default-logo

The Cruise

 

 Cruises Timetable

 

2023-2024

LEAVING FROM SAINT-LOUIS

 

SATURDAY : Boarding and visiting Saint-Louis

 

  • Lunch at the Hotel La Résidence (or similar) at around 1pm. Boarding and settling from 3pm.
  • In the afternoon a carriage ride will allow us to discover Saint-Louis. One can feel a strange but familiar atmosphere, admire the finesse of the balconies hung up on the beautiful colonial houses and follow the yellow ochre gradient given by the streets according to the Sun’s position. The Northern part of the island is separated from the Southern part by La Gouvernance and the Faidherbe Square.
  • Still on the island: the town hall and the courthouse (1st ruling in 1875), the hospital (1827), the Ameth Fall girls’ high school located since 1927 on an old hospital site from 1840. The famous Faidherbe Bridge (500m long) shipped to Saint-Louis in 1897 due to an enormous administrative mistake.
  • The fishermen village, especially interesting in the morning and evening when one can see the huge boats in the horizon. The Muslim cemetery in the neighbourhood of Guet Ndar. The tombs are posts covered with fishing nets. The Ndar Toute market located on the Langue de Barbarie.
  • Dinner on board and night

 

Saint-Louis vu du ciel

Saint-Louis from the sky

The fishermen neighborhood

Le quai du Bou el Mogdad

The Bou el Mogdad quay

Sunday : Saint-Louis – Diama – Tiguet (the Djoudj)

 

  • We will be sailing in the Senegal River waters all the way to the Diama dam. This Dam is the limit of salty waters that it stops from going upstream. Going through the lock and visiting the dam during the delicate manoeuvre.
  • Lunch on board then sailing upstream along the Diouling reserve, bordered with reeds where you will be able to watch many bird species.
  • Stop at the Gorom river mouth that leads us to the entrance of the Djoudj Bird National Park. You will get on the jetty via the boat tender. This reserve was created in 1971. It is the third ornithological park in the world. It spreads across 16,000 hectares in the river Senegal delta. Therefore, it appeals irresistibly to the European and African avifauna. From November to April 3 million birds meet to winter, as well as a couple of dozens of species of mammals.
  • Leaving for an excursion in canoe. Idling the engine, it slowly penetrates the heart of the Djoudj as something fantastic unfolds: pink flamingos take off in tight formation, pelicans fly off, cormorants dive. A strange but extraordinary spectacle.
  • Dinner and night on board on the main stem of the river.

 

Départ du bateau

Departure of the boat

Le barrage de Diama

The Diama dam

Le Djoudj

The Djoudj birds National Park

MONDAY : Tiguet – Diaouar – Richard-Toll

 

  • We will carry on sailing the river upstream bordered with Senegal and Mauritania. The Senegalese banks are rice-farming lands and little cultivated on the Mauritanian side. We will see a few warthogs then we will pass Rosso, bordering city between Senegal and Mauritania, where canoes and a ferry enable people, animals and vehicles to cross. The arrival or departure of these barges generates colourful intense and particularly animated activities.
  • Lunch on board. You will arrive around 2pm at Richard-Toll (Richard’s Garden) that owes his name to the fact that during the colonial period in 1822 the French made it a place of trials for growing methods.
  • Discovering “La Folie du Baron Roger” a stylish French castle closed nowadays, surrounded by clay constructions, the traditional architecture of the region.
  • Visiting the city and the sugar cane factory, the CSS (Compagnie Sucrière Sénégalaise) that spreads across 10,000ha and that is the main source of income of the municipality.
  • Dinner and night on board

 

La Folie du Baron Berger

“La Folie du Baron Roger”

Champ de canne à sucre

Sugar cane field

Mouillage à Richard-Toll

Anchor at Richard-Toll

TUESDAY : Richard-Toll – Dagana

 

  • Crusing from 8am towards Dagana. After breakfast, a Senegalese cuisine workshop will be offered.
  • Arriving at noon close to the mango field that borders the village of Goumel, in a mouth of the river Senegal. Traditional lunch: rice with fish or “tiep bou dien” among the mango and palm trees.
  • Leaving with the boat tender to the Wolof village of Dagana called “capital of Walo”, old trading post from the colonial period where it was not unusual to see the Banny or the Ponty (colonial vessels) loading gum or dropping soldiers. We will visit the dye factory, the market and the school. We will then make a stop at the fort of Dagana which has nowadays been turned into a hotel where you will be able to enjoy its magnificent swimming pool by the river sipping local juices. Back on the boat at sunset.
  • Dinner and night on board

 

Senegalese traditional lunch

Les quais de Dagana

Dagana quay

Le Fort de Dagana

The fort of Dagana

WEDNESDAY : Dagana – Thiangaye

 

