Description
SENEGAL
The Saint-Louis International Jazz Festival is one of the most important festivals in Africa, in terms of image, reputation, attendance and regularity. Since 1992 first edition, the Festival has welcomed over 250 world-renowned musicians, including Archie Sheep, Jerry Gonzales, Youssou Ndour, Gilberto Gil, Ali Farka Toure, Richard Bona, Richard Galiano, Lucky Peterson, Randy Weston, Jake Dejohnette, Femi Kuti, Joe Zawinul and many others.
For the last 30 years, it attended thousands of people every year, becoming an unmissable musical event for jazz lovers from Africa, Europe and America. When the sun sets, jazz rhythms blend with African, funky, gospel and blues rhythms can be heard along the streets from restaurants to bars to hotels until the early hours of the morning.
We will also find out other artistic expressions besides contemporary music: the metropolis of Dakar has always been the cultural capital of West Africa and attracts legions of painters, sculptors, poets and intellectuals from the entire continent.
We will travel to know historical sites and museums. We will cross Senegal to the mangrove forests and estuaries of the Sine Saloum.
Day 1 – Thuesday 27 May 2025: DAKAR. Dakar IN.
Arrival in Dakar and transfer to the hotel.
Day 2 – Wednesday, 28 May: DAKAR. The Capital.
Dakar is located at the tip of the Cape Verde peninsula, the westernmost point of the African continent, and has a population of over three million people. Today a large and vibrant African metropolis, in the past it was the capital of French West Africa instead of Saint Louis since 1902.
The capital of Senegal, it’s currently also a window on various contemporary art forms and the center of all kinds of creativity.
Visiteremo il Musée des Civilisations Noirs, inaugurato nel dicembre 2018, è la realizzazione della visione di We visit the Musée des Civilisations Noirs, opened in December 2018, is the realisation of the vision of Léopold Sédar Senghor (first president of independent Senegal, intellectual, poet and writer). The museum represents the historical and contemporary cultures of the African diaspora around the world, the art and soul of black people, which he called Negritude. We also visit the Cathédrale Notre Dame. The construction project of the Dakar cathedral was started in 1910 to pay tribute to African combatants; the cathedral was built on a Muslim cemetery in the Neo-Sudanese style, a style inspired by the architecture of mosques in the Sahara and Sub-Saharan land, and consecrated on 2 February 1936.
We will also discover the ‘Village des Arts’ consisting of 72 artists’ ateliers. All disciplines of visual art are represented here (painting, sculpture, ceramics, photography, video installations, etc.). The Village is really the best place to meet the well known artists but also the young talents of the Senegalese scene.
Graffiti in Dakar have become an important form of artistic and social expression, evolving from a spontaneous movement to a recognized discipline. Since the 1980s, graffiti art has been a tool for communication and change.
By night, we will have dinner at the restaurant of the Phare de Mamelles where we attend a concert. The Mamelles lighthouse was built in 1864 and is the oldest in Dakar. It is located on top of a hill and allows, at a glance, a view of Dakar at night.
Day 3 – Giovedì 29 Maggio. Gorèe
By morning we will go to the Dakar’s port to board a ferry and spend time on the island where slaves were imprisoned before being shipped to the Americas. Some buildings restores remembers as evidence of those times. The Portuguese were the first to establish a presence on Gorée in 1450, where they built a small stone chapel. After the decline of the slave trade, the island became an important port for shipping peanuts, gum arabic, ivory and other trading products. Thanks to the pleasant breeze and several restaurants and shops, Gorée today has become a pleasant and fashionable place. In the late afternoon and evening, when the tourists leave, we will experience the true atmosphere of this special island.
Day 4 – Friday, 30 May: SAINT LOUIS. City tour and Jazz Festival. From Gorèe to St. Louis (ferry and drive 30 km – driving time 4/5 hour)
Morning departure to Saint Louis where we will arrive for lunch. Saint Louis is a town that deserves a separate chapter for its history, colonial atmosphere and liveliness. It was the first capital of French West Africa and became Aeropostale’s main port of call; Saint Exupéry, aviation pioneer and great writer (The Little Prince) was at home in this town.
The best way to discover the city, its colonial alleyways and fishermen’s quarters is by horse-drawn carriage, a popular means of transport among the population. This is exactly what we will do to appreciate the unique atmosphere of this charming town.
In the evening, we will attend the Saint Louis Jazz Festival, which is considered one of the most important international events in Senegal.
Day 5 – Saturday 31 May: MUSEUM ARHCIPELAGO & JAZZ FESTIVAL
Saint Louis a rich culture city, not only music. It is also called the Museum Archipelago. The Saint Louis Museum Archipelago is an incredible and surprising collection of fascinating places. It consists of eight houses of colonial-era architecture that mark the stages of the history and culture of Senegal and West Africa. From the Origines museum with its exceptional pieces, to the MuPho (Museum of Photography), passing by the overglass artists or the sculptures of Solly Cissé.
The houses immerse us in today and yesterday life of this ancient West African capital. Nothing is forgotten and the last house, with its museum of primitive art, offers us all the depth and surprising power of the rituals and myths of the populations of a vast part of Africa. We walk from one house to another, admire the Faidherbe bridge over the Senegal river, watching the canoes return in the evening.
During the Jazz Festival Saint Louis lives for music. Not only on the main Festival stage; restaurants, bars… everywhere in Saint Louis we find live music, from afternoon until late at night.
By night we will attend the Saint Louis Jazz Festival.
Day 6 – Sunday, 1 June 2025: from Saint Louis across Touba and arrive to Sine Saloum (360 km – driving time 6 hrs)
Morning departure to arrive in Sine Saloum in the late afternoon.
Touba’s citizens follow the Muridi movement, Tuba is a sacred city is almost a ‘state within a state’ ruled by a caliph. Amhadou Bàmba Mbake was the founder.
Amhadou Bàmba founded Touba in 1887. The sacred place remained a small isolated spot in nature until his death and burial at the site of the Great Mosque 40 years later. The Grand Mosque was finally completed in 1963 and since its inauguration, the city has changed rapidly: from less than 5,000 citizens in 1964, the population has grown to more than one million in 2023. The Mouridi have a great social and economic impact in Senegal: thanks to their peaceful (and African) vision of Islam, Muridism, with the other brotherhoods that follow the Marabout cult, has become the bastion that protects Senegal from radical Islam.
During the Grand Magal, the annual pilgrimage, the city welcome more than four million believers.
The Mourides welcome any interest in their traditions. However, Tuba is a sacred city, all strangers must accept the traditional rules. Therefore, we must apply a respectful dress code: no smoking, no drinking alcohol and no listening to music during the visit. If we follow these rules, we will be welcome. A Baye Fall, a member of a colourful branch of Muridism, will lead us during the visit.
By late afternoon we will arrive to Sine Saloum region.
Day 7 – Monday, 2 June 2025: Sine Saloum. MAHICAO museum and Palmarin.
In the morning we will visit one of Senegal’s most important museums. MAHICAO, Musèe d’Art et d’Historie des Coltours d’Afrique de l’Occidentale. MAHICAO is the result of a private initiative of a French ‘gallerist’ who is a great expert on African art: Reginald Groux. A member of the syndicate of French antique dealers and a professor at the Higher Institute of Art in France.
In the afternoon we travel to Palmarin. Excursion by private boat: visit the mangroves and discover many bird species in their habitat, as well as the reforestation planes implemented to protect this region.
Day 8 – Tuesday, 3 June: Sine Saloum Out.
From Sine Saloum to Dakar’s airport (188 km – 3 hrs)
Fly out.
