Flights
Dakar has direct routes from several European cities and none from Norway. From Oslo it's one change, usually Paris, Brussels, Casablanca or Lisbon. Book it yourself, and book early in high season.
Petite Côte, Senegal · 10 rooms
A month in a house by the sea.
Ten rooms in a house on the Petite Côte in Senegal. A month with a car, a guide and security. Flights and food are yours to arrange.
−4°COslo, 14 January
28°CPetite Côte, same day
Sunset at Saly, Petite Côte · Dodji ABAH-DAKOU / Unsplash
14°30'N 17°05'W · PETITE CÔTE
First planned months
1–28 Feb
28 nights
1–31 Mar
31 nights
What's included · One month
Everything that comes with it,
Everything that comes with it,
and what doesn't
The room, the car, the guide, the security and access to a doctor come with it. Flights and food do not, and they are not hidden extras either — you arrange them, and we make nothing on them.
The house on the Petite Côte
Price coming soon
The price will be published once an agreement with a Norwegian tour operator holding a travel guarantee is in place. Register your interest and you will hear from us first.
One room for a whole month, with a car, a guide, security and access to a doctor. Kitchen, living room, garden and pool are shared with the house. Flights and food are yours to arrange.
Season · average temperature
26°JAN
26°FEB
27°MAR
28°APR
29°MAY
31°JUN
31°JUL
31°AUG
32°SEP
31°OCT
29°NOV
27°DEC
The house is open
On request
Rainy season
Included in the stay
- +The room for a whole month
- +Car with driver — from the airport, and while you are there
- +A local guide throughout the stay
- +Security at the house, around the clock
- +Access to a local doctor — named before departure
- +Bed linen, towels and cleaning
- +Kitchen, living room, garden and pool, shared with the house
- +Electricity and water
- −Flights. You book them yourself; we do not sell tickets
- −Food. There is a kitchen in the house and a market nearby
- −Travel insurance, visa and vaccinations
The house · Ten pictures and three films
The house, photographed
The house, photographed
by us
Every other picture on this site comes from Unsplash, and they are prettier than these. These are ours: phone shots, backlit windows, and the only place on the site where you see the house you would actually be coming to.
The rooms · Ten rooms
Ten rooms, and the rest
Ten rooms, and the rest
of the house is shared
You rent the room. The kitchen, the living room, the garden and the pool you share with whoever is staying at the same time — it is ten rooms, not ten flats.
The room to yourselfOne guest
Double bed, window onto the garden, a table of your own. Bathroom shared with the floor.
Two in one roomTwo guests
Same room, same bed, two people. Everything that comes with it comes with each of you.
The rest of the houseShared
Kitchen, dining room, living room, garden and pool. Shared by everyone in the house.
The place · Petite Côte
Where the car
Where the car
can take you
The car and the guide are there all month, and this is what they are for. No fixed plan, no days to use up: you agree in the morning, and some days nothing happens.
DakarNorth
The city, the markets and the ferry to Gorée. Expect the last half hour of traffic into town to take as long as the rest of the drive.
Lac RoseBeyond Dakar
The salt lake that is pink when the light and the salt agree, and grey when they don't. Salt is still lifted by hand.
Sine-SaloumSouth
Where the Petite Côte ends and the delta begins: mangroves, pirogues and islands you can only reach by boat.
BandiaInland, half an hour
A fenced reserve in baobab forest: giraffes, rhinos, antelope and monkeys, seen from the car. Not the savannah — but the closest the coast gets.
MbourAlong the coast
In the afternoon the pirogues come in and the fish is sold right on the sand. Further south is Joal-Fadiouth, the island built of shells.
SalyThe beach
The long beach with restaurants, boats for hire and people riding along the waterline. Most days end here, without anyone having planned it.
The villagesInland
Baobabs, weekly markets and villages where the guide knows someone. This is where you see how people live, and it takes a day.
The weekends · Suggestions, not a programme
Four weekends
Four weekends
to fill the month with
A draft of how the four weekends could look. What is included in the stay and what costs extra is set out in the agreement before departure — not here.
Weekend 1Dakar and Gorée1.5–2.5 hours each way
- Saturday
- The ferry to Gorée, a UNESCO World Heritage island, and the House of Slaves.
- Sunday
- The markets of Dakar, the African Renaissance Monument and lunch by the sea in Les Almadies.
