Langue de Barbarie National Park: the park the sea redraws every year

At Langue de Barbarie National Park, you are not visiting a fixed backdrop: you are visiting a landscape the sea is redrawing before your eyes. The shore where you board, the river mouth you sail along, the sandbanks where terns and gulls nest: none of it had this shape before 2003. Come for the birds, of course, and for the beaches where sea turtles lay their eggs. But keep your eyes open to what has changed: that is the real lesson of this pirogue trip south of Saint-Louis.

At a glance

Resident or visitor: two ways to set off

Live in Senegal? If you are in Saint-Louis or the north, the park is one of the easiest nature outings: you drive down to Gandiol at dawn, you are on the water before the heat, and you are back in town for lunch. Come on a weekday, when pirogues are few and the colonies are quiet, and come back in another season: the park in January, full of migrants, is not the park in June, when the nesting colonies are in full swing. From Dakar, it is a good reason to stretch out a weekend in Saint-Louis. On activities booked with QFS, you get the resident rate: up to 30% off depending on the activity.

Just passing through? Do not try to squeeze the park in between the island of Saint-Louis and the Djoudj on the same day. Book a pirogue trip from Saint-Louis, transfer included, and give it a whole morning. Ask the boatman to show you the breach, from a distance: that is where you will understand why this park changes from year to year. And bring cash for the entry charge, which is paid separately.

A park born on two islets, cut by a four-metre channel

1976: protecting a river mouth

In 1976, the Senegalese state made a national park of the southern end of the Langue de Barbarie, the sand spit that separates the Senegal River from the Atlantic for dozens of kilometres. At the time, the founding decree covered two islets at the river mouth and the waters around them: a sanctuary for the seabirds that come to breed there, out of reach of predators and people. Today the park covers about 2,000 hectares and is a Ramsar Site, on the list of wetlands of international importance.

October 2003: the cut that changed everything

In October 2003, the river was in flood and Saint-Louis was at risk of being inundated. To protect it, the authorities had an emergency relief channel dug across the Langue de Barbarie, south of the city. The trench was only four metres wide. The ocean rushed in and never let go: within a few days it had widened to several hundred metres, then, year after year, to several kilometres. The breach has become the river’s new mouth, well north of the old one, directly opposite Gandiol.

Saint-Louis was spared. The villages opposite paid the price. Doun Baba Dièye (also spelt Doune Baba Dièye), a fishing village facing the new channel, was eaten away by the sea until it had to be abandoned, and its inhabitants were rehoused further inland. Campements (village guesthouses) and hotels built on the spit or on the shore were swallowed up, storm after storm. Salt water got into the water table and the fields of a market-gardening area. And the channel, with its violent bar, has cost the lives of many fishermen.

What this means for the park

For the park, the breach is both a protection and a threat. The southern tip of the Langue, now separated from Saint-Louis by the channel, can only be reached by water: that is partly what keeps its beaches quiet. But erosion and rising waters are nibbling away at the sandbanks where the birds nest. When you approach the colonies, you are looking at a fragile balance: all the more reason to do so in silence and from a distance.

Key facts & figures

Getting there & official fees

From Dakar, allow 4 to 5 hours by road to Saint-Louis via Thiès and Louga, depending on traffic. From Saint-Louis, the Gandiol road heads south through Sor and runs alongside Guembeul Reserve: allow up to an hour to reach the shore, depending on the state of the track and your starting point. The park’s reception and the usual landing stage are at Mouit, in the Gandiol area. There is no practical public transport to the water’s edge: an outing with a transfer from Saint-Louis, a car with driver or a taxi negotiated for the return trip remain the simplest solutions.

The visit is by pirogue, with a boatman who knows the channels and the distances to keep from the colonies. The national park entry charge is paid on site, before boarding, in cash. Set by the national parks administration, it is not included in the price of the pirogue trip and is paid separately, on site.

