Tortoise Village (Village des Tortues) in Noflaye: the African spurred tortoise’s waiting room

At the Tortoise Village (Village des Tortues), do not come looking for a zoo: come to see a waiting room. Many of the African spurred tortoises that watch you go by, under the trees of the Noflaye botanical reserve, are here in transit. Some were seized, others were born in the nursery, a few even crossed the Mediterranean by plane, and all of them are part of the same gamble: returning to the Sahel a giant tortoise that is becoming rare there. Understand that before you go in, and the visit takes on a different meaning: you are no longer looking at big, slow animals, you are watching a conservation programme at work.

At a glance

Resident or visitor: two good ways to come

Live in Senegal? The Tortoise Village is the Saturday-morning outing that needs no preparation. You leave after breakfast, arrive at opening time, when the tortoises are active and the heat is bearable, and you are home for lunch, or on the shore of Lac Rose for the afternoon. It is also an outing worth repeating: children who come at four do not ask the same questions at ten. And the centre has specific entry rates for residents and school groups. On activities booked with QFS, you get the resident rate: up to 30% off depending on the activity.

Just passing through? The centre has one rare advantage: its location. It lies between Dakar, Lac Rose and Diamniadio, without much of a detour from the road to Blaise Diagne International Airport (AIBD). A morning with the tortoises therefore fits easily into your arrival or departure day. Do not reduce it to a photo: the real value lies in the guide’s account, and an hour is enough to leave knowing what “endangered species” means in today’s Sahel.

Slowness as a conservation programme

The continent’s largest tortoise

The star of the place is the African spurred tortoise, Centrochelys sulcata to naturalists. It is the largest land tortoise in mainland Africa: an adult can approach or exceed 100 kilos, has a beige shell whose scutes are marked with grooves (hence its French name, tortue sillonnée, the “grooved tortoise”), and horny spurs on its thighs. It lives in the Sahel belt, from Senegal to Ethiopia, and spends the hottest hours buried in burrows it digs itself. Its lifespan is considerable: several decades for certain, and probably a great deal more.

This giant is now listed as an endangered species on the IUCN Red List. In Senegal, it has become rare in the wild. The causes are well known: herds that compete with it for the dry grass, bush fires, the destruction of its habitat and the collection of young tortoises for the pet trade. A tortoise that takes many years to reach adulthood does not easily make up for such losses.

A centre created to reverse the trend

That is why the Tortoise Village was born. The project came into being in the 1990s, modelled on a similar centre created in France, and the centre has been open to the public since the middle of that decade. It moved to Noflaye in 2001, into a special botanical reserve of around fifteen hectares, described as one of the last intact wooded areas in the region. A conservation association runs it, working with the Water and Forestry Service (Eaux et Forêts) and with the support, over the years, of Senegalese and international scientific partners.

The principle is simple to explain, much less so to apply. Adult tortoises are taken in, often after being seized or handed over by private individuals. Their breeding is organised in protected enclosures. The young are raised away from predators, in a nursery, until they are big enough to defend themselves. Then they are released into protected, monitored areas in northern Senegal, where tracking shows whether the operation is succeeding. Several releases have already taken place. It is this chain, from seizure to return to the bush, that the visit takes you through.

Forty-six tortoises from Monaco

The most telling story is a recent one. In December 2022, forty-six young African spurred tortoises born in Monaco flew to Dakar, packed into transport crates, as part of a programme to reinforce the species. Their first address in Senegal was the Tortoise Village in Noflaye: six months in observation enclosures to get used to the climate and the food, under veterinary supervision, before moving to the Koyli Alpha reserve, in the north-west of the country, for a monitored release. The little tortoises in the nursery are preparing for the same journey.

A centre that lives off its visitors

One last point, often forgotten: the centre depends heavily on its entry charges, and it has already had to appeal for public support during periods without visitors. Your ticket is therefore not just a right of entry: it feeds the tortoises and pays the keepers.

