Club Med Cap Skirring

Does anyone know something about this village?
How is it?
How is the beach?
How are the excursions?
...I am really interested to go there...

thanks

Valentina, I have not visited Cap Skirring yet, but it's one of the villages I have in
mind for coming November and, as nobody else is responding to your question, I
will give it try, based on however little I know. Of course, you can also obtain a lot
of information by very carefully reading Club Med's own web site. My information
is based on this too, and on conversations with GOs and GMs.

I have the impression that Cap Skirring is a very beautiful place, with a large and
beautiful beach; as you may know, it is not a very large village. It seems to be
more beautiful than, for instance, Les Almadies, which I like very much: in March
I will be going to Les Almadies for the 3rd time. The people I have spoken to and
who have been to Cap Skirring were enthousiastic about it. Main sports specialty
seems to be golf; if I go there it will be because of the sailing.

As you may know Cap Skirring is difficult to travel to: Club Med charters a plane
from Paris to Cap Skirring itself, very close to the village; the only other possibility
seems to be with Air Senegal from Dakar to (not so close) Ziguinchor. Therefore,
I guess that the GMs here will be mainly French, but I must admit I have no real
information to confirm this. (How do you plan to get there? via Paris, I guess?)

Excursions: as you can see on Club Med's site, there are only a few excursions.
This has a reason: due to political unrest and rebellion in the Casamance, the region
is unsafe to travel. Therefore, the possibilities for nice excursions are limited. If
excursions in Senegal are your main interest, Les Almadies has more to offer.

I know this is not very much, but I hope it is of some help nevertheless. Ciao!

"Of all the things I've ever lost, I miss my mind the most." (Ozzy Ozbourne)

I read in the last couple of weeks that the Casamance separatist group signed an agreement with the Senegalese government to end the unrest. So, if that held, flying into Ziguinchor would be okay, although as Rob writes, not as convenient as the CM charter. Plus, if the Z. airport is anything like Dakar, it is best avoided. I liked Les Almadies a lot too, but I too have heard that the area around Cap Skirring is more beautiful.

My remarks about the unrest in the Casamance pertained to the (limited)
possibilities for excursions. That this also would affect the possibilities to
travel via Ziguinchor is new to me. Well, if the region comes to rest that
will only improve the situation. Ziguinchor being a regional capital only, its
airport may be expected to be smaller (and quieter) than Dakar's.

I have visited Les Almadies twice. The first time I arrived at 4:00 hrs. in the
night, and the airport was a true pandemonium, particularly before immigration
and in the baggage reclaim area. As I always book my flight with Club Med,
transfer to the village was unproblematic. The second time I arrived at around
16:00 hrs. and the airport was as calm as calm could be: passing through
immigration went smoothly.

As to going to Cap Skirring: I would advise anybody to use Club Med's charter
from Paris, if travelling to and from Paris isn't too problematic. Typically --at
least this winter and spring--, this charter departs around 6:00 hrs. in the mor-
ning and returns around midnight; so, this will involve spending 2 nights at the
airport, one on either way. However uncomfortable this schedule may be, you'll
arrive in the village just in time to grab some lunch, and you'll have the whole
afternoon to get settled. Isn't that nice?

"Of all the things I've ever lost, I miss my mind the most." (Ozzy Ozbourne)

Rob, sorry I wasn't precise in my language; you're right of course that the unrest didn't pertain to Z., but obviously as you say it's best if the whole region is settled.

I came into Dakar about 5 a.m. on a South African Airways flight, and I was taken aback and very saddened by the number of young boys begging, and at that time of day. They were very aggressive, which initially angered me, but then I realized they were just trying to survive. Of course for the flight back, no one's interested in someone leaving :)

Just out of curiosity, I discovered that the only other way than CM's charter to Cap Skirring are flights on Friday and Sunday nights on Air Senegal from Dakar about 10 p.m.