  • With the boat tender we will make our way to the bank for a little two-hour stroll (back and forth) in the Goumel forest. We will visit a traditional Peulh village made up of longish huts built by women. This will be the opportunity to discover the many species of trees along the banks. Back on the boat.
  • We will sail upstream to enter the heart of the African Sahel in the Toucouleur kingdom. The beauty of the scenery and the peacefulness of these waters will only be disturbed by the paddling of a few ochre-colour-eyed children, the washerwomen with their multi-coloured loincloth or the animal herds coming to drink water along the banks. Lunch on board.
  • With our tender we will sail up a branch of the river. Stop and visiting Toucouleurs villages entirely made up of land coming from the steep banks of the river Senegal. These villages are the oldest ones of the river, dating back from the 13th Leaving at night with a traditional lamb barbecue on the river banks with hurricane lamps.
  • Night on board

 

Village d'éleveurs peulhs

Peuhl breeders village

Rencontres sur le fleuve

Meeting on the river

Dîner méchoui sur les berges

Dinner on the banks

THURSDAY: Thiangaye – Podor

 

  • Crusing then lunch on board
  • Arriving around 2pm to Podor, former trading post during the French colonisation. Today trade is not done on the river anymore and its stone docks are looking forward to your arrival. The trading houses bordering the docks with their large inner courtyards and the warehouses where gum Arabic, firewood, ivory and slaves were stored, are the remnant of a not-so-distant past. You will visit its fort built by Faidherbe and under rehabilitation and you will relive a little of this period of history.
  • Towards the end of the afternoon we will visit the former trading posts of the “Cour du Fleuve et de l’Auberge du Tekrour” and then we will head to the fort of Podor. Finally for those who wish, it will be possible to visit the market and wander around the peaceful streets or just sit down on the steps of one of these old houses to watch the sun set on the Mauritanian banks.
  • Dinner and night on board

 

Les quais de Podor

Podor quay

The fort of Podor

The Bou el Mogdad in Podor

FRIDAY : Podor – Saint-Louis

 

  • Breakfast on board
  • Transfer to Saint-Louis by bus. Termination of our services

 

Saint-Louis et la Langue de Barbarie

Saint-Louis and the Langue de Barbarie

The Faidherbe bridge

Le Bou el Mogdad

The Bou el Mogdad

According to the direction of the cruise, you are likely to start your stay from Podor.

Please find a non-detailed program; visits will remain the same as the Saint-Louis-Podor direction.

LEAVING FROM PODOR

 

SATURDAY : Saint-Louis – Podor

 

  • Leaving from Saint-Louis at 2.30pm in front of the hotel La Résidence. Transfer to Podor by bus
  • Boarding the Bou el Mogdad where you will be greeted by the cruise director who will offer you a welcome drink. Then you will be able to settle in your cabin.
  • Dinner and night on board

 

SUNDAY : Podor – Thiangaye

 

  • Morning: visiting the Podor fort then back on board and sailing to the river branch of Thiangaye
  • Lunch on board then leaving with the boat tender to visit the Toucouleurs villages along the river
  • Back on board for the aperitif then leaving to the river banks at sunset for a traditional lamb barbecue with hurricane lamp
  • Night on board

 

MONDAY : Thiangaye – Dagana

 

  • Crusing to the surroundings of Dagana
  • Meeting up on the banks with the tender for a traditional lunch of “Tiep bou dien” or “rice with fish”, among the mango and palm trees
  • Back on board for a nap and leaving for Dagana docks with the tender. Visiting the city and stopping at the Fort of Dagana and its swimming pool
  • Dinner and night on board

 

TUESDAY : Dagana – Richard Toll

 

  • With the boat tender we will go to the Dagana docks for a two-hour stroll back and forth. Visiting a traditional Peulh village
  • Back on the boat and then sailing to Richard-Toll
  • Lunch on board
  • Visiting “La Folie du Baron Roger” then the sugar cane factory of the “Compagnie Sucrière Sénégalaise”
  • Dinner and night on board

 

WEDNESDAY : Richard Toll – Diaouar – Tiguet (le Djoudj)

 

  • Crusing in the morning and stopping at the Gorom river mouth that leads to the entrance of the Djoudj Bird Park. Lunch on board
  • Leaving with the tender to the entrance of the Djoudj and visiting the natural park in canoe
  • Dinner and night on board

THURSDAY : Tiguet – Diama – Saint-Louis

 

  • Crusing and passing the Diama dam
  • Lunch on board and arrival to Saint-Louis
  • In the afternoon, a carriage ride will allow you to discover Saint-Louis.
  • Dinner and night on board

 

FRIDAY : Saint-Louis

 

  • Breakfast on board then departure
  • Termination of our services
logo-bou-el-mogdad
Retour Haut de Page
Français English Espagnol Nederlands