//
The 750 ha (1,900 acre) Reserve of Guembeul is home to scimitar-horned oryx, addax, Saharawi dorcas gazelle, and gazelle dama mohor. At one time common throughout the country, in the early 1900s, hunting or starvation wiped out the local populations. Efforts to bring them back have paid off. Partnerships with Spain, Israel, and Canada have allowed these animals to return to their native home. Guembeul is also home to the African spurred tortoise, the largest tortoise in Africa, red monkeys, monitor lizards, over 190 species of birds and many other species of wild animals. Fees: CFA 1,000 park entrance per person and CFA 3,000-5,000 for a guide per group.
© OpenStreetMap contributors
Gandiol is dotted with small salt ponds. These rich and inexhaustible ponds fill with water each year during the rainy season then dry up leaving behind a crust of valuable salt which is then extracted, treated and sold by the people in the surrounding villages. One can see piles and piles of salt covered with whatever is handy lining the edges of each of the ponds. The period of extraction is from January to May and is a major source of income.
Visitors can climb to the top of the 25 m tall Gandiol Lighthouse. Once used by foreign vessels to navigate the Senegal River the lighthouse continues to be maintained for the local fishermen and lighthouse lovers.