Not to miss

Ziguinchor

At first glance, Ziguinchor may not seem like anything special, but those who stay here grow to love it despite the influx of tourists during the winter months. Being one of Senegal's cheapest cities and only having about 100,000 inhabitants, makes it easy on your feet and your wallet.

The Marché St-Maur is worth a visit if you're looking for food or knickknacks. A block south is the Centre Artisanal, where numerous venders sell a variety of area crafts. Many of the area's hotels can organise a pirogue (canoe) ride to the villages of Affiniam and Djilapao or the Île des Oiseaux.

Dakar

Some people say Dakar doesn't represent the 'real' Africa, but they're wrong. It is a big, crowded, dirty, raw, chaotic, ambitious, in-your-face and utterly exciting city, and if you're after a glimpse of the urban future of Africa, this is as real as it gets.

The cosmopolitan atmosphere, temperate climate, rocking range of bars and nightclubs, fascinating mix of African, French colonial and modern architecture and culture, and especially the range and quality of restaurants, make it well worth making Dakar's acquaintance.

The central area is easily explored on foot, and a variety of city buses run frequently to the suburbs. Also within reach are several good beaches, traditional fishing communities and some fascinating islands of historical and ecological interest.

Of course, Dakar won't be everyone's cup of tea. The noise, fumes and crowds can be bad, but what's most likely to wind you up is the unwanted attention you'll get from pestering traders, and the risk of theft. If your courage fails, it's easy enough to spend time in parts of the city that tourists, and consequently the bad guys, don't frequent.

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.

Parc National des Oiseaux du Djoudj

From November to April, some three million birds migrating south from Europe stop here, because it's one of the first places with permanent water south of the Sahara. This park is one of the most important bird sanctuaries in the world, and almost 30 species have been recorded. Pink flamingos, pelicans, ducks and waders are most plentiful.

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.