, this part of the continent has always been woefully overlooked. Leaving a drizzly Gatwick behind me, it's not hard to understand why the weekly flights have almost sold out until early January. Carefully tucking straw hats into overhead lockers, most passengers are eagerly gearing up for some extraordinarily affordable and convenient winter sun. Starting from £810, an all-inclusive seven-night holiday with flights costs less than one night at a luxury Maldivian resort. Average highs of 30C make it seven degrees hotter than Tenerife at this time of year, with 4.5 more hours of daylight, while by virtue of being within the GMT zone there's no time difference or annoying jet lag. Waterslides, pool parties and bottomless neon slushy cocktails aren't really my thing, but as a fan of Africa with very little experience of the west, I'm here to find what this part of my favourite continent has to offer. As it turns out, this isn't such a great leap into the unknown for Tui, who've already been selling to French and Dutch market){kind=link}
As Tui launches package holidays there, this offbeat and gently intrepid country is both an affordable and convenient winter sun option
Perched on the edge of a sun-lounger with a glass of crisp salmon-pink rose, I’m watching the sun slink below a watery horizon while wriggling my toes in warm amber sand.
It could be the Med. But it’s 35C in November. Further along the beach, brightly coloured pirogue boats carry fishermen to catch their nightly hauls, and braying donkeys arduously pull wooden carts along rust-red dirt roads.
Last week, package holiday company Tui launched the first direct flights from the UK to Senegal, making it possible to access a golden, sun-drenched section of West Africa’s coastline in six hours, between the dry season months of November to May.
It’s a bold move for a mainstream mass-market operator. Largely ignored by the big safari players and African specialists, this predominantly French-speaking country has barely appeared on the British holidaymaker’s radar. In fact, aside from neighbouring Gambia and the islands of Cape Verde (both also sold by Tui), this part of the continent has always been woefully overlooked.