Key facts & figures

Getting there & official fees

The centre is north of the village of Noflaye, on the road linking Rufisque to Bambilor and Lac Rose. From Dakar, there are two options: the national road via Rufisque, then north, or the toll motorway with an exit towards Rufisque or Diamniadio. Allow 45 minutes to 1½ hours depending on the time of day; getting out of the city is the only real obstacle. There is no direct, practical public transport: the simplest option is a car, a taxi with a negotiated return fare, or an activity that includes the transfer.

The centre is open during the day and is visited with a guide, in small groups. An entry charge is paid on site, at the ticket office, with different rates for visitors, residents, children and school groups. Bring cash in small notes. This entry charge is set by the centre: it is not part of the price of an activity, and no mark-up or discount is applied to it.

What to see

• The large African spurred tortoise enclosures: the highlight. The adults make their way across the sand under the trees, and the guide teaches you to tell a male from a female and to read a tortoise’s age.
• The nursery: the young, barely bigger than a hand, raised under shelter until their future release. This is where the programme makes sense.
• The other land tortoises: the hinge-back tortoise, a forest species found notably in Casamance, whose shell closes at the back like a door.
• The freshwater turtles: African mud turtles and the flat, discreet Senegal flapshell turtle, in their pools.
• The botanical reserve itself: a small protected woodland in the middle of a fast-urbanising area, where local medicinal plants also grow.

Nearby

The centre is in the heart of the Sangalkam commune, the last market-garden fringe of the Niayes at the gates of Dakar. About 6 km to the north, Lac Rose is the natural continuation of the morning: tortoises in the morning, lake and dunes in the afternoon, it is the simplest family day out from the capital (see also our Lac Rose page). To the south, old Rufisque and its trading houses, then Diamniadio, the new town, show two faces of the region. For another family nature outing in the capital, Hann Forest and Zoological Park (Hann Park) offers its shady paths. And if the story of reintroductions has caught your imagination, Guembeul Reserve, near Saint-Louis, also raises African spurred tortoises alongside gazelles and oryx. All the getaways around the capital are on our Dakar Region page.

The right time

By time of day. This is the criterion that matters most. The tortoises are active in the cool of the day and take shelter or stay still during the hot hours. Arrive at opening time or in late afternoon: you will see animals walking and eating, not motionless shells in the shade.

By season. The dry season, from November to June, is the most comfortable: dry roads, pleasant mornings, and the market gardens around Sangalkam in full production. During the rainy season (hivernage), July to October, the reserve is very green, but some roads turn muddy after storms: leave yourself extra time for the journey.

By day of the week. On weekdays, you will mainly come across school classes on educational trips, often in the morning. At weekends, it is families from Dakar. A Saturday at opening time remains the best compromise.

Practical tips

• Do not feed the tortoises or climb on them: they are protected animals, not mounts. Follow the guide’s instructions, including about touching them.
• Do not take a tortoise home: the sale and keeping of wild tortoises fuel the trafficking that threatens the species. If someone offers you one elsewhere, say no.
• Sun and heat: hat, sun cream and plenty of water, even for an hour.
• Clothing: closed shoes for the sandy paths, light clothes that cover you.
• Children: the visit is short, on foot and at child height; pushchairs struggle in the sand, so a baby carrier is better.
• Photography: no flash on the young ones in the nursery, and ask before photographing the staff.
• Cash: small notes for the entry charge and drinks.

Book an activity here with QFS

The guided tour of the Tortoise Village is booked in the animal parks section: about 45 minutes to an hour with a guide, from the nurseries to the large enclosures, with separate rates for adults, children and school groups, and an option with a meal. Depending on the listing, the centre’s entry charge is either included in the tour or payable on site and not included in the price: each listing says which. To build a whole day with children, see family days & children’s outings; to carry on at Lac Rose, pirogue trips or quad & buggy. And if watching wildlife has given you a taste for something bigger, head for wildlife reserves & parks.

You pay 20% to secure your booking (the booking fee), and the balance is paid on site, on the day. 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