October 12, 2019
Senegal Day #6: Bus from Saint-Louis to Dakar
April 17, 2019
DAKAR, Senegal – Today marks 15 months as a global nomad! I rode a Senegal Dem Dikk bus 4 hours 53 minutes from Saint-Louis to back to the capital of Dakar. The trip went smoothly, although we made a few too many stops, seemingly letting passengers off at any place they desired rather than just servicing official bus depots.
Got up at 12:29 p.m. at Hotel de la Poste in Saint-Louis. Packed, checked out of the hotel, and grabbed lunch at Restaurant la Linguere: Senegalese couscous with chicken, carrots, and potatoes (F3,000; $5.17). I didn’t care for it.
Picked up my bags from the hotel at 2:22 and had a taxi ride of about 2½ miles (F1,000; $1.72) to the bus depot to begin my journey back to Dakar. Arrived at the depot at 2:34.
Wow, what a “bus station” for a city of 178,000! It’s just a sandy lot with two buses parked, an abandoned tractor, goats, and lots of garbage.
Four young boys swarmed my taxi to try to take my three small bags a few yards to the bus, looking for a tip. No thank you. That is not necessary.
There’s no luggage belly on the Senegal Dem Dikk bus. I placed my bags on the rack inside the bus at front left. I took Seat 4, first seat on the left window. An agent asked to see my ticket as were about to depart. He pointed out I have Seat 44, the center seat in the last row. Oh wow I didn’t realize that was an assigned seat. But nobody was sitting in prime Seat 4 (or the adjacent aisle Seat 3), which I wanted to be able to take videos and photos of the ride.
Finally the agent agrees to let me sit there until Louga (about 30 miles away), where passengers have reserved Seats 3 & 4. I was a little irritated about the seating situation. Got to the bus depot early to get a good seat, not knowing the seats were pre-assigned – and then to learn mine is in the very back middle.
My bus departed on time at 3 p.m. for Dakar. My bus ticket cost F5,000 ($8.60). I enjoyed my short visit to Saint-Louis, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, and popping into Mauritania to get my 129th country. I came up here to Saint-Louis two days ago (Monday, April 15) by “sept-place” (the bus was full), a cramped seven-passenger station wagon. This bus was a lot more comfortable.
It’s another gorgeous day, although it’s not pretty scenery looking out as we leave Saint-Louis at all the trash everywhere; really sad.
We’re heading south on Route N2, which goes most of the way to Dakar. Believe it’s 166 miles by road from Saint-Louis to the Senegalese capital. In the station wagon the other day, it took 4 hours 45 minutes. The bus is air-conditioned; pretty comfortable by African standards except for a bunch of flies that got in while we were boarding.
This section from Saint-Louis to Louga I did not see two days ago because it was after sundown by the time my sept-place got up here. There’s not much development on that stretch, however, just a couple villages. The abandoned Dakar-to-Saint-Louis railroad runs alongside the highway.
Passing the first village south of Saint-Louis, you can get a sense of the semi-desert environment here in northwest Senegal. Next we went through Fas Ngom.
We cruised along about 50 mph – about the top speed in my station wagon two days ago. The road is in fantastic shape – smooth asphalt. The lane stripes are not present or quite faded in some areas but compared to a lot of other African highways I’ve been on, this is quite excellent.
Next we drove through the village of Mpal on the way to our first stop farther south at Louga.
We reached Louga at 3:57 and I relocated to Seat 15, a left-side aisle seat a few rows back from the front. Not ideal to have an aisle seat when taking videos and pictures out the window, but better than the middle seat in the last row that was unknowingly assigned to be when my hotel booked my ticket yesterday.
Our first and only rest stop (14 minutes long) took place at 4:15 in the small village of Gueoul. Colorfully dressed vendors swarmed the bus.
A few passengers disembarked at Ndande. Then at 6 p.m. we came into the outskirts of Thies, population 320,000, three hours into our trip. We turned onto the VCN, the western bypass route around Thies, then went into the city to drop off a passenger.
The man sitting in the first row right window seat disembarked so I grabbed that prime seat as we made our way through Thies. Fantastic!
We proceeded southwest through the outskirts of Thies on Route Thies-Sindia to join up with the A2 tollway. The bus entered the tollway at 6:26 p.m.
