Dakar for The Curious Wanderers: a Friday-to-Monday weekend
Atlantic light, Gorée's ferry, and a city that dances at midnight.
No theme, just the city at its best. The sights that earn their reputation, a workshop or a market, one strange place nobody told you about, and dinner where the food is the point.
Friday: A first taste
- Marché Kermel
The colonial market hall of 1910 sells spices, dried fish and bright fabric; take a slow lap and ask the price before you touch.
- Place de l'Indépendance
A short walk takes you to the colonial heart of Dakar, a square bordered by 1930s banks and government buildings.
- La Fourchette
French cooking in a Plateau dining room that still feels like the 1960s, with a decent wine list and attentive waiters.
Saturday: Art and a workshop
- Village des Arts de Dakar
A cluster of artists' studios along the corniche: painters, sculptors and glassworkers, who will show you their work and let you watch them make it.
- Musée des Civilisations noires
The Museum of Black Civilisations, a bright circular building on the Plateau with a collection of masks, textiles and contemporary art.
- Chez Loutcha
A late lunch of thieboudienne in a casual dining room that has been cooking Cape Verdean and Senegalese dishes for years.
Sunday: The strange coast
- Mosquée de la Divinité
A mosque built directly on the beach, where worshippers pray with their feet in the surf; it is a short, curious detour.
- Lac Rose
The pink lake, coloured by salt-loving bacteria, with salt diggers coated in shea butter to protect their skin; it is a long drive but memorable.
- Le Bideew Bi
A late seafood dinner at Ngor on the sand, with the island lit up across the water.
Monday: Fabrics before the flight
- Marché HLM
Walk the stalls of wax prints and bazin, and ask the tailors if they can finish a shirt by lunchtime.
- Café de Rome
Coffee and a pastry to close the weekend near the Plateau.