Lake RetbaLac Rose

Lake Retba lies behind coastal dunes northeast of Dakar, a shallow lagoon whose hypersaline water can blush pink when evaporation concentrates the microalga Dunaliella salina. Its buoyancy feels otherworldly, but the lake is also a workplace: for generations families have harvested salt here, shaping daily rhythms along the shore. Known worldwide as the late 20th–early 21st cc. finish of the Paris–Dakar Rally, it remains a Senegalese symbol where ecology, labor, and legend meet.