While Senegal River is not so important transport thoroughfare as it used to be, it’s still worth of visit. During French colonial era, it was the only way how to get to the center of West Africa area, until the Dakar-Bamako railway was built.
Nowadays it’s pretty quiet; the business traffic from the colonial era is gone. Nonetheless the visit is definitely worthwhile. You can examine authentic Senegal countryside together with historical sites from the French era. If you take the way upstream of the Senegal River, the first stop would be St-Louis city. The city located at island was the first French city built in 1659. It had been colonial center for a long time. The city center consisting of many colonial building has still atmosphere from that time and it gives you quite a nice opportunities for walk.
If you continue far more to the centre of West Africa, You should not miss Podor city. In colonial era, it served as important region harbor. Nonetheless it seems to be quiet and sleepy now. The city hosts French Lyceum. One of the touristic highlights is an extensive fortress, protecting river, city and in fact the whole colonial area. Another famous city is Matam, busy business center. The Matam fortress unfortunately fell to ruins, so the only touristic sites are a couple of historical buildings in the center. The complete opposite is Bakel city. It’s a busy center with border crossing to Mauretania. The city dominant is huge fortress at the top of the hill, one of the best-preserved in the area. The city itself has a number of colonial buildings, extensive sidewalls with remains of old cannons and great view over the surrounding area and Senegal River.
Senegal River flow along the North side of Senegal, and mostly creates the border with Mauretania.
