Blogs from Saint-Louis, Saint-Louis Region, Senegal, Africa - page 4

Visit of Zebrabar on Easter Vacations with Family Members! We visited Zebrabar, a charming place, which invites to excursion and discoveries. Located about 20 kilometers off Saint Louis, Zebrabar is an oasis of peace and kids friendly vacation spot in Senegal. Its proximity to the Langue de Barbarie National Park and "Isles aux Oiseaux" makes it an attractive campground for parents with children and a place of encounter with nature. The place combines birds’ park, white sand beaches, salt water for surfing, fishing, and fresh water for kayaking and windsurfing, and a people friendly and welcoming community. Zebrabar, own by a Swiss couple, is built on the shoreline of the Senegal River. In the early afternoon, the Senegal River displays one of the most beautiful exhibitions that nature graciously offers. The dance and singing of ... read more

As a result of skipping an extra day in Nouakchott, we had a bonus day added to our itinerary. So we had the opportunity to take one day longer to get to Dakar and we chose to stay in Zebrabar national park just outside St Louis. Here we had a really relaxing time in the beautiful setting. We took an afternoon boat trip along the river and stopped on a sand spit where you could see St Louis off in the distance. There were literally thousands of crabs scurrying across the sand which made us all smile.... read more

Nouakchott-St LouisTom Griffith At all of the border crossings I have made, whether in Latin America, Europe, the Middle East, or Asia, I have never once been asked for a bribe. Then I arrived in West Africa, and things changed. Leaving Mauritania via the depressingly awful border town of Rosso, I had our passports snatched from my hand by a policeman, who then wandered around with them for 20 minutes while Suze and I followed him. Eventually, a bigwig in an office signed them, and then they were taken away to be stamped. The policeman returned, handed Suze's back, but then kept mine and asked me to hand over some money. I smiled and pretended I didn't understand him. He then marched me over to his supervisor, who swung open the gate leading back into Mauritania ... read more

I'm now in St-Louis Senegal, which was the old colonial capital. It still has a lot of the old French colonial charm. St-Louis was a welcome sight after the trip from the Mauritanian Border. I left Nouakchott in Mauritania on the morning of the 4th of January. We left Patrick and Chris behind. Patrick still wasn't feeling well - so he didn't want to travel. We caught a pick up truck to the border - the journey was relatively uneventful. The fun started when we got to the border. Leaving Mauritania can be expensive, the guards demand all sorts of 'taxes'. At the border we were besieged by touts trying to get us to change money. We waited. Crossing through a gate we handed our passports to the guard, who then passed them on to a ... read more