Casamance

South of the Gambia, Casamance is greener, wetter and slower than the rest of Senegal - a region of rice paddies, palm groves, mangrove creeks and long empty Atlantic beaches at Cap Skirring and Kafountine. The Diola people built distinctive architecture here, including the impluvium houses of Enampor, circular structures designed to collect rainwater in a central basin. Wooden pirogues work the Casamance river, palm wine is tapped in the villages, and the sabar and traditional wrestling culture is strong. Tourism operates on a small, locally run scale through campements villageois, which puts income directly into communities.

History

By local legend the Jola and Bainuk have lived here for over a thousand years, and from the 15th to the 18th century the Bainuk Kasa kingdom was the dominant state of the Lower Casamance; the name probably comes from the Manding Kasa mansa, King of Kasa. A border agreed in 1888 between French Senegal and Portuguese Guinea placed the region in Senegal, and its own Casamance Creole survives (Wikipedia, Casamance).

The landscape

• Cap Skirring beaches - long Atlantic sand backed by palms.
• Enampor impluvium house - the rain-collecting circular Diola architecture.
• River and creek pirogue trips - mangrove channels and island villages.
• Village campements - community-run guesthouses across the region.

When to go

The dry season from November to May is the classic window, with the greenest landscape just after the rains end. The wet season from June to October brings heavy rain, lush rice fields and closed facilities in places. December to February is coolest.

Practical notes

Reaching the region means a flight, an overnight ferry from Dakar or a road trip through the Gambia with two border crossings. Facilities are simple by design.

Nearby

Ziguinchor, the Gambian border to the north and Guinea-Bissau to the south.

Key facts