In short
Dakar occupies the Cap-Vert peninsula, the westernmost point of the African continent. That position made it a port and a crossroads, and it explains the climate: the ocean tempers the Sahelian heat.
Le Plateau is the administrative and colonial centre. La Médina, adjoining it, is working-class and dense. Les Almadies and Ngor, at the tip, hold restaurants, hotels and surf breaks. Yoff keeps its Lebou fishing village.
Arriving and getting around
Blaise Diagne airport is about fifty kilometres from the city, at Diass, and not in the conurbation: allow an hour for the transfer, more at peak times. It is a frequent planning mistake.
The TER, the regional express train, links Dakar to Diamniadio, and BRT rapid buses serve the main axis. The cars rapides, the emblematic painted minibuses, are disappearing.
The yellow and black taxis are unmetered: negotiate before getting in.
What it really costs
Dakar is affordable, but the Almadies and Ngor districts charge markedly more than the rest of the city.
The CFA franc is pegged to the euro, which makes exchange predictable.
When to come
November–May is the dry, cool season, the best period.
The hivernage, from June to October, brings heat, humidity and rain.
What nobody tells you
Gorée Island is twenty minutes by ferry from the port. World Heritage listed, it holds the House of Slaves and its door of no return. The exact scale of the trade that passed through this particular island is debated among historians; its memorial value is not. The island is also an inhabited village, without cars.
The Dakar Rally has not been run in Senegal since 2008, and now takes place in Saudi Arabia. The name stayed, the race did not.
Lac Rose owes its colour to an alga and to its high salinity; that colour is not permanent and depends on the season, the light and the water level. Recent periods of dilution have made it disappear temporarily. Check before making the trip.
Teranga, Senegalese hospitality, is a claimed value and not a tourist slogan.
