Cemeteries and memorials to visit Senegal

By dugout canoe or on foot across the bridge, you can easily reach this small island, planted with baobabs and made up of a pile of shells, which houses the only mixed cemetery in the country, a true symbol of peace and brotherhood between the two religions. Here, reigns a peaceful atmosphere, conducive to meditation. In the foreground, the tombs of Catholics with their crosses. In the background, the mausoleums and the graves of the Muslims. From the top of the hill, you can enjoy a breathtaking view of Fadiouth and the lagoon.

This cemetery has a soul along with the remains of some great names. Aristide Protet, an infantry captain buried standing according to his own wishes, is by far the one with the greatest reputation. He worked hard to widen the space of colonial domination, pushing it as far as Guinea-Bissau, before being driven back to Kafountine. Having said that, the cemetery is indeed the island's cemetery and you will find there, in addition to this strange sense of history sweating through, tombs with dates and names that defy time. Not to be missed!

Offshore, on the mangrove side, an unusual curiosity: Diorom Boumak, certainly the largest of all these island clusters of empty shells that once served as a burial place. Diorom is a pile 400 m long and 300 m wide, and is said to have served as a tomb for 7,000 bodies between the 7th and 13th centuries. By the way, don't miss a detour to the nearby bird sanctuary at the shell island, where you can observe hundreds of birds (cormorants, egrets, kingfishers, pelicans...).