Langue de Barbarie

A slim stretch of sand pokes just above the waters off Africa’s western coast. While looking at the landmass from the shore, you may see pelicans floating around a tree that looks like it’s growing from the ocean floor. It’s the remnants of a peninsula that once barred a river from meeting the sea. 

Stretching south from Saint-Louis, the Langue de Barbarie National Park is a narrow peninsula of sand that has historically been the nesting grounds for sea turtles and many species of migrating birds. Originally, the park sprawled uninterrupted from the edge of the city miles down to the mouth of the Senegal River, where it was marked by Fort Balacoss in Gandiol.