Djoudj

We visited this Site in February 2025. We did it whith an organised tour and booked it at home via a tarvel agency in connection with a Senegalese partner agency. 

Several tour agencies in Saint Louis organise daily tours to Djoudj Reserve. The trip usually takes half a day. We started at 07 00 am and finished around 14 00 p.m. But you have to consider that the boat in Djoudi wait till the boat is full (ore almost) with tourists before it starts. 

The National Park is around 60 km from Saint Louis town (40 km is a good asphalted road, while the rest is on dirt, local roads. It takes about 90 mininutes. 

When you are lucky, as we have been, you can discover some hundreds of pink Flamigos a short time before the entrance to the park.

At the park entrance you have official state prices for everything: guide (obligatory, French and English speaking) boat trip entrance fee per person . To reduce costs a little bit you can skip the boat trip and go for walking in the park but that is not recommended as the boat trip is the most interesting part of park visiting.

The most interesting areas are those near the end of boat trip where the majority of migrating birds are located. View of thousands of pelicans (old and young, which are much darker) herons, different types of egrets, cormorants, king fisher is truelly amazing. The best time to visit the park is winter (December to March). The temperatures at this time are rather pleasant, but nervertheless beware of the sun.

Comparing all UNESCO Heritage Sites in Senegal we I found Djoudj as one of the most interesting 

Banc d'Arguin, which I visited earlier on this trip, and Djoudj Bird Sanctuary are crucial for conserving migratory waterbirds in West Africa. Banc d'Arguin is particularly important as a wintering site, while Djoudj is known for its breeding colonies. Another difference with Banc d’Arguin is that it isn’t coastal but an inland wetland centered around a lake. It is more focused on flamingoes and pelicans instead of waders.

I went there with a driver from Saint-Louis. The journey is best done with a 4WD as the road is mostly unpaved and has lots of potholes, but we encountered a few regular orange taxis as well (they will drive very slowly). We managed to reach the park entrance after 1h15mins. Along the way, the driver pointed out the rice fields (now dry but functional in the summer months), the Peul villages, and the Mauritanian fishermen crossing the Senegal River that forms the border. We also saw our first animals – a troop of patas monkeys crossing the road.

Upon entering the park we passed a lake with groups of flamingoes – we wouldn’t see this species again. After the park formalities (one has to pay for the car and for the foreign tourist), another 20 min drive remained to the boat landing. Here I joined two French couples and a bird guide in a small but covered motorboat. Our first pelicans were floating around this pool of water already. 

It turned out that the Great White Pelicans are the stars of the show in Djoudj. There are other species, of course, lots of cormorants (3 species), herons, and jacanas and we saw a fish eagle. A monitor lizard swam across the stream and underneath our boat, and warthogs could be seen on the dry land. But the Wow-moments came from the Pelicans. Twice. I have sort of a rule in rating WHS that if there is a Wow-moment, the site will get 4 stars – so here we go. They feed in large groups on the water and fly out again full-force in a V-shaped pattern. And they nest in their thousands on a smelly mudbank in the middle of the park. That’s really a sight to behold, all male and female Pelicans huddled together protecting their young (lower photo).

Site visited recently (April, 2018). It is one of those places that are easier to visit with an organised tour than alone mostly due to cost reason.

Several tour agencies in Saint Louis organise daily tours to Djoudj Reserve. Prices are around 30.000 CFA per person for the group of minimum 4 tourists. The trip usually takes half a day starting around 8.00 am and finishing aproximately at 15.00 - 16.00. To have a better understanding - CFA has mostly fixed rate to Euro (655 CFA, it was the same when being in 2014 in Burkina Faso)

If want to visit the place independently  (which I did) you shoul be prepared for some huge costs. First of all is transportation - as it is around 60 km from Saint Louis town (25 km is a good asphalted road, while the rest is on dirt, local, not necessarily 4x4). The costs for this part (including waiting time in the park) is 25.000 CFA (unfortunately this amount is stated in Lonely Planet guidebook as an indicator, so it is quite difficult to negotiate the price but anyway try). At the park entrance you have official state prices for everything: guide (obligatory, although only French speaking) 6.000 CFA per group, boat trip 4.000 CFA per group, entrance fee per person 5.000 CFA, entrance fee for the car 10.000 CFA. So as you see depending on the number of people the trip may be somehow expensive. To reduce costs a little bit you can skip the boat trip and go for walking in the park but that is not recommended as the boat trip is the most interesting part of park visiting.

The most important areas are those at the end of boat trip where the majority of migrating birds are located. View of thousands of pelicans, herons, egrets, cormorants is truelly amazing. Acording to guide's information the best time to visit the park is winter (December to March) and the beginning of spring (until May) - while the birds are staying there.

Comparing all UNESCO Heritage Sites in Senegal I found Djoudj as one of the most interesting mainly due to the large number of birds (and other mammals - warthogs, monkeys) and relatively less rubbish (especially in relation to Saint Louis island).

Djoudj National Park is famous for its birds. I visited the park in april 2014 and a lot of birds still were there; we did it with a day trip from ST. Louis. Than we did a three hour boat trip on the water. Besides birds we saw warthogs, varanes and crocodiles. After that we did a trip with our bus to look for more birds from lookouts, but this was a disappointment.