Lompoul Village, Senegal

January 19, 2019Niry Fidelis
lompoul village

A perfect place for family excursions and romantic getaway for couples.

Lompoul is a cute little village halfway between Dakar and St. Louis. What is currently contributing to the magic of this place is certainly the small piece of strange sand dunes in the middle of the forested area: Lompoul Desert, probably a piece of desert misplaced there for an unknown reason since it is more like to the landscapes of Sahara and Mauritania than of the surrounding area of Senegal.

You don’t expect to see sand dunes in the middle of the forested landscape right? Who would ever thing to see the forest, the desert and the beach all in a same day? According to the Senegal Tourism Statistics and Safety, Lompoul Village (village de Lompoul in French) offers in fact, lovely escapes into a desert oasis complete with tents, typical Senegalese food, camel rides and nightly music shows under the starry sky. Since Lompoul is a safe place and off the beaten path, beside being a perfect location for family excursions, it is also a romantic getaway for couples.

Whether you are travelling from Dakar or St. Louis, any of the private transport will leave you at the main road in Lompoul, from where you need a 4 wheel vehicle to reach the desert area. Due to the difficulty in driving on the sandy paths, all desert camps in lompoul offer free of charge drivers to escort their clients to the campsite. While travelling by your own car, you have to leave the vehicle out to the dunes area.

In our case, we were coming by taxi from the capital Dakar and we were up to the Camp Du Desert Tents.

After we have been left by our private taxi driver, we waited an hour so before the lodge guys came. Since we both have a very big passion for photography, waiting was not a big deal, we killed our time easily. But if that is not your case, there are a couple of options there though. You can meanwhile visit the market, the “kind of school” and some shops around. I also heard that there is a musician’s house that you can visit.

Keep something for the children to give; we had taken tons and tons of colour pencils from Italy.

The cheapest way to reach the town is a public transportation, the closest city with a main bus station is Kebemer, from where you can catch a local taxi to reach the main road of Lompoul.

Read also: Getting around Senegal by local busses.

Senegal by local trasport

One more option that we can suggest is instead of stopping at the main road, you can ask the driver to drop you at Lompoul su Mer. Yes, only a few miles from the desert, there is a beach where you can visit a small but picturesque fishing market and community.

Your hotel can pick you up there. Take advantage of seeing the Lompoul village now because I’m sure it will soon become a too prised tourist destination of Senegal. Such a small town that encapsulates many aspects, one different from each other: desert, beach, forest and more, will lose then, from one day to another, its earthiness.

I hope this evolution can somehow, maintain the path of ecology, to welcome therefore a solid eco-tourism in Lompoul village.

Comments (21)

  • Trenye Black

    January 24, 2019 at 2:54 am

    Thanks for sharing your experince. It seems like a beautify place. I love the pictures you have taken. Are the colored pencils giveaway a regular there? What does that signify?

  • Anita Burr

    January 24, 2019 at 12:04 pm

    Wow this looks like a stunning place to visit. Thank you for sharing your experience. You have captured some great memories.

    Anita AKA Suitcase And Adventures

  • Stacie

    January 24, 2019 at 12:09 pm

    Oh wow. That is such a beautiful place! I'd love to visit one day.

  • Kimberley Champagne

    January 24, 2019 at 12:17 pm

    Thank you for sharing your wonderful experience. It looks really beautiful and calm. Nice pictures too.

  • Elaine Best

    January 24, 2019 at 1:19 pm

    Wow, what a unique setting Lampoul Village is in! Who would ever think that you could get the desert, the forest, and the beach all in the same day?

  • Lisa

    January 24, 2019 at 5:51 pm

    This is definitely somewhere different to see! I'd never think about visiting Senegal, but Loumpoul village looks interesting.

  • Lydia Smith

    January 24, 2019 at 6:49 pm

    You must have had a nice time in this village. I'll love to your Africa someday but it's refreshing to read stories of Africa from bloggers like you.

  • Whitney Morrow

    January 24, 2019 at 11:35 pm

    Wow I would never have thought to visit here! I'm adding it to my bucket list now!

  • Unknown

    January 25, 2019 at 4:30 am

    Love the desert, forest and beach all together. Hope to visit sometime. Beautiful photos!

  • Claire

    January 25, 2019 at 4:52 pm

    This looks epic! I have such a strong affinity with West Africa having lived in Ghana for 6 months, but I never made it to Senegal. Glad you had such a great time here!

  • Marysa

    January 25, 2019 at 6:15 pm

    What a neat place to visit. It's nice to find these unique places and exploring. Sounds like there are so many different things to check out there.

  • Sara

    January 25, 2019 at 9:40 pm

    What an amazing experience! I love seeing these special corners of our world!

  • Nikki Townsend-Hopkins

    January 25, 2019 at 11:02 pm

    Love that you had the chance to visit here! I would love to go to Africa sometime in the future!

  • SincerelyMissJ

    January 26, 2019 at 12:38 am

    Looks like an amazing trip. It is still on my bucket list to visit many countries in Africa. Senegal is one of them. Thank you for sharing.

  • Sophia Reed

    January 26, 2019 at 2:28 am

    This looks like a great and amazing experiance

  • Chelle Dizon

    January 26, 2019 at 7:48 am

    That was really an amazing and interesting adventure in that place. I absolutely like those stunning photos!

  • Jasmine Hewitt

    January 26, 2019 at 6:35 pm

    this was a really informative and amazing read! I'd love to have this experience

  • Autumn Murray

    January 26, 2019 at 8:04 pm

    I would love to visit Lompoul Village one day soon. What an amazing trip you had!

  • MaQ and Suz

    January 27, 2019 at 6:16 pm

    I have always wanted to visit Senegal and after reading your post today, I will definitely make it a trip out there one day! xo, Suzanne

  • CourtneyLynne

    January 28, 2019 at 12:12 pm

    Omg what a neat place to visit!!! You must have had the best time ever!! I hope my travels take me there one day 🙁

  • Natalia A

    January 30, 2019 at 7:52 pm

    What a great experience for you, I'm glad you could take a lot of photos!

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