Program set up for Travelers of the World

Why go on a Holiday in the Saloum Delta and at the Hotel-Lodge Keur Saloum?

The Saloum Delta is located in southwestern Senegal and is one of the best preserved natural areas in all of West Africa. This immense territory of more than 180,000 ha is, in fact, a huge amphibian universe where the water and the sea intertwine intimately to form a maze of islands and inlets, groves of baobabs and mangrove belts, savannahs and forests.

The landscapes are grandiose and provide their visitors with a feeling of peace and eternity which is conducive to a revitalization of the body and mind that is increasingly useful to the balance of life.

These biotopes look like an immense open aviary with a dense and varied animal population. Not to mention that this labyrinth of islands and inlets is home to typical villages whose inhabitants are particularly warm and welcoming.

One of these villages is called Toubacouta and it is in this setting that the hotel Keur Saloum has, thirty years ago, decided to establish itself.

The lodge-hotel is perched on a promontory overlooking the mangrove swamp and offering breathtaking views of the Bandiala’s Bolong (arm of the sea), a half-hour boat ride from the Atlantic Ocean and its endless beaches.

The hotel is medium in size (about 60 rooms in an area of ​​+/- 7 ha.) And has all the modern comforts. It is the starting point for many excursions on the water or the mainland.

Why go on a family holiday?

The Keur Saloum hotel prides itself on having always privileged the stay, tailor-made and individualized, of small groups, often families. Over the years our hotel has acquired the necessary experience in the management of family holidays.

Excursions are, in general, carefully developed between the family and our activities manager. This happens the day before their occurrence in order to prepare the means of transport and picnics.

The contact that parents have with their children during a joint vacation is extremely beneficial; parents are more accessible to children because they are more available and not in a hurry and the children are curious and amazed by the richness of the local flora and fauna.

We say that travel is youth: we can attest and have many examples of young people who learned to fish with their parents, to play an African musical instrument, or to understand the gap which separates their luxurious childhood from the basic needs of which native children are devoid. All this during their stay at our hotel.

And what a pleasure it is to be able to share all these experiences with your family!

6-day stay at the Keur Saloum hotel, to discover Senegal

Day 1

Arrival at Dakar International Airport, where you will find our driver who, without delay, takes you to the pier of the Port of Dakar. The shuttle takes you by boat to Gorée Island where you will have dinner and spend the night.

Day 2

After your breakfast, you return to the mainland and our air-conditioned minibus transfers you back to the hotel Keur Saloum where you will arrive around 13:00 for lunch. Fresh water is provided in the vehicle.

The afternoon of the first day is devoted to taking its marks and set benchmarks in the hotel, enjoy the pool, relax, play ping pong.

Around 5 pm we embark on a pirogue for a nice excursion to the Ile aux Coquillages called Diorom Boumag which is about a huge shelly mound more than 18 meters high that used to be a funeral tomb for the kings of an old Serer dynasty.

We will return via the fabulous Reposoir des Oiseaux, a large grove of mangroves on which a multitude of seabirds jostles to spend the night.

There are hundreds of egrets, herons, kingfishers, cormorants and gray pelicans, in an incredible fuss, twirling above our heads.

Your return to the hotel is planned around 19 hours. Around 19.30 h, a welcome aperitif accompanied by hot oysters from the mangroves will be served on the large panoramic terrace.

Day 3

This morning, we offer a walk (by Doudou) guided by mountain bike in the sacred forest of Sangako in search of omnipresent monkeys and resplendent birds.

To avoid hot weather, the departure will be at around 9 am and the return to the hotel will be scheduled around 11.30 pm.

The end of the morning, as well as the afternoon will be free, which can be put to advantage to introduce you to fishing with the line or the handline.

Our kayaks are at your disposal, as well as the ping-pong table or tennis, unless you prefer to follow a course of djembe (tam-tam) or other musical instruments in the village. Young girls can be thought to made Senegalese braids or learn a dance of this country.

Day 4

On the program, the most important excursion of your stay: a beautiful pirogue ride to Djinack, at the doors of the ocean, not far from the border with Gambia. It is accessed through small bolongs (arm of the sea) sometimes tolerating, just barely, the passage of the canoe.

Visit the pretty village of Djinack, a former trading post and then we’ll install ourselves at our camp on the edge of a beach of immense and deserted fine sand where we’ll enjoy a neat picnic.

Your boatman, who is, of course, versatile, will grill before you a beautiful fish over a wood fire.

Swimming, surf casting fishing, shell collecting, a walk on the endless beach to the ocean or a nap are all possibilities for you to enjoy. We then return to the hotel around 17 hours.

During the evening meal in Keur Saloum, we offer for adults a lobster or a camarone (a very large gamba species, but with a much finer taste), while the children will cook slices of beef on a brazier.

Day 5

After breakfast we depart by vehicle to Missirah via the red trail. After the visit of the giant cheesemaker of the village, we cross the fishing port and embark in the canoe that leads us to the secular village of Sipo.

A half-hour walk takes us to the Bamboung site, a marine protected area (MPA), that is to say a place where all fishing and exploitation activities of any kind are prohibited, in the purpose of regenerating biotopes and biological resting places for fauna and flora.

The place is magical because of its wild beauty. With a little calm and luck, you will see warthogs, monkeys of many varieties, fish eagles or palm vultures, not to mention the countless colorful birds.

You can go kayaking and have a drink in peace. Back to Sipo we will have lunch at the edge of the bolong and you can go swimming along a beach of white sand and water of all purity.

We return to the hotel at the end of the day.

Day 6

It may be time to make contact with the village and its friendly inhabitants. We offer a guided tour of Toubacouta, with the visit of the dispensary, kindergarten, gardening, maternity and so on.

This is also the occasion to concretize the acquisition of a small souvenir created by the local craftsmen.

After lunch, departure to M’Bourg and accommodation at Tama Lodge.

Extras

We have some additional activities for you to experience during your stay at our hotel.

• An excursion much appreciated by all is that of the market of Touba Mourid which is held every Sunday morning with about twenty kilometers of Toubacouta.
  Our all-terrain vehicle crosses the beautiful surrounding countryside to get to an indigenous market (not tourist at all) which is very colorful. This trip can pleasantly replace another excursion in case a Sunday is included in the stay.
• During the free time left at the hotel, various recreational opportunities are offered to our young customers, such as Djembe classes, Senegalese dance classes, a Senegalese hairdressing session …
• Do not forget the opportunities to practice various sports such as table tennis, tennis, mountain biking, kayaking, swimming and board games.
• I propose, without exaggerating its contours, to ensure that VDM customers can enjoy a VIP treatment, that is to say that their table is always reserved, they are entitled to an aperitif welcome, a gala dinner and so on.

Prices

The financial conditions applied to this type of program are dependent on the number of participants and are as follows (to be added to the price of the hotel stay and the tourist promotion tax).

• Basic (3 Persons): 310.41 € per person
• 4 Persons: 10% of from the basic price per person
• 5 Persons: 15% of from the basic price per person

The transfer to Gorée, the transfer to Toubacouta and the one to Tama Lodge are included in the price.