Casamance

The southernmost region of Senegal separated from the rest of the country by The Gambia, Casamance is the most forested part of the country and is characterised by dense gallery forest along the Casamance River and a network of estuarine creeks lined with mangroves. The region's Diola communities maintain distinct animist and cultural traditions alongside Islam, and their villages with raised granaries and sacred forests are unlike those found in the predominantly Wolof north. Ziguinchor, the regional capital, is a relaxed town with colonial architecture and a lively river market.