While Djoudj National Park itself is a mesmerizing and breathtaking natural wonder that's definitely worth visiting, my boyfriend and I had a traumatic experience with a guide named Pape Alioune and his driver, Ibrahima Sow. During our visit, we were constantly pressured us to pay more than the agreed-upon fee, making the excursion incredibly uncomfortable. When we declined to give additional tips at the end of the tour, Ibrahima became physically aggressive (armlock, pulling hair, etc). He did not stop even when we started crying and only ran away when locals came towards us. This incident left us deeply shaken and distraught. Hopefully, by sharing our experience, others can avoid the distress and fear we had.

Technically a wonderful place? But out of the season there are no birds (hmm, probably because the lakes are dry and with out any water :)). The staff is bothered to sell you a ticket and tries to rip you off with additional charges. The drive up to the park is well signed when coming from Sait-Louis.

This place is totally amazing although I am not a bird watcher, Djoudj almost took my breath - we saw eagles, thousands of pelicans, warthogs, flamingos, gambian gooses, small crocodiles and varans, lots of different species of birds..... I was not expecting much but with our guide Mohamed I rate this trip as one of the best so far.. we have visited this place beginning of december, we have seen so much!!! The best choice we made to visit this national park!!! Advice: take some water and snack with you, we spent there almost 5 hours

There are many pelicans and other birds. It was great experience to see their flying. Our guide was so kind and nice dancer. His name is yally!!! Yally Yally Yallashung! Yalralyyalra!! He explained some birds in English. We enjoyed Oiseaux Djoudj National park. We took a boat with other travelers. And we went to Pelican habitats along the river. On our way, we can see many birds. One of them was drying their wings. It was amazing. Many birds were flying in a line. It was marvelous. We liked it and had some good time in here. I really want to visit again.

The whole trip was very expensive. I was forced to get the guide who do not even speak English so he stay quiet for the whole trip. Now, the park itself is very nice but not the way how things are organise there. The boat was very loud so you can't hear any birds at all. On top of that it was going so fast that you couldn't get any good pictures or even focus for the moment to take any. The boat made the stop at the birds nesting place for about 5 min and this was the only time you could actually hear the birds. So dear people with your professional cameras give up the hopes on having great shots. It would be amazing if you could choose to go with paddle boat but it wasn't an option. Those motor boats you have to take spoil whole of the experience. I unfortunately wasn't able to connect with nature there as I was hoping. Beautiful place so it is so sad that is organised this way.

Disappointing. According the guide book we where still in season, the birds knew better and all left for Europe already. We did a day trip, half the time driving through the park with very little to see. Then the pirogue, the modern polyester version with an incredibly load outboard, could hardly hear our guide.

Takes about an hour and a half to arrive from St. Louis. Boat tour lasted almost two hours in total. The highlight was the pelican nest and the huge number of cranes.

Great English language tour with Mohammed! He shared his wide knowledge of bird species and also had a bird book and binoculars that we could use. He spotted some amazing finds too - golden jackels, monitor lizard, small birds etc. That we never would have seen on our own. The boat trip was super lovely too.

Visit arranged as part of a 14 day tour of Senegal/Gambia. Lots of wildlife spotted through our bus window on the journey there and back. Boat trip (who does not love a boat trip in the warmth ,peace and quiet) Very noisy pelicans!!! Best to visit early in the morning when the pelicans are out and about fishing. I am not a "birder" but thoroughly enjoyed the experience.

Rented a car (separately) and drove here ourselves from Saint Louis. Says 90 minutes but the bumpy road makes it a little longer. It’s a dirt road for a while, which makes sense since it’s in a flood plain. Once you get to this road just follow the signs to the park, it’s not hard to find. (Just remember land marks to get back out, but that’s also not hard.) Pull up to the main building. 20,000xof for a guide who is worth it. Our guide was super friendly, spoke enough English to point things out and reference it in our guide. It was an amazing experience seeing all the pelicans fly just overhead and just by the boat. Highly recommended.

fresh air, wide areas and nature life ... a lot of bird species too during this time of the year (february)

Amazing amount of birds in a small place. Truly unique environment.

Excellent

A long drive for not much in the way of bird sitings aside from Pelicans, pelicans and more pelicans. Site seeing boat was crowded making the experience uncomfortable.

It was nice experience being here with the family.

Djoudj National Bird Sanctuary Situated in the Senegal River delta, the Djoudj Sanctuary is a wetland of 16,000 ha, comprising a large lake surrounded by streams, ponds and backwaters. It forms a living but fragile sanctuary for some 1.5 million birds, such as the white pelican, the purple heron, the African spoonbill, the great egret and the cormorant.In the Senegal River delta, the Djoudj National Park is a 16,000 ha wetland ecosystem that includes more than 1.5 million migratory birds. Comprised of lakes surrounded by streams, the property is a vital but fragile sanctuary for species such as the white pelican, African spoonbill, cormorant, pink flamingo and great egret.

Go there!

If it had been possible I would have submitted a review with not only even a single star.. Total and obvious abuse and manipulation .. you have to pay for almost everything and everyone there even if you are not in need of them.. you have to pay for the car even though you don’t need a car in the park (you can get to the boot by foot)... you have to pay the entry then you have to pay for a permission that allows you to be in the park (why did you pay the entry if you’re not allowed to be in the park?) the guide apparently works independently as he declared right after the visit which was confusing because his costs were included with the entry.. (he was reading out from his manual he was not even experienced in his field) furthermore, many Senegaleses try to indirectly sell you coconuts and useless tools (they give you slices of coconuts supposedly to taste, then they demand extremely high prices) .. needless to point out that the system is everything but organized .. it is supposed to be a park but everyone there works independently and try to abuse and to manipulatively earn money .. concerning the park per se it’s totally unworthy to go there.. long journey for a couple of hours to see birds that you can actually see in other natural reserves where you can get much better service and have more activities to do.