Welcome to Senegal

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Welcome to Senegal

• As we join the Travel Channel in Senegal to film
  the 2009 Presidential Tours of Africa series,
  we would like you to accompany us for a preview
  of this beautiful West African country. This
  upcoming tour, featuring and led by President
  Abdoulaye Wade, will also feature Tiki Barber, a
  commentator on NBCs Today Show and Football
  Night in America.

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• This is Senegal
• She lies to the extreme left at Africas western
  tip, caressing the soft rush of the Atlantic

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• This is Senegal in her elegance and magical
  splendor
• Singing songs of laughter from sunup till
  sundown

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• This is Senegal
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• Where the brilliant robes of a Grande Serigne
  fail to mask his sanctity

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• Where culture is preserved in the affection
  between mother and child
• old ways that remain new

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• much like the artists rendition of ancestral
  life

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• It is the sacred blending of past and present,
  complementing the luster of Dakar, capital city
• all in one embrace

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• And yet her songs have not always been an anthem
  there have been seasons of mourning, and to this
  day the Gorée Island, in a glazed distance, is
  still a storehouse from where the echoes of
  anguish ring

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• when the great migration took place through dark
  corridors, to an unknown land, to build a New
  World with blood, sweat, and lamentation

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• Still, it is in Gorée, and in the challenges that
  seemed overwhelming, that Senegal has found the
  strength to dance again, to build and rebuild
  from coast to coast, from east to west

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• The sights are all too evident, natural and
  unbroken, as in the Djoudj National Bird
  Sanctuary, coming alive with the flurry of lively
  birds mingling with the soothing wetness of
  streams, ponds and backwaters.

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• We must now venture southwest of Senegal, to the
  Sine-Saloum Delta where mangrove forests,
  lagoons, islands, and rivers entrap an
  efflorescence of matchless wonder. You have the
  choice of journeying through the Deltas
  collection of villages in wooden boats or by more
  standard means of transport

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• There is no need to rush through the Delta, for
  you must bask in her astonishing brilliance.
  There are variations of luxury and comfort to
  cater to your taste

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Like Palmarins Royal Lodge
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• or Lodge des Collines de Niassam

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• or Keur Bamboung, an econolodge
• on a riverbank at the centre of the Saloum
  Delta

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• And if your yearning is of an even more humane
  type, then you may find relief in Océanium

where sea life is protected in Dakars Casamance
mangrove forest
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• But for the adventurous tourist, the journey has
  only begun. Enter into the Petite Côte in the
  north

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• which blossoms into a montage of welcoming
  natives and picturesque villages

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• like the facing twin islands of Joal-Fadiout
• all of which recapture the innocence and richness
  of a picture untainted

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• Stretching from the south, from the Cap Vert
  Peninsula

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• Otherwise you must take a detour to the
  southeastern part of Senegal, to the Niokolo-Koba
  National Park on the River Gambia with its vast
  array of animal and plant life

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• But in spite of all the rarities, perhaps none is
  more captivating than the salty Pink Lake in her
  regal state of calm, attracting all manner of
  curiosity, spreading a blanket of leisure for all
  comers, near and far

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• Sometimes there is a yearning to withdraw briefly
  from the heartbeat of nature, to look inside and
  rediscover the sacred and the mysterious. Which
  is why some would venture to Mouride holy city,
  where lies the Great Mosque, one of Africas
  largest and most stunning

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• Then, again, it is in the past that some would
  rediscover answers, which is why they venture to
  the mouth of the Senegal River, where lies the
  Island of Saint-Louis with her colonial
  buildings

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• If you are not sapped by the thrill of
  spirituality or of plants and animals, then you
  may observe, if not take part, in the Dakar Rally
  where the utmost in speed and human endurance are
  put to the extreme test

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• But in all of this, the allure, for the most
  part, is within the beauty, the charm, the
  glitter, and hospitality of Senegals people

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• as in her children-- basking in their innocence
  spreading warmth without inhibition

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• as in the Signares,
• celebrating their vast heritage in color and
  elegance

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• as in the majesty and beauty preserved in a
  Thiossane outfit

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• Welcome to Senegal, to her peoples, her cultures,
  her history
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• Welcome to Senegal, wrapped in vibrant cities,
  tranquil villages, intriguing beaches, and silent
  mangrove swamps...

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• Welcome to a land of aestheticsof music, of
  endless songs

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• and of dance filled with energy and spirit

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• and the allure of art, from the elaborate

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• to the exquisite...
• but all fascinating
• nonetheless

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• Welcome to a world where the old and
  the new
• the traditional and the trendy, meet
• and embrace in one accord

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• Welcome to a world of calm seas and a sunshine
  that never fully fades
• Welcome to Senegal, draped in long sandy-white
  beaches

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• and music that transcends generations

Youssou N'dour
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• Where wildlife and the graciousness of a people
  provide warmth and the freedom to dance with
  gods
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• Welcome to Senegal, Africas lioness

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Prepared forBy Philip U. Effiong
November 2009
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Images courtesy ofToure, Mamadou Lamdou.
Dakar Hier, Aujourdhui et Demain. Dakar Doro
Editions, 2004.Senegal. Google Images. 2009.
Web. 29 June 2009. Senegal. Yahoo! Image.
2009. Web. 29 June 2009.