Gambia and Senegal advice

I'm scouting for travel advice again.

Does anyone know how viable it is to have a Day-Trip to Senegal from The Gambia? Specifically either Dakar or St Louis.

We will potentially be in the Atlantic coast resorts near Banjul so the airport seems fairly close.

Does anyone have experience of Dakar, is it even viable to see everything, get out to Ĭle de Gorée and get back to the airport in a few hours?

Are there any other sites that are worthwhile in the Gambia? James Island seems doable, but I am not sure about the trip out to the stone circles.

By land from Banjul to Dakar alone will take best part of a day (get to ferry from your coastal "resort"/ferry across river/ taxi to border/get across/get to taxi park/get next taxi etc. I note that 2 of the supposed operators from Banjul-Dakar by air (Slok air and Intercontinental) have "suspended services" - in any case the idea of doing it there and back in a day trip by air sounds "difficult" both from a practicality/reliability and cost point of view - not the sort of trip many people want to do by air - except possibly to onward connect in Dakar?

Regarding the Stone circles - it took us 2/3rds of a day to get from Banjul to Jajanbureh (former Georgetown - which is on an island) by the south road many years ago using bush taxis. We then managed to get across to the northern bank to get a taxi to see the circles and back to Janjanbureh that day - but it was a 2 day trip from Banjul. I understand however that the north road has recently been fully tarmac surfaced (it used to be rather bad). It could be possible therefore to do it to the circles and back in a day from Banjul. By taking the northern route you reach the circles in a shorter distance as well. You would need a taxi to the ferry from your resort, get across (takes a surprising time even as a pedestrian!) and then do a taxi deal on the far side to take you/your "group" alone to the circles and back that day without waiting for the taxi to fill. It might be worth seeing if your hotel could arrange for you to be met on the northern side of the river at Barra by a prearranged taxi - might be more expensive than making a deal with a bush taxi when you get to the taxi park but would save time. It would be a long day but should be achievable with an early start! There might even be organised trips from the "hotel strip" now.
Remember in Africa everything takes a lot more time than you might think and schedules mean nothing - on the other hand throwing money at a problem can achieve surprising results!

Thanks for the reply, yep maybe wise-words.
I think Dakar would be a little too optamistic. I will have a look into the stone circles, if it is a viable long day trip then maybe that is a good option.

Does anyone have recommendations for places in Senegal that are viewable within a day from Banjul?

The areas of Senegal very close to the Gambia north and south really aren't much different from the Gambia - the Casamance to the south is a very popular destination for the French but you wouldn't get there and back in a day from Gambia. And what is there? Mangrove swamps, creeks,birds and beaches - well, apart from some French atmosphere and cuisine you will get all that in the Gambia!

If you just want to have been into Senegal there are day trips to Fathala Wildlife reserve run by Gambian tour agencies. You might possibly get a taxi to take you there from Barra if you didn't want an organised trip but that leaves the problem of getting around in the park. I have also been told that Gambian drivers don't particularly like driving into Senegal because of the "hassling" they receive - hence why many taxis just go to the border where people change taxis - but this is only a few miles in so it may be ok. The "park" sounds a bit "contrived" with a lot of introduced species, but could be pleasant enough - you are not in East Africa or Zambia so you can only see what there is to see! A trip advert (and other examples of organised trips in Gambia but many of those you could certainly do yourself if you wanted) -
http://www.gambia.co.uk/Docs/Gambia-Holidays/Excursions/Circle-Of-Life.aspx
And from this description make up your own mind if it something you want to go on!
http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/Senegal/Tambacounda-Region/Tambacounda/blog-391084.h tml

Re the trip along the northern route to the circles - It doesn't seem to be "on offer" by the Gambia holiday site above but that doesn't mean it isn't possible. I found these detailed road maps of The Gambia which show the Stone Circle sites very well if you relate them back to the UNESCO files.
http://www.accessgambia.com/map.html
The map titled "Saloum" etc shows the location of Kerr Batch and Wassu -the 2 Gambian sites.
Of course you could try to kill 2 birds with 1 stone by visiting the Senegalese Stone circles!! It sounds as if Sine Ngayele is the best bet and that is near to Kaolack -about 50kms north of the Fathala Reserve. See photo/map etc
http://www.geckogo.com/Guide/Senegal/Western-Senegal/Kaolack/
Whether it is practical you could only establish "on location"!

