Campement Le Héron Cendré is a seven-room campement (eco-lodge) in the village of Mouit, in the Gandiole area, 18 kilometers from Saint-Louis, on the edge of Langue de Barbarie National Park. Seventeen guests, meals included on full board or half board, a thirty-seat meeting room and, for eighteen years now, guided outings on the river and around the village.

Seven rooms on a board basis, on the edge of the Langue de Barbarie

Le Héron Cendré is a single-story campement that has been running in Mouit for eighteen years. Seven rooms, seventeen guests: all have fans, no air conditioning, and each has its own private bathroom. People come here for what is outside.

You do not book a room-only night here: the campement is sold on a board basis, per person per night. On full board, breakfast, lunch and dinner are included; on half board, breakfast and one meal, lunch or dinner. The restaurant serves to order from noon to 9 p.m., room service is available, and reception and parking are on site. The meeting room, which seats thirty, also makes it a base for a quiet seminar or a group on a study trip.

Reception is open every day from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. Check-in is from 8 a.m., check-out until 7 p.m., and 7:30 p.m. for late check-out. Children are welcome, pets accepted and events possible.

The campement has its own guide, who speaks French, English and Wolof and accompanies every outing: pirogue trips on the river in the Langue de Barbarie, a guided walking circuit, and a visit to the market gardens by horse cart. In the morning or evening, the campement also invites guests to join its mangrove and casuarina restoration activities free of charge.

It is especially suited to nature lovers and birdwatchers, families who want an all-inclusive stay without getting back in the car, groups and associations who need a meeting room, and long, quiet stays away from the bustle of the city.

Where Campement Le Héron Cendré is located

The campement is in the village of Mouit, in the Gandiole area, south of Saint-Louis, right next to Langue de Barbarie National Park, where the entrance fee is paid on site. The river and the strip of sand separating it from the ocean are the playground for every outing.

Saint-Louis is 18 kilometers away, about half an hour's drive. From Dakar, allow roughly 4 to 4.5 hours; from Blaise Diagne International Airport (AIBD), about 4 hours. It is a destination for several nights, not a round trip.

On the way to Saint-Louis, the Guembeul reserve can be visited in a morning; farther north, Djoudj and its birds can be reached as a day trip within the Saint-Louis region.

Things to do nearby

Starting from the campement

Everything is done with the house guide, on foot, by horse cart or by pirogue: no need for a car once you have arrived.

The Langue de Barbarie by pirogue. An hour and a half on the river, inside the park. Best to go early in the morning or late in the afternoon, for the light as well as the birds.

Birds, binoculars in hand. The area is a recognized birdwatching site; the guide knows the right times and the right places.

The guided walking circuit. An hour and a half on foot with the house guide, at a walking pace.

The market gardens by horse cart. An hour by horse cart through the vegetable plots in the surrounding area.

If you stay longer

Saint-Louis, the island and its heritage. Half an hour away, for a day in the old town, a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Guembeul, in a morning. The reserve can be visited on the way to Saint-Louis.

Getting there without a car. The campement does not run a shuttle: a transfer from Saint-Louis airport or from Dakar solves the problem — custom intercity transfers.