Podor

Podor sits on an island in the Senegal river at the northernmost point of the country, and it was the first French trading post on the river, fortified from the seventeenth century and rebuilt in stone in the 1850s. The fort has been restored and the quay in front of it still has its line of nineteenth-century trading houses, two-storey with arcades and shuttered upper floors, facing Mauritania across the water. It is the heart of Fouta Toro, the Toucouleur country, and the birthplace of Baaba Maal.

What you actually see

• The fort - the 1850s stone fort on the riverbank, restored and open.
• The trading houses - a row of arcaded nineteenth-century merchant buildings along the quay.
• The river - the Senegal running past with Mauritania on the far bank.
• The Fouta Toro setting - the Toucouleur heartland along the river valley.

When to go

November to March is the cool dry season; the valley is punishingly hot from April to June. Mornings are best. The river is highest after the rains around September.

Honest expectations

Podor is a long way from anywhere and the road east is slow. Restoration covers the fort and part of the quay; much of the rest is decayed. There is very little accommodation and few places to eat.

Nearby

Richard Toll is west along the river, and Saint-Louis is at the mouth.