It’s a real nice freeway, comparable to interstate highways in the United States. Speed limit is 110 kph (68 mph). Two lanes in each direction. We’re 3½ hours into the trip, making pretty good time. The bus zoomed along at 65 mph. Nice! I was reading a Bulgaria guidebook in addition to taking in the scenery as we passed through villages.
Just five miles later, we merged onto the A1 tollway and went through a toll plaza. Bus toll was F1,500 ($2.52).
I was surprised at 6:52 p.m. when the bus took Exit 9 instead of continuing west on the tollway to central Dakar. I was not expecting to take an exit in the eastern sprawl of Dakar, about 12 miles east of the bus depot. We made a roadside stop for four passengers to deboard.
Made a U-turn to head back to the A1 tollway. I had hoped that was our last stop before the bus terminal, but sadly that was not the case.
The bus passed through a fourth toll plaza, which had heavy congestion. Then we took Exit 7, where two mothers with babies disembarked in the Thiaroye neighborhood. Then it’s back onto the tollway again.
We’re stuck in a traffic jam waiting to take the next exit. Vendors are on the freeway hawking food and other goods to the vehicles stuck in congestion.
The sun went down at 7:23.
We are only three miles from the bus depot, Terminus Liberte 5. Wish we would proceed to the terminal instead of making all these time-consuming halts.
We spent about 15 minutes in the jam as we tried to get off the tollway and through the roundabout. There’s a baby crying on the bus. Finally we cleared the traffic circle and stopped to let off two women and a baby.
Continuing on the tollway frontage road, four more passengers disembarked at 7:36 on the side of the road. It’s going to be a long way to the bus station if we keep stopping every few minutes! Eight people get off at the next stop.
The one advantage of the crowded “sept-place” station wagon I took two days ago up to Saint-Louis is we went nonstop from the depot in Dakar to the depot in Saint-Louis. Did not even make a stop for the bathroom or food.
At 7:39 p.m. the bus exited the tollway for the final time. It’s now dark as we crawl through the streets of Dakar. My hotel in downtown Dakar is about four miles south of here, so I’d have to grab a taxi from the bus station.
At last we pulled into the bus terminal at 7:53 p.m. Travel time was 4 hours 53 minutes, just about eight minutes longer than my station wagon took two days ago despite the numerous stops that we made.
Grabbed a taxi at 8:01. The first driver had no idea where my hotel is, so I had to find another cab. Fare was F3,000 ($5.17). There’s no taxi meters, so you have to negotiate the price, which is always a challenge and frustration when you don’t speak the language and are clearly a foreigner.
Took 20 minutes to Hotel du Plateau. Checked into Room 531. Headed out for dinner: Picked up chicken nuggets and fries from Planet Kebab (F3,000; $5.17), two oranges from a street vendor, and two cold water bottles from a convenience store. Also retrieved my big suitcase from my first Dakar hotel, which I had stored so I didn’t have to take it to Saint-Louis and back.
Ate dinner in my room and watched “NCIS.” Sent e-mails about tours in The Gambia, copied today’s photos to my laptop, sorted and posted today’s pics, got ready for bed, sent more Gambia e-mails, and fell asleep about 3:05 a.m.
Tomorrow is my final day in Senegal. I’m planning to visit Goree Island World Heritage Site, the famous last point of exit for millions of slaves who departed Africa for the New World. The following day I’ll be on a bus down to The Gambia.
Video Gallery
Watch more of today’s videos on my YouTube channel:
- Bus Ride Between Saint Louis & Louga, Senegal, Via Fas Ngom & Mpal
- Bus Ride Between Louga & Pire Goureye, Senegal, with a Rest Stop at Gueoul
- Bus Ride along the A2 & A1 Tollways from Thies into the Eastern Suburbs of Dakar
I’m going to be living in Saint-Louis for a year, leaving next week. My wife will be coming out at a later date, so I will need to travel from Saint-Louis to Dakar to meet her. My question may be a bit awkward, but it is important for me to prepare for the trip:
It appears that the trip takes roughly 5 hours, I only saw mention of one rest stop, and there appears to be no toilet on the bus. What would you recommend for someone like me who takes diruetic medications and therefore often has to use the restroom?
You would need to rent a car and drive yourself then