South of Dakar, the Saloum Delta opens into a maze of salt and brackish waterways, mangrove islands and Atlantic-facing shores. It is not a single viewpoint or a compact reserve with one entrance: the wider cultural landscape follows the arms of three rivers and includes more than 200 islands and islets. Tides, seasonal water and changing salinity shape the scenery, so a boat journey can reveal a very different view from a road or village landing.
UNESCO describes the delta as a landscape of roughly 5,000 square kilometres, while the inscribed World Heritage property itself covers 145,811 hectares with a 78,842-hectare buffer zone. Those figures refer to different boundaries and should not be confused with the smaller national park. The protected landscape includes mangrove, dry forest, marine waters and channels where communities have long made a living from fishing and shellfish gathering.