10 day guided trek in the Ferlo area, Senegal

Arrival to Dakar. In case of evening or night flight, transfer and night in an inn.

Departure to Louga (180 km). The trip allows us to get acquainted with the landscapes of northern Senegal. After Thiès, we go through Tivaouane, the capital of Tijanes, then to the Louga region by Kebemer and Louga.

We settle in at  Ibrahima Ndiaye’s compound. He will be our local guide.  Presentation of the Ndiaye family, and traditional meal. The first baobabs and the Ndiaye family will welcome us warmly according to the customs of the Senegalese teranga.We will spend this first night at a camp in his compound.

Departure to the city of Linguère. the city that will be the starting point for our trek (130 km). Night in an inn at Linguere.

The first stage brings us quickly into the Ferlo bush. We go up a track towards Doundodji, our first stopover. We resume the march to reach our camp near the village of Ndiakaté. The first stage crosses a relatively populated area of Ferlo, with field crops and pastoral plains. The crops are mainly bissap, cowpea and watermelon. This first day is a discovery of the steppe. We will introduce the most familiar trees, including the unmissable Acacia tortilis with a typical shape, according to our perception of the savannah.

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Step by step, we advance in the steppe and its immensity. Walking through pastel colored dry landscape, we cross our first herds of zebu and their shepherds, surely intrigued to see a band of happy hikers turning red. Yang-Yang is a village on the edge of a phosphate mine. We will go to see the borehole where the animals and men drink.

Our final step in the pastures will take us to see the Balanites aegyptiaca, the desert date palm, an indicator of its level of drought resistance. Its oil is used for cooking or skin diseases. We will set up our bivouac on dunes to admire a sunset on the beginning of the large valley of Ferlo to Lake Guiers.

After three days of walking in the arid steppes and the heat of Ferlo, this stage will be refreshing and invigorating. We will follow the lake and we will have the joy to observe a well known fact, but well illustrated in these latitudes: water is life. After the austerity of the steppe, we return to animal civilization. We will see lapwing, herons, raptors, ducks, granivores, insectivores, a ballet of feathers. Lake Guiers is considered a very special spot in ornithology. It is part of the vast complex of wetlands in northern Senegal and it has the third bird sanctuary in the world: the Djoudj Park. The camp at Négué will be at the compound of the village chief where we will be his guests. It will be a great opportunity to meet the Wolof inhabitants of Ferlo and maybe (depending on the season) appreciate the thirst-quenching watermelon.

We will step in the world of the Fulani and cattle. At the edge of the lake, the air is magic but it is left to the hundreds of zebus that drink on each bank. It’s the day of the cattle. We will pass in the midst of nonchalant zebus, drunk with this material so rare in arid environments: water. We will arrive at an edge of Tamaris which will sound the death knell of our march to the freshness of the water. We will try to observe the rare monitor lizards. This area is the wildest of the trek. Drilling no longer exists. The edge of the river is surrounded by a dense forest of acacia and Balanites. We will walk to a Peul camp and spend the night in the camp. A unique opportunity to discover a different culture and the pleasure to share these intimate moments.

We stay in the area of ​​the Fulani by passing the valley by the plain. Some transverse valleys disturb the flatness of the landscape. We will walk on a 90-degree axis of the zebus which instinctively move towards the water. The tracks are tortuous and each brings us to camps emptied of the lively forces parties in winter transhumance. The night at Gueil Gotty is the last one, so we will watch the stars, listen to the melody of the evening and dawn in the Sahelian bush and feel the heat that escapes to give way to the nocturnal sweetness.

Ultimate stage of walking. Relief to find our safety and comfort, nostalgia for these starry nights and pastoral landscapes. The first carbon machines, the first bitumen, the first telephone poles bring us back to civilization. Everyone of us will meditate on these last efforts on the Ferlo region and will record their feelings in a special corner of their memory. The car is waiting for us and we will go to Louga to the guide’s house. The family will be waiting for us and we will celebrate our victory with a festive Tiep.

A day without a walk. The day is dedicated to relaxation and tourism. Everyone will have the opportunity to stay with the family or follow the program. We are planning a visit to an agro-ecological center where we can buy local handicrafts. In the afternoon we will have the opportunity to visit the old colonial city of Saint Louis, listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site and nicknamed “the African Venice”. Here we can go for a stroll on fine beaches sipping a glass in Zébrabar, a real ecological haven in the middle of crabs, pelicans and palms. In the evening we will return to Louga to collect luggage, greet and kiss and head to the airport.