Senegal

Some people say Dakar doesn't represent the 'real' Africa, but they're wrong. It is a big, crowded, dirty, raw, chaotic, ambitious, in-your-face and utterly exciting city, and if you're after a glimpse of the urban future of Africa, this is as real as it gets.

Before the 20th century

The history of human habitation in Dakar - at least in documented form - begins on the nearby island of Gorée. When Europeans first began to plunder the African continent, they tended to stick for protection to heavily fortified positions on the coast, or to islands such as Gorée, which was first colonised in 1444. Ownership of the island flipped between the Portuguese and the Dutch for a while until the French took over in 1677, and they held on (except for brief periods of British occupancy when the Lion and the Lily were at war) until Senegalese independence in 1960.

Gorée was a centre of the West African slave trade for some time, although recent historical debate has contested its significance as a slave-trading centre - the island was too small and too dry to be a clearing-house for a significant proportion of the 20 million unfortunates sold out of Africa. Be that as it may, the first Portuguese slave house was established in 1536.

French slave traders based in Bordeaux and especially Nantes grew metaphorically fat (and no doubt in many cases physically so) from the profits of their ignominious commerce: most slaves passing through Gorée ended up in the Caribbean or Louisiana. The French abolished slavery in 1792, but a mere decade later, under pressure from his Creole wife Josephine, Napoleon reintroduced it for 13 years - it was officially abolished in 1815 for reasons of diplomatic expediency, although an unofficial traffic in human souls continued until 1848. By that time, French interest in the area had begun to broaden. The French began to consider other ways to profit from Africa and soon after fell prey to the then-prevalent imperial delusions of grandeur infecting all the great European powers. Gallic involvement in West African affairs developed and by 1857, when its populace numbered 6000, the settlement outgrew the island's parameters. By then the Cape Verde peninsula on which Dakar was built had been militarily pacified, and has been the site of a strong French military presence ever since.

In 1862, Dakar became the capital of French West Africa, while St-Louis to the north was the provincial capital. The city became one of Africa's most strategically significant ports, and its importance was amplified in 1885, when a rail connection was opened to St-Louis, soon followed by a rail link with the interior, then called the French Sudan and now known as Niger.

Modern history

Over the course of the 20th century, Dakar became a victim of its own success. Always the most vibrant city in Senegal, both pre- and post-independence, it urbanised rapidly and lost much of the colonial charm retained by its sleepy northerly neighbour, St-Louis. The boom in Senegal's population in the second half of the century, combined with the post-independence Pandora's box of problems that afflicted much of the developing world, created the chaotic jumble that is modern-day Dakar.

At the same time, however, Dakar became one of the most glittering stars in the African galaxy, particularly at its zenith, the optimistic 1960s, when all the revolutionary post-independence rhetoric still meant something. It was a centre of African intellectual life (the first Senegalese president was a poet of international renown), a pulsing musical mecca (often with distinct US and Cuban influences, but always with a strong local flavour), and one of the world's most glamorous cities, with a nightlife rivalled by few others.

Recent history

Today, the city continues to attract and repulse in equal measure. Unemployed youths still flood in from across the country and, indeed, the entire region, for the port economy and the French military installation propels one of West Africa's rare shining economic lights. Dakar's modern-day problems stem largely from its improvised urban design: this city of several million has its centre at the tip of a narrow peninsula. This unfortunate position causes such planning and traffic nightmares that plans are currently afoot to relocate the national airport and, more hypothetically, to move the entire political and administrative infrastructure to another site altogether - although it seems possible that the choice of a new capital might be motivated more by patronage than by urban planning policy.

Top Accommodation

Top Restaurants

Dakar's weather is invariably warm. Its seasons are distinguished by their humidity. Winters are dry, and in January and February the prevailing northerly winds - called the harmattan - bring with them countless tons of Saharan sand, dusting the sky and the city below with a rusty haze that neuters whatever exotic lustre the city has and makes it seem grimier than usual. Summers are humid and overcast, and August is particularly wet. October to December is the best time to visit.

