With a great arm of beaches and buildings that protrude out of the continent, Senegal’s Cap-Vert peninsula is not only Africa’s westernmost point, it’s also home to the sprawling port city of Dakar, now a bubbling hotpot of busy streets, African bazaars, leafy parks, sizzling street food stalls and rocking music bars.
Visitors should start by sampling the capital’s lively and cosmopolitan attitude, making sure to get all of the downtown tips from their Dakar tourist guide; the best jazz bars to hear the deep bass lines of the Orchestre Baobab; the famed hotspots of Senegalese cuisine (with its nutty concoctions and curious intermingling of French and European colonial flavours); the local drinking joints, where hospitable crowds gather to sip the iconic Gazelle beer.
But Dakar is also a great jump off point for further exploration on the Cap-Vert and western Senegal, and anyone with time enough should be sure to check out the fascinating pink hues of Lake Retba, or the enthralling Ile de Goree—with its old buccaneer history and curious artistic vibe.