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Bandia Park And Pink Lake: Explore Wildlife and Unique Natural Wonders in Senegal
3.9
9 Ratings
Mbour
Experience the wonders of Bandia Park in Senegal, where you can observe African wildlife up close. Don’t miss the stunning Pink Lake with its pinkish-colored water and unique natural phenomenon. Book your adventure now!
Experience the wonders of Bandia Park in Senegal, where you can observe African wildlife up close. Don’t miss the stunning Pink Lake with its pinkish-colored water and unique natural phenomenon. Book your adventure now!
Duration:
8 hours
Cancellation:
24 hours
Highlights
- Foret de Bandia - Depending on road conditions, arrival is expected around 9:30 am to switch to a pickup jeep for a 2-hour game drive in this 1000-hectare reserve. Here, you can observe African wildlife in their natural environment, including giraffes, buffaloes, rhinos, various antelopes, zebras, monkeys, crocodiles, tortoises, and more. Besides…
- Foret de Bandia - Depending on road conditions, arrival is expected around 9:30 am to switch to a pickup jeep for a 2-hour game drive in this 1000-hectare reserve. Here, you can observe African wildlife in their natural environment, including giraffes, buffaloes, rhinos, various antelopes, zebras, monkeys, crocodiles, tortoises, and more. Besides the diverse fauna and flora, visitors can explore replicas of the Serere Pyramids with burial chambers, griot tombs in the hollow of a thousand-year-old baobab containing genuine human bones, a charcoal maker’s grindstone, Peulh huts, and more. Our knowledgeable guides, some of whom speak multiple languages, will provide detailed explanations of all the park’s sights and sounds, enriched with charming anecdotes.
- Lake Retba - At approximately 12:00 pm, transfer to The Pink Lake. Lunch (included) will be served around 1:00 pm at the restaurant. At about 3:00 pm, enjoy a ride in a 4x4 jeep over the sand dunes and along sandy beaches to the stunning natural wonder: Senegal’s famous pink lake. Nestled between the ocean and sand dunes, this salt lake will captivate you with its changing hues of mauve and purple. Drive around the lake, visit Peulh villages, and explore the salt extraction area. After this incredible tour, return to Dakar, arriving at your hotel around 6:30 pm.
What's Included
- Bottled water
- All Fees and Taxes
- Bottled water
- All Fees and Taxes
Additional Information
Bandia Park reserve is a key highlight for those visiting Dakota or its surrounding region in Senegal. Serving as a sanctuary for African wildlife including giraffes, rhinos, an assortment of antelopes, buffaloes, monkeys, crocodiles, tortoises, among others, this conservation area offers a unique opportunity to observe these creatures in a sustainable…
Bandia Park reserve is a key highlight for those visiting Dakota or its surrounding region in Senegal. Serving as a sanctuary for African wildlife including giraffes, rhinos, an assortment of antelopes, buffaloes, monkeys, crocodiles, tortoises, among others, this conservation area offers a unique opportunity to observe these creatures in a sustainable environment. In addition, the famous Pink Lake, or Retba, is a spectacular natural wonder recognized globally for its remarkable pink-colored water, which owes its distinctive shade to a special type of bacteria and high salinity levels, and can even transform to purple with varying sunlight intensity.
Location
Foret de Bandia
Cancellation Policy
For a full refund, cancel at least 24 hours before the scheduled departure time.
For a full refund, cancel at least 24 hours before the scheduled departure time.
Customer Ratings
3.9
(9 Ratings)
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Freedom12628978437
Oct 3, 2023
Wonderful - The guides were very friendly. The excursion was excellent. Feeding the lions was incredible. We took photos of all the animals
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Fitnfly365
Sep 25, 2023
Awesome Experience! - Our driver was punctual. We appreciated his safe and cautious driving. Our tour guide asked if we needed to stop for coffee and pastries before we started our day. We were warned prior to our tour that the lake likely wouldn't be pink, but we chose to do the tour anyways. We enjoyed learning the history behind the lake and seeing some locals mine the salt. The ATV ride was a lot of fun as well. It was nice to see the animals up close at the Reserve. I'm so thankful to have found Abdoulaye. He really made our experience in Senegal amazing!
