The Palmarin salt pits visit takes you, with a local guide, to one of the most surprising landscapes of the Sine-Saloum: hand-dug basins in shades of ochre, pink and white. You go by boat then on foot, for 1 h 30 to 2 h, departing from Mbour.

The salt pans, the women and the salt

Dug by hand into the salty earth, the salt pits have been worked for generations by the women of the village. Accompanied by a local guide, you reach the salt pans by boat then on foot to discover the harvest, the drying of the salt and the life of the lagoon villages. The visit is short, which makes it a natural complement to a day in the delta.

The guide, the boat trip and the equipment are included. The visit alternates the journey on the water with walking between the basins, which lets you see the salt pans up close, from harvest to drying, and talk with the people who work there. The ground in the salt pans is wet and salty: bring shoes that can get wet, as well as a hat, sun cream and water. Departure is organised from Mbour, and the price is per person, from two people, with two packages distinguishing groups of two from groups of three or more.

Palmarin, between ocean and delta

Palmarin is a strip of land so narrow that in a single glance you take in the Atlantic Ocean on one side and the waterways of the Saloum Delta on the other: a Serer land’s end set on a tongue of sand between Joal and Djifere, where you meet flamingos and pelicans at daybreak. If you live on the Petite Côte, the visit is a half-day outing to slip into a weekend; if you are visiting, a way to understand the economy of a lagoon village. The Palmarin page presents the village, and the Sine-Saloum page the delta.

Around the salt pans

To go further, Joal-Fadiouth is next door, Djifere and Sangomar Point open onto the ocean, and the Sine-Saloum Delta has enough to fill a longer stay. The pirogue ride and bird watching combine easily with the visit, and Mbour remains the starting point.