Saint-Louis 1-day itinerary

Begin on the UNESCO-listed island of Saint-Louis — a narrow strip in the Senegal River connected by the iconic Faidherbe Bridge. The colonial architecture is a faded palette of French ironwork balconies, crumbling pastel facades, and wooden shutters. Walk the main streets from Place Faidherbe past the old Governor's Palace, the cathedral (the oldest church in West Africa), and the narrow lanes where horse carts share the road with children and goats. The island has a dreamlike quality in the morning light — photogenic and wonderfully unhurried.

Take a pirogue (wooden fishing boat) across to the Langue de Barbarie — a thin sand spit separating the Senegal River from the Atlantic Ocean. The Guet Ndar fishing quarter is one of the most densely populated and photogenic places in West Africa: hundreds of brightly painted pirogues line the beach, fishermen haul nets by hand, and women smoke and dry the catch in open-air racks along the shore. The scale of the artisanal fishing operation is staggering and completely un-touristified.

Saint-Louis is the jazz capital of West Africa — the annual Saint-Louis Jazz Festival draws musicians from across the continent. Even outside festival season, live music drifts from bars and cultural centres on the island most evenings. Eat dinner on a rooftop terrace overlooking the river: thieboudienne (Senegalese fish and rice), grilled capitaine fish, and attaya (sweet mint tea served in three rounds). The sunset over the river is spectacular and the evening calls to prayer from the island's mosques add a haunting soundtrack.