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senegal:
general info
· travel advisories
· getting there
· getting around
when to go
· fast facts
· history
· maps
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When flying between Europe and Senegal, you have a wide choice of airlines, as you do when flying to other destinations in
Africa, including to Bamako, Banjul, Abidjan and Bissau. Most airline offices are on or near the Place de l'Indpendance in Dakar, but
it can be cheaper and easier to use a travel agency. Departure tax is US$15, but most tickets include that in the price.
The main entry points to the Gambia are along the Trans-Gambia Highway, Karang and between Vlingara and Basse Sante Su, although there
are many more routes. The Kassoumay Kep ferry service is in operation between Dakar, and Banjul and Ziguinchor, the ferry is far
quicker than the buses and bush taxis doing the same trips by road and is a lot more comfortable. Due to the problems in the Casamance
area this is by far the safest form of transport to Ziguinchor (apart from flying).
Bush taxis run regularly from Dakar to Rosso, at Senegal's border with Mauritania, from where you catch a pirogue across the river.
The whole journey can be done in a day if you leave early. Bush taxis also from Dakar to Lab, Guinea, and from Ziguinchor to Bissau,
Guinea-Bissau (via So Domingos and Ingore).
The Dakar-Bamako train is the best way to travel overland to Mali, as the road is very bad. There are two trains, each takes 40 hours.
The Mistral International departs Dakar on Wednesdays and is superior in every way to the Saturday train. Large, comfortable 1st-class
seats can be reserved in advance; 2nd-class is more crowded with less comfortable, though adequate, seating. The train has a
bar-restaurant car, or you can buy cheap food at stations along the way. Note that at each border post you have to get your passport
stamped. It may be taken by an inspector on the train, but you still have to collect it yourself by going to the office at the border
post. Nobody tells you this. So if your passport is taken, ask where and when you have to go to collect it. You may need a stamp at
the police station in Kayes too, but this seems fairly arbitrary.
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