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Martaoliveira77
Jul 21, 2023
Wonderful experience in the middle of a reserve where animals walk free. - A wonderful experience. This is a reserve of herbivorous animals, despite having crocodiles in a lake and hyenas that are closed. The animals seem to be perfectly comfortable with the passing of the cars. I was sincerely surprised by the positive due to the large number of animals.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Globetrottertyph
Aug 15, 2022
Safari - I was in the pink lake but it was not pink but lot of mountains of salt..
the safari in banda was wonderful..
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Curtish626
Aug 6, 2022
Pink Lake and Bandia - I enjoyed the Pink Lake and Bandia. I even got to row the boat on the lake! It was amazing seeing giraffes up close.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
R0wn0kb
Apr 18, 2022
An excellent experience. - A fantastic way to kick off a trip to Senegal. My tour guide was a very joyful, cheering, and not to mention the knowledgeable person. Learned history and folklores about places, tried local foods (ya about that, you pay good, you experience good.), he might offer you tea or cigarettes if you prefer. I appreciated this kind of hospitality. It was really a fun tour. Give it a try, RECOMMENDED.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Sabrinaml6664nr
Feb 27, 2024
Bandia was good, the pink lake a waste of time and money. - Bandia is worth visiting but do not waste any money going to the "so called" pink lake. It is only pink on a very few occasions. Also there is absolutely no infrastructure there at all. Just a few very old little boats, a couple of very pushy locals trying to sell rubbish souvenirs and nowhere to get a drink. It is a long drive off the main road and it is just a bit waste of time. The so called toilet is a broken down wooden shed with a hole.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Kevin_b
Sep 8, 2024
Unreliable Tours - Tour company didn't show. Ended up canceling the tour after I had made it to the meeting spot. They left in in the pouring rain without a way to get back to my hotel. Finally I had to pay extra for a taxi to take me from the remote meeting place to my hotel. Never got an explanation of what happened. Extremely disappointed. Paid for an extra day in Dakar just to take the tour. I would had changed my holiday if I knew the tour wouldn't happen.
Review provided by Viator
Sarah
Aug 18, 2022
You couldn’t PAY me to tour with this company! - This was a highly unprofessional, disgusting tour.
1. First and most importantly, the driver, Jah, was inappropriate and sexually harassing. He inappropriately put his arms around one of my friends without permission and continued to ask her for her phone number despite her brushing him off. My friend also said she noticed him taking pictures of us all day. He made us all uncomfortable and we didn’t feel like we could say anything since he was driving.
2. The whole tour was mismanaged. Even though the website says the tour starts at 8 and that we would show up at Bandia around 9:30, the guide and driver didn’t show up until a little after 9. We didn’t get to Bandia to start our safari until around 11:30. They were not communicative about times or highly underestimated the travel times. On top of that, the driver wanted to stop to eat on the way to the park, when he should’ve taken care of his needs on his own time or when we were eating lunch.
3. The whole ride was highly uncomfortable and sickening. The car was beat up, smelled like it was burning oil, and had no air conditioning. As a result, we were in the car with the windows down the whole day, smelling the awful fumes from the cars on the highway and damaging our ear drums from doing 135 km per hour on the road. I have had nausea and a headache from the fumes all day, as well as my three friends.
4. Finally, the guide, Mustapha, was not particularly good. It was his first day; he had never been to Bandia or to Lac Rose, so he was really only there for translating for the driver. He didn’t talk about the Reserve or the Lake at all.
Bandia Park itself was great. Lac Rose was not worth the money since it’s not the season for the pink color. Seeing the salt miners was cool though.
But, this is NOT a $250 per person kind of tour. In fact, if someone offered me $250 to spend my day doing all of this over again, I would decline, because no amount of money is worth the sexual harassment and getting sick from the fumes.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
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