Senegal Tours and Holidays

Overall excellent. One comment re. Georgetown. Super hot, 45 degrees. My body began to heat up at Wassau stone circles. compounded by heat within the rondavel ,where the fan only operated by the door. On the boat L developed heat stroke which was treated promptly by Asan and group members. Thanks to all.

An absolutely fantastic tour. Our tour leader, Assan, has an encyclopedic knowledge of the birds, plants and wildlife in the Senegal Gambia region, is extremely helpful and well organised - simply excellent! This is tour is particularly good if you enjoy seeing birds, numerous species in abundance! The accommodation overall was good, but if you expect 5* luxury you won't find it in some of the more remote areas. A night spent on a boat on the Gambia river was surprisingly comfortable! There are plenty of opportunities to meet local people and learn about local culture, having a little knowledge of French language helps with communication, but isn't essential as Gambia, the tour leader and driver (who is also excellent) speak English as well as the local dialect of Wolof

Our Explore leader, Assan, was one of the best tour leaders I have ever had and I have been on over 40 Explore trips. He was so helpful and considerate and his knowledge of Senegal and the Gambia was excellent. He also was exceptionally good at identifying all the different birds we saw. He worked very hard to ensure we had a great time which ofcourse we all did.

Assane was a fantastic leader, very knowledgeable and organised and always with our best interests at heart. He helped us understand not only the wildlife we were seeing but provided great insight into the culture of Senegal and the Gambia and what living there was like.

Loved this trip. A fantastic trip for birders. I am not one but like wildlife generally and enjoyed the birds with pelicans of two species, flamingos and a grey heron plus all the others being memorable. Assan our guide could identify a speck in the distance before we could even see it! Other aspects of the tour were also interesting and photogenic with the "oyster factory" and all the colourful fishing boats. Assan imparted a lot of information about both countries - the people and their history, shared languages and customs. The boat trip from Georgetown on the Gambia river was a good experience - very calm and relaxing. All the hotels were in a good position although occasionally showers were a dribble or cold and generally breakfasts were not inspiring although there were always eggs. The hotel with the best dinner had the worst breakfast! The food on the boat was good and I enjoyed local bread and peanut porridge neither of which reappeared elsewhere. Weather was great with blue sky every day and not excessive heat. Our last boat journey was 5 hours on a bench seat and we all got wet from spray. We endured but were relieved when we made it. Our driver Ousman, probably name misspelt, was very careful and avoided potholes, donkeys, goats etc. He was very friendly and helpful too. A few long journeys and not a trip for beach lovers or foodies. I would have welcomed another two night stay about two thirds of the way through. To summarise it was a great experience.

A fabulous trip for those who are a little adventurous in their travels - the itinerary is a really good mix of insights into the history and culture of both countries as well as the beautiful nature reserves and abundant birdlife. Our tour leader was caring and organised and enhanced our experience by sharing personal experiences.