Things to See in Senegal

With its colonial brick-structures and sand-blown, bougainvillea-flushed alleyways, this island is a haven of tranquility. But there's a sad background to all this calm beauty - Île de Gorée used to be an important slave trading station, and many visitors come here for traces of this tragic past.

From November to April, some three million birds migrating south from Europe stop here, because it's one of the first places with permanent water south of the Sahara. This park is one of the most important bird sanctuaries in the world, and almost 30 species have been recorded. Pink flamingos, pelicans, ducks and waders are most plentiful.

Lac Rose owes its name to its pink colouring, caused by a high mineral and salt content, which also makes for very buoyant swimming. It's a popular Dakarois picnic spot, attracting tour groups and, inevitably, souvenir sellers, and has achieved notoriety in modern times as the terminus of the annual Dakar motor rally.