Why this ride
The stops in between: Bassari Country: Bassari, Bédik Bandafassi, Peul Dindéfello and back through Bédik Bandafassi. It suits an unhurried touring pace.
CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE
Niokolo-Koba National Park and Peul Dindéfello
Plan this ride
- Recorded distance
- 323 km
- Riding-time estimate
- 5 h 34
- Journey
- Recorded itinerary
Distance and timing basis
Ordered leg totals agree within rounding. Stop distances are approximate sums of rounded legs. Stops, delays, approach and any separate return travel add time. Basis: planning record, not independently verified geometry.
Reading history stays on this device. My road watch requires a separate selection; opening it does not subscribe this ride.
Distances and riding times are planning figures. Check local closures and conditions before you ride.
Waypoint introductions and full write-ups
1. Niokolo-Koba National Park
In the south-east of Senegal, where the country presses against Guinea, the Gambia river begins to gather itself, and around its upper reaches lies Niokolo-Koba, one of the largest and oldest national parks in West Africa. It covers nearly a million hectares of savanna, dry forest, gallery woodland and grassy floodplain, and it holds some of the last strongholds of West African wildlife. UNESCO recognised it in 1981, and it has been listed as in danger since 2007, mostly because of poaching and pressure from outside.
Read the complete Niokolo-Koba National Park write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Niokolo-Koba National Park is where the day begins. Next is Bassari Country: Bassari.
2. Bassari Country: Bassari
Where south-eastern Senegal meets Guinea, the flat savannah gives way to the first hills of the Fouta Djallon, and in these hills live the Bassari, a people who have kept their own beliefs, language and rituals despite centuries of pressure from surrounding powers. Villages of round huts with conical thatched roofs sit on hillsides among terraced fields of fonio, millet and peanuts, and the year is punctuated by initiation ceremonies in which masked figures in costumes of leaves and fibres come out of the sacred forest.
Read the complete Bassari Country: Bassari write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Bassari Country: Bassari comes up about 68 km into the recorded legs. Next is Bédik Bandafassi.
3. Bédik Bandafassi
In the hills of south-eastern Senegal, near the border with Guinea, the Bedik people live in villages perched on rocky hilltops, reached by steep paths through the bush. Their round huts with tall conical thatched roofs, clustered closely together, and their traditions of masks, initiation and seasonal festivals have survived because of their isolation. The Bedik country around Bandafassi is part of the Bassari Country: Bassari, Fula and Bedik Cultural Landscapes, listed by UNESCO in 2012, along with the lands of their Bassari and Fula neighbours.
Read the complete Bédik Bandafassi write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
about 129 km into the recorded legs you reach Bédik Bandafassi. Next is Peul Dindéfello.
4. Peul Dindéfello
Dindéfello is where the Sahel finally gives up and the Fouta Djallon begins. The village sits in southeastern Senegal, tucked against the border with Guinea, and the plateau behind it drops away in a red cliff that feeds a waterfall of about a hundred metres. After the rains the fall is a proper white rope hanging off the rock. In the dry season it thins to a veil, but the pool beneath is still deep enough for a cool plunge and the walk through the gorge in the shade is worth the heat.
Read the complete Peul Dindéfello write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Peul Dindéfello, about halfway. Next is back through Bédik Bandafassi.
5. back through Bédik Bandafassi
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Bédik Bandafassi write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
back through Bédik Bandafassi sits at 215 km, about halfway. Next is back through Bassari Country: Bassari.
6. back through Bassari Country: Bassari
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Bassari Country: Bassari write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
back through Bassari Country: Bassari comes up about 256 km into the recorded legs. Next is Niokolo-Koba National Park.
7. Niokolo-Koba National Park
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Niokolo-Koba National Park write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Niokolo-Koba National Park closes the day.
Leg by leg
Niokolo-Koba National Park to Bassari Country: Bassari
Niokolo-Koba National Park → Bassari Country: Bassari is 68 km of getting across. Ride it tidily and keep the enthusiasm for what comes after.
Bassari Country: Bassari to Bédik Bandafassi
Bassari Country: Bassari → Bédik Bandafassi is 61 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Bédik Bandafassi to Peul Dindéfello
Bédik Bandafassi → Peul Dindéfello is 33 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Peul Dindéfello to back through Bédik Bandafassi
Peul Dindéfello → back through Bédik Bandafassi is 33 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Bédik Bandafassi to back through Bassari Country: Bassari
back through Bédik Bandafassi → back through Bassari Country: Bassari is 61 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Bassari Country: Bassari to Niokolo-Koba National Park
back through Bassari Country: Bassari → Niokolo-Koba National Park is 68 km of getting across. Ride it tidily and keep the enthusiasm for what comes after.