The capital of Casamance sits on the riverbank, where the legacy of Portuguese and French trading posts meets the daily bustle of its markets.
Ziguinchor stretches along the left bank of the Casamance river, some sixty kilometres inland from the ocean. A Portuguese trading post before it became French, the town still shows verandah houses, old port warehouses and streets shaded by kapok trees.
The Saint-Maur-des-Fossés market is its beating heart, trading river fish, Casamance rice, fruit, fabrics and Diola basketwork from morning to night. A few kilometres away, the crocodile farm at Djibélor lies on the road to the villages of the Bandial kingdom.
Ziguinchor is the natural starting point for a stay in Casamance: the tracks to Oussouye, Mlomp and Cap Skirring all begin here, as do the landing stages leading into the bolongs.
