.
For preaching Islam, it will be interesting Dakar Cathedral Mosque,
Which was opened in 1964 by the King of Morocco Hassan Second and President Senegal - Leopold Sedar Senor. The height of the minaret is sixty-seven meters, the architectural style was created jointly by French and Moroccan architects.
Perhaps the most visited tourists in the vicinity of Dakar is Island Mountain,
Which is located just two and a half kilometers from the port of the capital. This place was the center of the slave trade in West Africa, which was conducted here more three hundred years, from 1536 to 1848. About three dozen special homes were built on the island, which contained slaves for subsequent sale.
Inhuman conditions and suffering of slaves are shown in the exposition of one of such houses, which was turned into a museum in 1962.
Less than one and a half thousand local residents live on the island, the architect is almost completely preserved in its original form. No transportation here (its use is prohibited). Message to the mainland of the country carries out small ferries that run every hour. The cost of the crossing is approximately five euros one way. Every year, Mount Island visits several hundred thousand tourists. Among visitors were such famous personalities like Nelson Mandela, Barack Obama, George Bush, Pope John Paul Second and others. Currently, this island is included in the UNESCO World Heritage List.
Another interesting place that is located in thirty kilometers from Dakar is Lake Retba Or it is also called Lacques.
It is from his unusually pink color. Such a peculiar color of water gives galafit bacteria, the only inhabitants of these waters. This is a peculiar "dead sea" Senegal, since the concentration of salt in water is almost forty percent. The water density is such that the locals producing in the lake can be loaded into a regular wooden boat to half a ton of salt and it will not go to the bottom. Salt mining and its sale is the main income of this area. To be in the water during operation, the miners lubricate the body with special oil that protects against the effects of salt and the scorching sun. Earlier, the lake was connected to the ocean, which received saline water, but with time the sand was layered and divided them. Salt is mined in large quantities, cleared and dried on the shore, and then sold, including coming to export.
If you decide to swim, do not forget to rinse well after that in fresh water so as not to damage the skin. By the way, this lake was the final point of Rally Paris-Dakar.
Two hundred and fifty kilometers from the capital, the city of Saint Louis, which has long been the capital of Senegal (until 1902) and is considered one of the oldest colonial settlements in West Africa. It is located in the Delta of the Senegal River, and its historical part (by the way, also in the UNESCO World Heritage List) is a river island, a rectangular shape on which the colonial period architecture has been preserved. The island is connected to the rest of the city by the bridge Faidherbe,
which is almost one hundred and twenty years and being the pride of the city. The length of the bridge is more than five hundred meters (more precisely 511). From the opposite side, a beautiful sandy braid was spread out, washed by the waters of the Atlantic Ocean, which built a lot of different hotels. Every year Saint-Louis visits a large number of tourists. You can get to it from Dakar by train, the passage of which costs from four to six euros or on a route bus for six thousand francs of the CFA (about nine euros).
In addition, Senegal is rich in national parks and reserves in which a large number of animals listed in Red Book . The same applies to rare plant species. The largest of them are like: Park Dzhude. Located in sixty kilometers from Saint-Louis and entered into the list of biosphere reserves of the world importance of UNESCO. Twenty kilometers from the same Saint Louis State Reserve Lange de Berbury . And just dozen kilometers from the city there Special reserve Gümel where birds stop for wintering and live rare animal species, such as monkeys Patas and turtle Sulcata . In Senegal, there is one of the largest in Africa Nicolo Coba National Park , with an area of more than one million hectares, and also guarding UNESCO.
Sixty-five kilometers from Dakar have Reserve Bandia where the giant baobab of a thousand-year-old age is growing.
As you can see, there are something to see in this country, and I called far from all interesting places. In this final video, you will get acquainted with Senegal closer and understand what is the interest of traveling in West Africa.