Palmarin

Palmarin is a community reserve on the neck of land where the Petite Côte meets the Saloum Delta: ocean beach on one side, salt flats and lagoons on the other, baobabs standing in the flats, and a handful of villages between. Spotted hyena live here and are seen at dusk, jackals work the flats, and the birdlife on the lagoons is heavy. A few small lodges have been built on the beach side, and the whole area is quiet in a way the Petite Côte resorts are not.

What you actually see

• The salt flats - shallow pans behind the beach, pink and white in the dry season.
• The baobabs - old trees standing isolated in the flats.
• The hyenas - a resident spotted hyena population, watched at dusk with a guide.
• The beach - a long empty Atlantic shore on the seaward side.

When to go

November to May is the dry season, when the flats are at their most striking and the tracks are passable. Bird numbers peak in the northern winter. The rains from July flood the flats and cut the tracks.

Honest expectations

Getting around needs a vehicle or a long walk; the villages are spread out. Accommodation is a handful of lodges and books out in season. Hyena watching is done with a guide and there is no guarantee.

Nearby

Joal-Fadiouth is north, and the Saloum Delta and Mar Lodj are east and south.