Hotel Mesra Haiwan Peliharaan di Foundiougne

Waterfront location. Clusters of rondavels and bungalows around central restaurant / bar /pool area ,surrounded by gardens. Better than expected for a 3 star rated . My room was end of a small bungalow block ,at top end, near security gate and was extremely spacious for just me! Lots of sockets, separate areas in bathroom ,toilet ,shower (hurrah, hand held ,perfect for long hair wash )and basin. Massive bed, firm, comfortable. Mosquito net and mosquito mesh over windows .(not needed in Feb) Chair, desk (too far for WiFi to work) and another bedroom with bunk beds!! Perfect family room. The heater worked fine ,spare blanket in cupboard. TV !!!! Care needed entering swimming pool as some of the tiny tiles are loose but ,despite ”artistic ”shape is big and deep enough for a good swim. Spacious bar/restaurant with view over the delta. Fruit bats residing over the bar! Food. Breakfast pseudo French type (what do locals eat here???) Evening meal , 3 courses ,was very good BUT I asked for adaptation because the only option I would choose was seafood but was served as linguine ,so I had the seafood in the sauce with salad .The other options were massive plates. Everyone was happy with this meal. Fresh juices available if you ask. Stayed just one night as part of 14 day tour and left by motorised pirogue for next hotel..what fun!

Stayed in Fathala lodge for 1 night. Very comfy room and bed. Loved the expertise our game drive guide had, professional and good knowledge of nature surrounding and its animals. Staff at the lodge nice and very helpful. Dinner and breakfast were good. Would wish more vegetarian options for the breakfast buffet. However the lodge prices outrageous - 2500 CFA ~ 4€ for a bottle of water when you’re remote with no other options (normal price in senegal 400 CFA ~ 0,60€), postcard basically advertising their own lodge 7000 CFA ~ 10€ (??). If you don’t pay for the package, breakfast is 18€ pp. Maybe the owners expect everyone to be happy (or trust their customers be unknowing about senegalese prices) and pay expensive prices, even on european standards, in Senegal. They also mention it’s forbidden to bring food and drinks from outside to their lodge. Wifi is also charged at 5000 CFA ~ 7,60€, sim card wouldn’t do you no good since the place is so remote. Feels silly to be benefitting from wildlife customers this badly when the country around you is at least 4 times cheaper. The south african lady at the lodge also doesn’t miss a chance to remind you about kevin the rhino and how he likes to come to the area infront of the lodge, this feels a bit too promising to keep bringing it up since we for example didn’t have the pleasure of seeing him, yet our hopes of seeing him were kept unnecessarily high - he is a wild animal after all. All in all we were happy with our visit to Fathala reserve and to Fathala lodge. Besides the rhino, we were lucky (and happy) to see basically all the other animals living in the reserve. Coming to Fathala for 1 night was a splurge on our month long budget holiday in Gambia and Senegal, so for us the pricing inside the lodge was a massive downside and affected our opinion about the experience. Only by 1 star though.