SINE SALOUM, Senegal (Reuters) – Lionel Lopez grimaces as he looks at the stagnant green water in the bottom of the pool at his hotel in Senegal’s Saloum Delta. He drained it after the global pandemic closed borders, bringing West Africa’s tourism industry to a standstill in mid-March.
The Sine-Saloum region has escaped the worst of the epidemic that has so far infected more than 3,100 across the country. But stringent travel restrictions have hurt those who live off what they earn through hospitality, selling handicrafts, or ferrying visitors through the delta’s bird-rich mangrove forests.
“It makes you want to