Senegal North: Saint-Louis to Podor
Head north with fellow French teachers — from the artists’ village of Toubab Dialaw to the UNESCO city of Saint-Louis, then along the Senegal River to Podor and the village of Donaye, where we work alongside the Senegalese Ministry of Education.
From your first breakfast in Toubab Dialaw to a farewell dinner in Dakar, you’ll experience Senegalese teranga through encounters that go far beyond tourism. In Saint-Louis — the former capital of French West Africa — you’ll cross the Pont Faidherbe, the 500-meter bridge designed by a colleague of Gustave Eiffel, and stay where the Aéropostale pilots Saint-Exupéry and Mermoz slept before their Atlantic mail flights.
Looking north toward the Sahara, we’ll learn about la Grande Muraille Verte — Africa’s 8,000-kilometre answer to desertification, where Senegal leads. In Donaye, in partnership with the Virginia International Teachers Exchange (V.I.T.E.), we’ll spend two days on community service with local teachers before returning to Dakar and Gorée Island.
Highlights
- Speak French all day, every day — with a little Wolof for fun
- 1-on-1 and small-group time with students, teachers, artists and families
- Pont Faidherbe, Hôtel de la Poste and the colonial architecture of Saint-Louis
- Two days of community service in Donaye with V.I.T.E. and the Ministry of Education
- Gorée Island and the Maison des Esclaves with a historian guide
- Optional 3 graduate credits via Southern Utah University
Day by day
- Day 1 · Arrive in SenegalDSS → Toubab Dialaw. Welcome dinner overlooking the Atlantic.
- Day 2 · Toubab Dialaw → Saint-LouisDrive north through the Sahel; evening walk across the Pont Faidherbe.
- Day 3 · Saint-Louis → PodorColonial quarter, fishing port of Guet Ndar, river road to Podor.
- Day 4 · DonayeCommunity service day with V.I.T.E. teachers; meals with host families.
- Day 5 · DonayeSecond service day; evening of music and stories.
- Day 6 · Podor → DakarLong drive south with stops; Grande Muraille Verte discussion.
- Day 7 · Dakar → Gorée → DakarFerry to Gorée; Maison des Esclaves; artists’ quarter.
- Day 8 · DakarMarkets, bookstores, Monument de la Renaissance; farewell dinner.
- Day 9 · Depart SenegalFarewell breakfast; transfer to DSS.
What’s included
Included
- 8 nights hotel (double occupancy, private bath)
- Expert-led guided tours
- Workshops and hands-on activities
- All ground transportation in Senegal
- All entrance fees
- All meals
- All tips
Not included
- International airfare to/from Senegal
- Required travel & medical evacuation insurance
- Passport/visa fees
- Required yellow fever vaccination and other health costs
- Private expenses (gifts, snacks, laundry)
- Single-room supplement
- Graduate credits ($220 via SUU, optional)
Free Discovery meeting on Zoom
We walk through this itinerary day by day, talk about goals and costs, and answer your questions. Can’t make it? Register and we’ll send the recording.
See dates5.0 on Google from 29 educators
Are you seeking inspiration, cultural insights, connection, community and a period of French immersion with like-minded educators? Vive provides all that and more. I felt trust and ease thanks to the skillful and warm communication leading up to the trip and throughout the journey around Senegal.
Fabulous trip! Personally and professionally a life-changing experience.