guet n'dar
Walk to Guet Ndar, the fishing village that is located on the Langue de Barberie and watch the fisherman bring in their catch. If you're lucky, you might get a great deal on seafood. Dozens of trucks wait to buy up the fish for as little as 500 CFA a crate and transport them into the interior as far as Kaolack, Tambacounda and Mali. Local people carry the fish in baskets on their neck and on their heads. Women can be found smoking and drying fish next to the beach in vast cauldrons. Nearby very colorful pirogues are always under construction. It is possible to see nearly every stage from the first carvings to the final painting. If you walk into the residential district of Guet Ndar, you will see thousands of people trying to live their their lives squeezed in a tiny area. The scene is very colorful and lively, but when you walk along the beach you will see the effects of overcrowding in the squalid sanitary conditions and insufficient trash disposal. There is a decent sized market in Guet Ndar, somewhat smaller than the larger Sor market two bridges away.
langue de barbarie peninsula
On the Langue de Barbarie Peninsula you can check out the fishing village of Guet NâDar and watch the bustling fish market and catch glimpses of the colorful pirogues that are used for fishing. Further down on the Guet NâDar is the fisherman cemetery and past that is the Hydrobase, a great place to spend a day at the beach. Occupying the very south end of the Peninsula is part of the Parc National de la Langue de Barbarie which is home to a variety of bird species.
saint-louis international jazz festival
This annual event generally occurs in May but the event is slated to take place in June for 2011, the festival lasts about a week. This internationally renowned event attracts jazz musicians and visitors from around the world and is the most important jazz festival in Africa. The events of the festival take place all over town. Exact dates and programs can be found online at www.saintlouisjazz.com in French.
island of saint-louis
Saint-Louis was founded in 1659 and named after the French King Louis XIV in the 1700s, it is the oldest city to be created by Europeans on the western coast of Africa and served as the capital of Senegal from 1872 to 1957. It played an important cultural and economic role in the whole of West Africa, a stroll around the Ville as the cab drivers know it as quickly reveals the French colonial influence. Many of the buildings hold their old character with many brightly colored buildings and beautiful balconies to be seen all around the Island. The Island was named a UNESCO world heritage site in 2000. Be sure to stop into the Syndicat dâInitiative of Saint Louis located in the Governance building opposite the bridge and pick up the urban walk they have mapped out.