The Basari Country is the region where the ethnic group lives basari in Senegal. It is located in the Kédougou region, in the border area with Gambia.
Context
It is an attractive region for tourism because the Basari are the people who have best preserved the African way of life and traditions throughout the country. The rest of ethnic groups have been influenced to a greater or lesser extent by foreign civilizations, adopting some features of their lifestyle or their religions. The Basari, on the other hand, have remained relatively isolated and have therefore been able to conserve animism traditional African and a good part of the traditions.
Regions
Cities
More than cities, they are small villages made of adobe and straw, traditional building materials in this area. Of them, the Basari capital is Salemata, although there are many more villages scattered throughout the territory.
Other destinations
To get
To visit the area it is necessary to go by jeep and hire a guide, who, in addition to guiding us there, will contact the families of the villages and camps to organize the visit and, where appropriate, food and accommodation. The road through the Niokolo-Kova park is in very bad condition, so it is not advisable to go in anything other than an off-road vehicle.
Even so, there are sept-places and buses that make the journey and can take us from Dakar or from some other place.
Travel
As we leave Kédougou we will enter the track, which will be a test for our vehicle. Without a guide it will be impossible to get around there, so it is advisable to follow him and that's it.
Talk
Learn
Watch
The views and Basari villages will be our main visit. In addition, it is advisable to visit the Dindefelo waterfall, quite spectacular
Do
In this area, what we will do is a lot of hiking and bathing in one of the aforementioned waterfalls, in addition to knowing first-hand what life is like in Africa less influenced by the West.
To buy
To eat
Meals will be arranged by the guide in advance, the where and what. The traditional native meals are in communal plates for every 4 or 5 people, abundant with rice, couscous or semolina, millet, with meat, fish or peanuts.
Drink and go out
In this area the palm wine, which they do by collecting the sap from palm trees and letting it ferment. For this it is possible that on many occasions they ask us for the plastic bottles that we carry, before discarding them. Remember to always carry bottled drinking water, as we will not often have places to replenish it.
Sleep
The guide must be in charge of managing the reserves in the camps. There are several camps in the area that have guest huts with fairly basic services. They can range from having electricity for only a few hours a day to the Wassadou camp, perhaps the most luxurious of all, which has a shower and toilet in each hut.
Health
They usually recommend taking the Malarone, as a precaution against malaria. In addition, it is convenient to use anti-mosquitoes often, and of course, sleep with mosquito nets (which will always be equipped on the camp beds). You should not drink water from any river or well, but bottled.
Respect
We simply have to apply common sense: do not litter, do not enter the private life of the natives, if they do not invite us before, do not take photos if they protest, etc.
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