Average weather

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Transport

Getting around

Buses and Peugeot taxis for long-distance destinations leave from Gare Routière Pompiers, 3km (2mi) north of Place de l'Indépendance. Journey durations are impossible to quote with certainty, but, for example, Dakar to St-Louis by taxi takes about four hr, to Tambacounda about seven hr and to Ziguinchor from nine to 11 hr. Buses take about half as long, while the journey time in a minibus can be double.

Another option if you're heading for Tambacounda, Kaolack, Touba or St-Louis is the 'express bus'. This is a good, fast, safe, reliable service, and comfortable too if you get a proper seat rather than a stool in the aisle. Fares are about 70% of Peugeot taxi prices. Buses leave from a petrol station that doubles as a bus station at an intersection on Av Malik Sy, near the Gare Routière Pompiers (tel: 821 8505); go the day before you travel to reserve a seat and check departure times.

The train from Dakar goes to Bamako in Mali via several towns, including Thiès, Diourbel and Tambacounda, but it's quicker and cheaper to go by road and most people do. Passenger trains from Dakar to St-Louis run only at holiday times.

Getting there and away

Dakar's airport is in Yoff and is officially called the Léopold Sédar Senghor International Airport. It is well-connected to other destinations in the region as well as other destinations in Africa, the Middle East, Europe and North America.

Dakar's taxis have meters but they are never used. The official rates from the airport to the city centre are displayed on screens in the airport arrivals hall - the 24:00 to 06:00 rate is slightly higher. The drivers will swear to Allah the posted rates no longer apply, so hard bargaining is required. If you want to save money, it's easy enough to walk out of the airport to the main road and flag down a taxi there. This is especially worth doing if you're not heading into the city centre.

You can also get DDD bus No 8, via Yoff, to or from the city. To get to the bus turn right out of the terminal and walk past the taxis. Buses leave frequently, but stop around 21:00.

The large, clean and blue DDD (Dakar Dem Dikk) buses serve the city centre and surrounds. You get on at the back door and buy your ticket at the conductor's booth. For short trips in the city it's usually easier to use a car rapide (minibus) or alham (van), but for longer trips to the towns and villages around Dakar the DDD buses are a good option.

The main bus station for places east of Dakar, such as Rufisque, is on Blvd de la Libération. Other buses run through the town centre and terminate at the old Palais de Justice, near the tip of Cap Manuel.

Following the same routes as the DDD buses are privately owned buses, usually white 30-seater Mercedes known as alham or N'Diaga N'Diaye. Although they're cheap, destinations and routes are not marked, so you'll have to ask or listen for the bus boy's call. For destinations north of the city centre, including N'Gor and Yoff, alhams go from Place Lat Dior, west of Marché Sandaga.

If you don't see a bus going your way, you can always hop in a car rapide - a dilapidated blue and yellow minibus stuffed with people. Some are genuinely (and frighteningly) rapid; others crawl along. Their prices are about 25% lower than alhams. They go to most places but their destinations aren't marked, so you'll have to listen out for the destinations the young assistants yell out as they fly past. When you want to stop, just tap a coin on the roof or window.

Taxis around Dakar are plentiful, but while the cars are fitted with ancient-looking meters, neither locals nor tourists use them. Instead every taxi trip is preceded by a short negotiation process, and you'll soon get an idea of how much a trip is worth. Rare indeed is the driver who will let you walk away rather than take a fair price. At night (24:00 to 06:00) all rates are double. Drivers outside top-end hotels will try and charge you much more than this and many will simply refuse to take you for the usual fee, as they'll lose their place in the queue and may miss a big-spender. Wherever you go, remember locals do not tip, although many tourists do. If you need a taxi for the day, set aside half an hour for price negotiations. Unless you know exactly where you're going, don't include petrol in the price as this asks the driver to speculate. Agree to a daily rate for the car only, and pay separately for the petrol.