Dakar to Ziguinchor Ferry - a guide for touring cyclists

To advance our southward movement we decided we would try taking the ferry from Dakar to Ziguinchor. This overnight voyage would mean that we skipped about a week of cycling south and gives us a little bit more time before the rainy season is fully upon us.

We are always a little anxious about taking public transport as more things are out of our control compared to when we are cycling. So before taking the ferry we did some research into what it might involve.

I contacted some cycling friends Chantal and Jean-Luc who had used the ferry to travel back from Ziguinchor to Dakar and they kindly answered my questions. I also found a really detailed blog post by a traveller Matt, which had lots of step-by-step information about the ferry.

Both of these sources gave us the confidence to go for it and meant that we were more prepared for what the trip would involve.

We thought it would be useful to write this post and include specific details about travelling with bikes and a few other additional things we experienced but hadn’t read about previously. Matt’s blog post is a fantastic basis, so that’s worth a read before ours.

What follows is almost in chronological order from port-to-port.

Cabin or no cabin

Whether you can get a cabin or not depends on availability. We arrived at the port and wanted to get the boat the same day so knew there would be limited availability. There were no 2-berth cabins left available so we opted for a 4-berth one. The chairs in the lounge were still available and are very cheap in comparison to a cabin but we thought we would get a better sleep on a bed, even if shared with two unknown passengers. The trip is 14 hours so there is an opportunity to get a decent sleep if conditions are right! We found out later from some fellow passengers that they had opted for chairs one time, but never again due to constant disturbances all night, so we were pleased with our choice.

Bikes as luggage

Once the tickets were purchased in the office, we had to check in our bikes. They are not wheeled on with you, but are embarked and disembarked by Cosama/port staff so you have to leave your bike in their hands. This made us a little anxious as the bikes are so important to us and also just about all we own…

One of the port staff / gendarme kindly showed us round to the back of the ticket office and to two small kiosks. Behind, we could see a big warehouse with luggage and items ready to be loaded on to the boat. The Cosama staff greeted us warmly and we handed our tickets over. The bikes plus luggage were booked on against my name and stickers were placed on our bikes and luggage, which matched the details on a receipt we kept.

The cost was 3,000 CFA for unloaded bikes and 5,000 CFA for loaded bikes. We were only taking on hand luggage so paid 10,000 CFA for the two bikes and luggage and handed everything over! We partly left the bulk of the luggage on to bikes to provide some useful padding. We think this may also have led to them being wheeled on as opposed to them being loaded into one of the luggage containers, but we’re not sure that’s why.

Our bikes were left alongside a couple of motorbikes/scooters which were also going to be loaded on.

Boarding was advertised to start at 3pm and we were there on time and would recommend getting there early because we had lots of time with the port staff and weren’t rushed. Based on the amount of luggage we saw loaded on later, baggage check-in would have gotten much busier and possibly more stressful closer to the departure time.

Waiting room/cafe/shop

When we were all checked in, we headed into the waiting room through the ticket and border check. In the waiting room there was a cafe with various coffee and teas, sandwiches and cakes. It also had a mini shop with cereal, tinned fish, spreads etc. If you were missing anything for the journey, it was available, though expensive (1,000CFA for 1.5l water).

Boarding

We finally boarded the boat to the sound of the Black Eyes Peas ‘Where is the love?’ blaring from the onboard sound system. The bar was open and people were gathering on the decks. As we boarded I spotted our bikes being strapped in the cargo hold. They looked good and secure and two people were attending to them.

Our tickets were checked and we were directed towards our cabin. There were lots of staff on hand who guided us around. Our cabin was in the middle of the boat, near to the restaurant. We didn’t get a key for the room so we assumed that was because we were sharing with other people. The room had a shower and toilet, which we were relieved about so we wouldn’t have to use the public toilets on the boat. We had heard that they get a bit messy later in the voyage (Matt’s insight!). We had the top bunks and put some of our hand luggage up there (we didn’t leave any valuables in the room whilst on board because there was no room key). Our room mates Mohammed and Mohammed, two young guys, arrived and we exchanged greetings, bananas and tasty mint flavoured milk!

Time to depart

The boat was due to depart at 8pm and we had been waiting around the port since 3pm. Boarding officially closed at 7pm but as we stood watching the sunset over Dakar with hundreds of black kites returning to the city to roost, people kept arriving on the dock and boarding the boat. At around 7:45pm, the crew lifted the ramp and started getting the ship ready to set sail. At 7:50pm, a couple of people appeared on the dock and tried to board despite being so late. The ramp was once again lowered so they could board. We couldn’t imagine this happening on a ferry from the UK!

The evening

We spent a lot of the evening chatting and relaxing on deck where the temperatures were comfortable and the music was playing. People were in good spirits. As we descended into the cabin to sleep, it was obvious that the rocking and rolling wasn’t sitting too well with some people. We were lucky with our cabin mates and got a good night’s sleep on comfy beds.

The morning

After a pretty good sleep, we woke up as the boat docked in Carabane. Now on the river, the water was much calmer. At the recommendation of our cabin mates we went for breakfast in the restaurant. We didn’t realise but the breakfast of tea/coffee/bread/spread were included in our ticket. We paid 1,000 CFA each for an omelette and another 1,000 CFA for another coffee. We hadn’t seen any information about the breakfast anywhere and that’s an important start to our day!

Disembarkation

We went up on deck and stayed there until we docked, watching the boat travel up the Casamance river, past the mangroves, fishing boats and small riverside houses. Once the ship was secure, the staff started unloading the cargo. From our spot up on deck we watched a couple of wagons of suitcases came out, then my bike was wheeled out and carefully leant against a post. We waited a little longer then Sam’s bike was ridden off and placed beside mine.

We presented our receipt to a member of staff who confirmed the details against the information on the stickers on our bikes, which he signed to confirm he’d seen the corresponding paperwork. All done. We were then ushered to avoid the queues through the port by picking up our bikes and walking/riding them out through the vehicle entrance and the gates. In the end, we were one of the first to board and one of the first to leave!

All round it was a good trip and the bikes were well looked after. We’ve been on some ferries in worse condition on the Outer Hebrides. Get in touch if you have any questions about any details and we’ll try to assist.