Why You Need to Visit Senegal and the Gambia, in 17 Captivating Photos
It's one-two punch of African excellence.
Where the forbidding sands of the Sahara splash across the carefree Atlantic coast, Senegal is a cocktail of culture with flavors reminiscent of Morocco and the Caribbean but a distinct taste all its own. Its capital city Dakar is poised to be world’s next global center, with a new international airport and plans well underway for a state-of-the-art super-city nearby. Outside the capital, in its more remote corners, Senegal deeply leans into its teranga—a local Wolof word meaning “welcoming generosity”—much in the way that Costa Rica embraces pura vida or Japan its omotenashi.
Senegal, the westernmost country on mainland Africa, also holds the continent’s smallest nation within its boundaries. The Gambia, only 30 miles across at its widest, is burrowed some 210 miles inland from its oceanic capital at Banjul along the snaking path of its namesake river. While its surrounding neighbor bears a strong colonial French influence, the Gambia was held by the British, who, according to legend, sailed down the river loosing cannonballs at the shore; the falling bombs set the border for the colony, which grew in isolation away from France’s vast West African holdings. (In reality, an 1889 agreement between the colonial powers established the borders.)