Wondermondo 🢖 World 🢖 Wonders of Africa 🢖 Wonders of Senegal
Territory
Wonders of Senegal
  Highlights
The most amazing landmarks of Senegal are:
- Numerous megalithic monuments and burial mounds. Remarkable is the group of 52 stone circles in Sine Ngayene.
- European colonial heritage. Slave trade which was organized by Europeans left a deep scar that obstructs the development of Western Africa for centuries. Nevertheless, this (and trade with other African resources) brought much profit and Europeans built in Senegal several cities with interesting historical architecture. Most interesting is Gorée Island – a minor island covered with historic buildings.
Map with the described wonders
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Top 20 wonders of Senegal
Geological wonders
Dindéfello Falls (Dindefflo, Dindefelo)
KĂ©dougou
Approximately 100 m tall waterfall. Stream is not powerful but the fall is vertical, surrounded with a lush tropical forest.
Biological wonders
Retba Lake
Dakar
Lake where the water often is colored pink. Color is created by the algae Dunaliella salina. Lake water has a very high salt content.
Tomboronkoto Caves
KĂ©dougou
Group of natural caves where chimpanzees live during the dry season. This is the first proven case of chimpanzees living in caves.
Taiba Ndiaye Quarry
Thiès
Rich find of the remnants of Eocene animals including remnants of an unusual animal – the first African Prorastomid: a kind of manatee.
Iwol baobab
Tambacounda
This sacred tree is located in the traditional village of the Bedick people. A giant tree with a girth of 23.6 m. In this village is found also the Iwol kapok tree (Ceiba pentandra) with a girth of 15.4 m.
Fadial baobab (Samba Dia baobab)
Thiès
Giant, sacred tree. The girth of the tree is 33 m.
Archaeological wonders
Sine Ngayene stone circles
Kaolack
Group of 52 stone circles (including one double circle) with 1 102 standing stones, erected mostly between 640 and 860 AD. Before the erection of stones the site served as a necropolis, nearby was located a settlement.
Wanar stone circles
Kaffrine
Group of 21 stone circles and one double stone circle. On the site are found many lyre-formed stones as well. This site at first served as a necropolis, stones were added later, in the 12th – 13th centuries.
Sare Dioulde
Tambacounda
Group of megaliths and some 20 burial mounds, made in the late 16th – early 17th century.
Tiekene Boussoura
Kaffrine
Group of 19 mounds. The largest has a diameter of 82 m and height of 8 m. In the site is located a megalithic circle. Made around the 8th – 9th century AD.
Cekeen Tumulus
Diourbel
The largest burial mound in Senegal. Numerous local chiefs of Serer have been buried here.
Architecture and legendary wonders
Goree Island (Gorée Island)
Dakar
One of the oldest European settlements in Africa, established in 1444. A small island that is covered with historical buildings. Although it is known as the slave trade center, it had relatively minor importance in this respect.
Saint-Louis historical center
Saint-Louis
The former capital of the French colony of Senegal in 1673 – 1902. The old city covers a small, narrow island. A valuable, very well-preserved example of Creole Atlantic colonial cities that is more common in the Americas.
Fadiouth
Thiès
An island that is densely covered with historical buildings. Island is connected to the mainland with a bridge, and next to the island is another island with a cemetery and an island with granaries.
House of Slaves in Gorée
Dakar
Historical house, built around 1776 and owned by a slave trader. Now a museum of the Atlantic slave trade.
Touba Grand Mosque
Diourbel
An enormous and ornate mosque, the center of the Mouridism order. Built in 1963. Touba is an Islamic city with strict rules of conduct.
Enampore
Ziguinchor
Traditional village with the characteristic impluvium houses – circular mud buildings that consist of a covered walkway in a circle, with rooms located around this walkway. Dwellings in such houses remain cool in hot weather.
Point of Sangomar
Fatick
Some 10 km long sand island at the mouth of Saloum Delta. The island is moving to the south. Locals consider that on this island the souls of ancestors can be met, it is a sacred place.
Baron Roger palace and park (Folie de Baron Roger)
Saint-Louis
Ruins of a fine palace in Neo-Renaissance style, built in 1822 – 1827. Palace is surrounded by a beautiful park where European plants are planted.
Recommended books
Senegal (Bradt Travel Guide)
Like the whole of West Africa in microcosm, Senegal boasts a variety of landscapes and cultures that belie its compact size. Northern desert wilds give way to the rain-soaked Casamance, fringed by hundreds of kilometers of pristine beaches and the fantastically frenetic capital city, Dakar, surrounded by ocean and proudly perched at the westernmost point on the African continent.
Gambia & Senegal
“Insight Guides”, the world’s largest visual travel guide series, in association with “Discovery Channel”, the world’s premier source of nonfiction entertainment, provides more insight than ever. From the most popular resort cities to the most exotic villages, “Insight Guides” capture the unique character of each culture with an Insider’s perspective.