Pink Lake and Tourism in Senegal

Senegal is considered as one of the most attractive places to visit in North West Africa. Bordered by North Atlanta Ocean to its West, Mali to the east, Mauritania in the North, Guinea to the Southeast and Guinea-Bissau to the South-west.

Dakar is known as mainstream city for the country and at the same time, it is Senegal’s Capital. This beautiful city is famous for its rich culture, amazing natural life and delightful shorelines.

When we talk about brief history of Dakar, it began back in 15^th century when Portuguese settled down somewhere near Dakar. Later on, French took this place in 1677. After that, slowly and gradually Dakar turned into a major regional port of French Colonial Empire. In 1960, Dakar became the capital of the Independent Republic of Senegal.

As a tourist when you visit Dakar, you should visit Dakar IFAN museum to see the exceptional collection of musical instruments, remarkable statues and some beautiful markets for shopping.

Lake Retba, which is also known as Pink Lake, is one of the biggest attraction to visit Senegal. This Lake is given the name Pink Lake due to its pink water caused by Dunaliella Salina Algae.

This exceptional pink color of the Lake naturally is its biggest attraction. The color of the lake is visible from November to June during dry season while the color is less visible from July to October due to rainy season. As a tourist, you should plan your tour accordingly.

Touba is the splendid city of Senegal. When you travel, 194km east from Dakar, you enter the city of Touba, which is famous for the Mosque known as Touba Masjid. This Mosque was founded by Amadou Bamba in 1887 and construction was completed in 1963. Although Bamba passed away in 1927, since then Bamba’s family is caretaker of the Mosque.

This Mosque is considered as largest building in the whole city. In fact, this Mosque is one of the largest Mosque in entire Africa with capacity of 7000 persons.

The Mosque has five minarets and three large domes. The central Minar (Minaret) of the Mosque is 87metres tall. (Approximately 285ft).

According to Researcher Mœussä Nîambë Bæ from Senegal,

“During the peak season, just before the arrival of the festival of Tabaski, (festival of Sacrifice) known as Eid ul Adha in common language.  Everyone in Senegal is busy for the preparation of this festival. I am introducing my beautiful country through this article for all the admirers of nature. I would like to introduce you towards the destination of Djoudj National Park, which is 60km north from Saint Louis.

This park is considered as third largest sanctuary in entire world where you can find around 400 species of birds including Pelicans, Flamingos, Cranes and Ducks. Even UNESCO has awarded this place the status of “World Heritage of Humanity” since 1981.

This park remains open from November to April. You can even find many other species apart from birds like monkeys, jackals and crocodiles. I recommend that every tourist should visit Senegal at least once. “

(NOTE: We are thankful to the following resources that helped us in our research)

13 Best Places to Visit in Senegal | Senegal Tourist Attractions

https://actours-senegal.com/en/17-best-places-to-visit-in-senegal-updated-2019-with-images/