>
> Rob, sorry I wasn't precise in my language; you're right of course that the unrest
> didn't pertain to Z.,
>
Well, I didn't say that, nor did I deny what you seemed to suggest; all I did say was
that I didn't know it: as far as I was concerned you might have been right. So, thanks,
but no apology was required.
>
> I came into Dakar about 5 a.m. on a South African Airways flight, and I was taken
> aback and very saddened by the number of young boys begging, and at that time
> of day. They were very aggressive, which initially angered me, but then I realized
> they were just trying to survive. [...]
>
Sure, but it can be very annoying, particularly when you are unprepared. But, indeed,
Senegal still is a poor country. When I took the excursion to Goree island, we were
stalked by a boy --approx. 12 - 14 years of age-- who missed one leg and who was
limping around with a rather heavy iron contraption that was supposed to be an arti-
ficial leg. But he didn't give up and at the end, and also in return for the right to take
his picture, I gave him a tip, just to reward his courage and his persistence; dragging
along that iron leg must have been very tiring.
>
> Just out of curiosity, I discovered that the only other way than CM's charter to Cap
> Skirring are flights on Friday and Sunday nights on Air Senegal from Dakar about
> 10 p.m.
>
Well, after I posted my messages, I read in a travel guide on Senegal that some of
Air Senegal's flights from Dakar to Ziguinchor go through to Cap Skirring. One never
knows, of course, how up to date such a travel guide is. Cap Skirring is a touristic
"strip" along the coast housing several hotels, not just Club Med. Well, thanks for
your confirmation, it's always good to know.

Buy the way, did you know that the Senegalese call the Club Med village a "prison
d'or" --golden prison--? Of course, here they overlook the fact that the walls around
the village do not serve to keep the GMs in but to keep unwanted elements out.

Regards, Rob.

"Of all the things I've ever lost, I miss my mind the most." (Ozzy Ozbourne)

The guidebooks I read before going to Senegal really understated the poverty there, so I guess that's why I was surprised by it. But on the other hand, most Senegalese are a lot better off their other African brethren. It was interesting and ironic that, to my impression, Goree was a lot more "middle-class" than Dakar; we took a picture of three boys, and they had to put down a GameBoy to do it!

And as far as "golden prisons" go, I assume you've checked out Le Meridian. That place gives one some cognitive dissonance. We were checking it out and stopped at the pool bar for a drink, only to be subjected to some twentysomething American guys from the ongoing Coca-Cola convention complaining that their hamburgers weren't very good...

No, I haven't "checked out" Le Meridian and, according to your experience, I seem
not to have missed very much. I daresay, I always find people somewhat pathetic
who travel a long way only to end up eating what they eat at home, (probably) all the
time. I hardly eat hamburgers here at home, I never eat one in Club Med. (Frankly,
I'd think Club Med were only offering hamburgers for the sake of the kids... )

"Of all the things I've ever lost, I miss my mind the most." (Ozzy Ozbourne)

And so how is it Les Almadies like in the month of August?

Thanks

quote:

---

Originally posted by alias

And so how is it Les Almadies like in the month of August?

Thanks

---

Very hot, I'd guess, but I don't really know because I only was there in November,
(and I am going to Les Almadies again in March). By the way, Cap Skirring is closed
in summer: it's rain season then.

"Of all the things I've ever lost, I miss my mind the most." (Ozzy Ozbourne)

Please find below the link to the "Doctissimo" website (in French) re Senegal's weather and recommended/mandatory vaccines:

http://www.doctissimo.fr/html/sante/voyageurs/sa_senegal_sa.htm

The CIA World Factbook will give you general country information (in English, regularly updated), including weather and health conditions:
http://www.cia.gov/cia/publications/factbook/

The "Yahoo! Weather" website will give you weather indications (in English), updated several times a day, with yearly/monthly/daily averages (Cap Skirring is 75 km away from ZIGUINCHOR) :
http://weather.yahoo.com/forecast/SGXX0006.html

I haven't been there yet but am exploring the possibility for the winter.

Mamzelle_101

Hi,
I've been in Cap Skirring last winter. This is really an amazing village.The location is great. The GE are the nicest I've ever come across in Club Med. The beach is great you can either stay out in the sun or relax under the shadow of palm trees. You can sail quite nicely for there is always a nice breeze of air. But the sport in this village is definitly GOLF; Even if you don't play just go there and have a look round it is just marvellous.
As for the excursions, we had a walk every morning which was really interesting.
I also went in the Bolongs by the river which was very nice.
I also enjoyed going to Church service to hear the people sing. It was a really nice time (even if you're not religious)
That's about it
But trust me this village is a dream come true....

PS avoid it if you're on a diet