Ah you read me like a book. I there is a way of ticking of new WHS and countries in one go I will always have a look into it.

Yeah I have managed to pinpoint the precise location of the Sine Ngayène
circles, they are actually a fair way from Kaloack as identified in the link provided above.

They are actually located at 13°41'42.37"N 15°32'7.70"W which is about 15km as the crow flies from the Gambian border post at Farafenni. It may be a possible trip. Here is an aerial map for those interested http://wikimapia.org/5702050/fr/Sine-Ngay%C3%A8ne

Thanks for your help and advice on this one it is much appreciated.

Yes, the link I found certainly provided a "rubbish" location for Sine Nagayne!!! - I had gone along with it as the river shown on it was the River Sine - it is strange that the circles should be called "Sine Ngayene" when they are not near the river Sine!
I have checked an old Rough Guide to West Africa which I have (1990!!) and quote from it
"....... the megaliths scattered across the plain between Nioro du Rip on the transgambienne N4 and Tambacounda. The most impressive site is the one known as Djalloumbiere at NGAYENE, hard against the Gambian border. Over 1100 pillars here make up 52 stone circles.... Its hardly more inaccessbile than Wassu in Gambia but is virtually impossible without your own transport. turning left 9km south of Nioro du Rip to Kaymour (17km) on a decent track, then continue south east another 15km via Tene Peul and Keur Bakari to Ngayene. From here you can head straight back to the main road at MEDINA SABAK 28 km from Nioro .
In the middle of the circuit10km due south of Kaymor is the village of PAYOMA where stones from the local circuits have been uprooted to support the buildings - including the mosque. Numerous other stone circles are visible at variuos points along these tracks.
Assuming you've got wheels or are using a taxi brousse there are more easily accessible sites along the Tambacounda highwayat MALEME HODAR (right by the road)and KEUR ALBE and SALI respectively 9km and 20km southwest of KONGHEUL on a minor road to The Gambia"

A more modern guide of Senegal or West Africa might give better information. Coming from Farafenni, Medina Sabak is virtually on the border so it ought to be possible to pay for a taxi brousse (might need to buy some CFA at the border from a money changer - though he might take Dalasi /US$ or Euro??) to take your party from the Senegal side of the frontier to the circles and back - you would have to spend some time crossing the border but would have also saved quite a lot of time compared with driving further along the Northern highway to Wassu or Ker Batch -and of course "pick up" Senegal at the same time!! It sounds "doable" with a distance of around 30kms from the Gambian border -albeit on tracks (at least in 1990). A decision you would have to make would be whether to pay for a private car from Barra to Farrafenni which would then wait for you in the Gambia (unless you could persuade him when making the "deal" to take you those few kms inside Senegal). I note from Google Maps that there is even a "back road" directly from Farafenni directly to the village of Medina Sabak missing out the main road - though whether as a foreigner you would strictly be allowed to take it and thus miss out the border guards is another matter! When we were stuck in S Senegal late in the afternoon needing to get back to Banjul our taxi brousse took back roads without any border guards (some frontier posts close after dark)! I just don't know how often taxi brousse would go from Barra to Farafenni - for 3 of you it might well be better to "pay up" for a taxi for the whole day -the driver might help you negotiate the Senegalese transport as well if he is unwilling to cross the border! You can finish up waiting a long time in Africa for Taxi Brousse to fill up -such that it can be worth just paying for the extra spaces! We did that ourselves to get to Wassu from the northern side of the Gambia river at Georgetown
Good luck - it sounds an interesting little "adventure"! Look forward to hearing how it goes if you do attempt it.

Thanks again. The paragraph from the guidebook stating how to get there is exactly the information I needed.

I picked up the latest Lonely Planet guide to The Gambia and Senegal (Sept 2009) and it doesn't even cover Central Senegal. Senegal in general is not well covered by guidebooks, most of the big ones lump it in with the Gambia if they cover it at all. I would image that the francophone publishers would cover it more.

The Central Gambia sections all but cover it, I can just about make out the location on their maps, but having more detailed information is really useful. I may attempt to translate it into French in case it becomes useful once across the border.

Still not sure if this will feature in our plans, the intention of the trip is a week of relaxing and a full day international trip doesn't fit the remit of that too well, but we will see.