Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
weekly in each direction, leaving Dakar every Tuesday and Friday at 8pm, arriving in
Ziguinchor the next day at 10am. Note that you
cannot
buy tickets over the phone.
BUSH TAXI
Road transport for long-distance destinations leaves from Gare Routière Pompiers, off
Ave Malik Sy (a taxi from Place de l'Indépendance should cost around CFA2000). Rates
are fixed but change frequently with fluctuations in the cost of petrol. Main destinations
include Mbour (CFA3000), Saint-Louis (CFA4900), Karang at the Gambian border
(CFA5800), Tambacounda (CFA9800) and Ziguinchor (CFA12,000).
TRAIN
Dakar's train station is 500m north of Place de l'Indépendance. In the past there has been
an unreliable line between Dakar and Bamako (Mali), but at the time of research it was
not running.
Getting Around
Most car-hire agencies in Dakar (see map ) are at the airport or in the city centre.
BUS
Dakar Dem Dikk
(DDD;
www.demdikk.com
)
buses are a pretty good way of travelling cheaply.
There are several connections to the town centre. Fares cost beween CFA150 and
CFA275. They're quite reliable and only crammed full during rush hour. Check the web-
site for a detailed list of DDD routes.
More frequent but less user-friendly are the white Ndiaga Ndiaye minivans and the
blue-yellow
cars rapides,
Dakar's battered, crammed and dangerously driven symbols of
identity. Unless you know your way around, it's hard to find out where they are going.
They stop randomly and suddenly - tap a coin on the roof to signal that you're getting off.
TAXI
Taxis are the easiest way of getting around town. Rates are entirely negotiable. A short
hop costs from CFA600 upwards. Dakar centre to Point E is around CFA1700; it's up to
CFA2700 from the centre to N'Gor and Yoff.
The official taxi rates for trips from Léopold Sédar Senghor International Airport are
put up outside the airport. Don't pay more.