What to see

• The breeding islet: a small sandbank in the middle of the estuary that the boatmen call Bird Island. Thousands of birds nest there every year, packed tightly together: Caspian terns with their heavy red bills, royal terns with their black crests, grey-headed gulls and slender-billed gulls. The pirogue stops at a distance; binoculars do the rest.
• The displays: in the breeding season, the colonies put on a noisy show of courtship displays, calls and comings and goings to the sea. That is the image most visitors take home.
• Pelicans and large waders: great white and pink-backed pelicans fishing together, cormorants drying their wings, herons and egrets lying in wait on the mudflats.
• The turtle nesting beaches: on the ocean side, the southern tip of the Langue is a nesting site for sea turtles, including the green turtle. The nests cannot be visited freely; if you are lucky enough to see one, it will be with the park rangers.
• The breach, from a distance: the channel where the river meets the ocean, with its breakers and currents. You watch it from the pirogue, without ever going near it.
• The sand spit: casuarinas, low dunes, and that strange feeling of having the river on one side and the Atlantic on the other, a few hundred metres apart.

Nearby

To the north, Guet Ndar, the fishing district of the Langue de Barbarie facing the island of Saint-Louis: its painted pirogues and the return of the fishing boats deserve a separate half-day, on foot and preferably with a guide. On the road to the park, Guembeul Reserve and its lagoon, for gazelles, African spurred tortoises and avocets (see also our Guembeul Reserve page). Gandiol itself is worth a stop, for its old striped lighthouse and its salt pans worked by women. Further north, the Djoudj National Bird Sanctuary completes a birdwatching trip (see our Djoudj page). If you have time, Lac de Guiers and Podor take you further up the river, and the Saint-Louis International Jazz Festival livens up Saint-Louis in spring. To put it all in context, see our Saint-Louis Region and Langue de Barbarie pages.

The right time

By season. From November to May, the dry season brings calmer seas and clear skies; from December to March, migrants from Europe swell the numbers on the mudflats. The nesting colonies of terns and gulls, for their part, are in full swing in spring and early summer: if the displays interest you more than the waders, shift your visit. During the rainy season (hivernage), the heat is heavy and the river carries more silt.

By time of day. Early in the morning, the birds are active, the water is smooth and the light is soft. In the late afternoon, the low light turns the sand spit golden and you head back around sunset, to the Gandiol shore. Avoid the middle of the day: there is no shade on a pirogue.

By sea conditions. In a heavy swell or strong wind, the boatman may shorten or cancel the trip: listen to them, as they know the channel.

Practical tips

• Life jacket: insist on one and wear it, children included. The breach channel is known to be dangerous.
• No swimming opposite the breach: the bar, currents and breakers there have cost many lives. On the ocean side, never swim alone or just anywhere.
• Distance from the colonies: you do not land on the breeding islet, and you do not make the birds take off for a photo. An abandoned nest means a lost clutch.
• Silence and rubbish: speak softly near the colonies and leave nothing on the beaches, especially not plastic: turtles mistake it for food.
• Sun and wind: a hat with a strap, sunglasses, sun cream and a windproof jacket for the morning. The glare off the water is strong.
• Binoculars and telephoto lens: they transform the visit. A dry bag protects your equipment from the spray.
• Respect for residents: Gandiol is an inhabited area, hit hard by the breach. Ask before photographing anyone, and listen to what people tell you.
• Cash: small notes for the entry charge.

Book an activity here with QFS

The simplest way to discover the park is on one of our pirogue trips from Gandiol or Saint-Louis, with the transfer included depending on the package. If it is the birds that bring you here, see birdwatching, with guided outings combining the Langue de Barbarie, Guembeul and the Djoudj, and wildlife reserves & parks. For Guet Ndar and the island of Saint-Louis, guided cultural tours. And to travel up from Dakar, intercity transfers and vehicle hire with driver.

Each activity is run by an independent local professional. You pay 20% to secure your booking (the booking fee), and the balance is paid on site, on the day. The national park entry charge is not included in the price: it is payable on site, and each listing concerned says so. If you live in Senegal, you get the resident rate: up to 30% off depending on the activity (the exact rate is shown on each listing).

Frequently asked questions