Weekend 2Safari and baobabsAbout half an hour
- Saturday
- The Bandia reserve by open jeep: rhinos, giraffes, zebras and giant baobabs.
- Sunday
- The Somone lagoon, and a wooden boat out to the bird sanctuary.
Weekend 3The pink lake and the dunes1.5–2 hours
- Saturday
- Lac Retba, where salt is still gathered by hand, and a quad-bike ride over the dunes.
- Sunday
- The fish market in Mbour, as hundreds of pirogues come ashore with the catch.
Weekend 4Shell island and farewellAbout 1 hour
- Saturday
- Joal-Fadiouth, the island built of shells, where Muslims and Christians share the old cemetery.
- Sunday
- A farewell barbecue at the house, with a local chef and traditional music.
Practical · Six things
The things nobody
The things nobody
says until you ask
Things we had to work out ourselves the first time. Short, concrete, and written for someone living somewhere for a month — not for someone on a week's holiday.
Food
Market in the morning for fish and vegetables, shops for the rest. Prices are low enough that a month of cooking for yourself costs less than a week at home. The kitchen is shared — settle the washing-up early.
Money
CFA francs, pegged to the euro. Cards work in Dakar and the larger shops, otherwise it's cash. Bring euros and change them there — not at home.
Health
There is malaria all year. Malaria prevention is advised, and yellow fever vaccination should be considered. A month is long enough that the prophylaxis has to be planned, not improvised. See your doctor or a travel clinic 6–8 weeks ahead, and have travel insurance that covers the whole stay.
Network and power
4G along the coast. A local SIM costs next to nothing and beats roaming. Power cuts happen — keep a power bank, and charge it while the power is on.
Etiquette
Ask before photographing people. Cover shoulders and knees away from the beach. During Ramadan, eat and drink discreetly in the middle of the day. Greet people — it takes three seconds and changes everything.
Questions · Visas, food, cancelling
What people ask
What people ask
before deciding
If the answer isn't here, send the question directly. You get an answer from a person, not from a form.
01Why isn't food included?
Because a month is long. Full board for thirty days costs more than the room and tastes the same from week two. There is a kitchen in the house, a market and shops nearby, and restaurants for the days you can't be bothered. You decide daily instead of once.
02Why don't you sell the flight?
Because the ticket is cheapest and most flexible when you buy it yourself. You find your own ticket to Dakar at the price and on the route that suits you, and you're free to come a week early or stay a week longer. We'll tell you what we know about the routes, but we don't charge for that.
03How do I get from the airport?
We collect you. The car and driver are in the price, and they are there for the whole month — not just the first day and the last. Tell us when the plane lands and they will be there.
04Can I use the car whenever I want?
Within reason, yes. There is one car and one driver for the house, so if ten people are staying at once you agree between yourselves in the morning. We do not set a programme: some days you drive to Dakar, other days the car stays put, and both are fine.
05Who else is in the house?
Other people who rented a room the same month. Ten rooms means anywhere from one to twenty people, depending on how many come as couples. The kitchen and living room are shared. If you want the house to yourself, ask — there are ten rooms and they can be taken together.
06Do I need a visa?
Norwegian citizens generally do not for stays under ninety days, but rules change and they follow your passport, not your address. Check with the Senegalese embassy or your foreign ministry before you book a flight — not after. If you also visit the Gambia, its own rules apply.
07Can I work from there?
People do. There is power and there is internet, and the power goes out sometimes — if you have meetings you can't miss, bring a power bank that runs a laptop and a local SIM as backup. We don't promise uptime we don't control.
08What if I have to cancel?
The cancellation terms are published with the tour operator before anything can be booked. Briefly: the closer to arrival, the less comes back, because the room stays empty that month. Read that clause before you pay, not after.
09Is this a package holiday?
Yes. Accommodation and transport in the same contract make a package under section 6 of the Norwegian Package Travel Act. The trip will therefore be sold through a Norwegian tour operator with a statutory travel guarantee, so your money is protected. The operator's name will appear here before anything can be booked, and we take no money before then.
Enquiry · No commitment
Tell us which month
Tell us which month
you have in mind
Register your interest and we will contact you once the trip is ready to book. Nothing is on sale yet, and nothing is stored on this page.
REF · SG-260927-··
An answer within a day
You are first in line when dates and price are ready. Registering interest costs nothing and commits you to nothing.
- post@senegambia.casa
- Season
- November – March
- The house
- 10 rooms
- Place
- Petite Côte, Senegal