West Africa Part 1 (Senegal)

Hi again.  This post is the first of a three-part series covering our three country trip to West Africa.  Read about our visit to Senegal and continue on the next two posts to read about Cote d'Ivoire and Ghana.  As before, I'll share my perspective on what we did and saw (with pictures) and Sabrina will provide her point of view with fresh interjections in this color.

Our trip to Senegal was the first since arriving to Morocco so every part of the experience that is traveling around the continent of Africa was new to us.  From navigating the maze of Casablanca airport to having your temperature measured by infrared scanners immediately after debording (lest you spend the night in the ebola room).  One major conclusion we've come to is that flying is generally exhausting.  This reality is only accentuated when traveling with a 17 month-old is only just a little less happy than you to be stuck in a big metal tube for hours.  Anyway, the story continues...Oh an word for future travelers on Royal Air Maroc Airlines...they do not have soap or paper towels in their bathrooms.  And scoff and smirk if you ask.  Gaaaross. 

Passports, shot records, and customs forms.  The Loviner clan has the travel bug.

When one is in Casablanca International Airport, one does what Humphrey Bogart would do and enjoy a local beverage

Just a quick run down the coast

The in-flight entertainment.  Too bad I saw this movie already.

The country of Senegal is a former colonial holding of France and is located on the western-most point of continental Africa.  A rock of peace and stability, Senegal lives in a somewhat rough neighborhood with Mali to the east and ebola-troubled Guinea to the south.  But this is isn't a geo-politics lesson; that's what wikipedia is for.

Our first adventure was an outing to Lake Retba or Lac Rose (Pink Lake) about 30 km northeast of the capital of Dakar where we were staying.  The lake is made pink by a combination of a certain kind of algae as well as high salt continent--Senegal's answer to Utah's Great Salt Lake.  We came for the lake, but we got a whole lot more than we asked for.

After taking the "scenic route" through some off-the-map villages..the scenic route was awesome!, we finally arrived at the lake only to be greeted by two brothers who took it upon themselves to be our guides for the (without actually asking us).  Seeing as our car was full (with local FAOs exploring the area with us), our new friends found no problem in climbing on the side of the car and directing us away from the lake to test out the 4-wheel drive on the sand dunes by the ocean shore which we were happy to do.  Adding to the fun was the fact that the younger of the two brother seemed perhaps a bit intoxicated (a bit??  That man was wasted.  Naked wasted! His pants were falling off and he thought it was funny.  Not so funny when is crotch region was pressed to my window. Good morning, Senegal!!)  which was somewhere between entertaining and creepy.  It also made for some interesting interactions with the locals.  I seriously thought he might fall off the side of the truck. But he didnt.  He did provide Knox with a lot of entertainment on the long car ride down the beach with funny faces. 

A few camels we considered hitching a ride on through the more patchy areas sand dunes.  One was not named Erica, I was disappointed.

One of our self-appointed guides holding on for dear life outside the car getting nice and wet on ocean spray.  He turned out to be a pretty good guide. The not drunk one.

After about 30 minutes of dodging seagulls and watching our guides hang on for dear life, we arrived a quiet little spot just outside of a busting fishing village which we walked around a bit to see what turned out to be Senegal's second largest fishing operation in the country where they catch, smoke, and ship across the country using the traditional and colorful pirouges on all-night fishing expeditions.  The scenery in this village was beautiful.  Gorgeous even.  But the smell.  Holy Moly.  

Little guy stretching his legs on the beach a bit

The fishing village

Smoking the catch

We loved these colorful pirouges.  This was one of the bigger ones getting ready to go back out

Eventually, we made it back to the lake which was (as promised) pink...well...depending on the angle you looked at it.  Either way, we also did find a nice local place to eat before heading back for the day.  The pinkness of the lake has to do with the time of year and weather patterns and blah blah blah.  If you look it up on the internet PhotoShop does a wonderful job of making you think its as pink as a flamingo.  Which it never is. And there are not flamingos here, but our guide insisted that there were.  Or at least I think that is what he was trying to tell me.  In between knowing very very minimal french,  his total not understand this fact and that he kept going in and out of using Wolof I was that lady that smiled and nodded all day. 

The picture doesn't really do the "pinkness" justice

The next day was mini-safari (Woot Woot!) day at Bandia Game Reserve about an hours drive south from Dakar.  This preserve had many types of animals, some native to the Sahel region and some not.  It was, however, a fun day riding on top of 4x4 through open country getting up close and personal with ostriches, rhinos, and giraffes (not to mention my new favorite Baobob trees).  After a fun day at the park, we took some time to relax in the small village of Popenguine on the coast in an unlikely little hotel/restaurant that had great fish as well as a pool (too bad we forgot our swimsuits).  There were also packs of wondering donkeys running through the hotel but....this is Africa.  They are called Burros, duh.  Well they are wild and not supposed to be on the property.  So the owners daughter and their two dogs chased this wild pack around the property and finally got them out of the gate.  It was awesome to watch. 

                                     

Baobobs are awesome

Had to stop for giraffes on the trail

The only "elephant" in the park (a little joke from our guide)

The end of the day at Popenguine

On the last day, we hopped on the ferry and went to Gorée Island (also a stop on Obama's 2013 visit to the continent....a fact every guide here loves to repeat).  Like many places in Africa, both the control and purpose of island have changed as centuries saw the island from a Portugese trading post to Dutch control and back to Portugese and Dutch again between the 16th and 17th century as a part of the trans-Atlantic slave trade.  Finally, the French took control of the island until Senegalese indpedence in 1960.

The place is beautiful.  Like Mackinac Island in Northern Michigan..like Mackinac and Nantucket had a baby is more like it., there are no vehicles at all, just narrow dusty alleys full of old colonial buildings and, colorful shops, and plenty of vendors who are not afraid to get up close and personal to peddle their wares. These ladies are relentless.  Like scary in your face.  "Come to my shop, sweet lady!"  "You remember me from the ferry, Nice Lady.  You said you would look at my shop." "I promise I make you nice price for the Nice Lady."  At first it was innocent, then when they got the hint of a smell of money they all came out of the woodwork.  They thing is that they all have the same things in their shops.  Not even different colors, its all just the same.  Plus their prices are outrageous.  I know that haggling is part of the deal, but when you are being stubborn I am going to walk away.  And I did, but then they wrapped their hands around Ryan and he came back with crap that he paid too much for.  But, this is their livelihood.  So I don't fee that bad.  And we were on vacay, we needed stuff to remind us of our trip.  

Coming in to Gorée on the ferry

12-inch French guns installed pre-WWI.  Turned around and destroyed in place by the pro-German Vichy French before the end of WWII.

Statue commemorating the human toll of the slave trade.

The "door of no return" at Gorée Castle.  There are no words to describe what it feels like to stand here and see first-hand the place where families were split apart and an untold number of lives were changed forever.

The colorful "streets"

Just a pelican joining us for lunch

Knox discovered "Buye" or the juice of the Baobob fruit.  He litterlly downed this glass in about 20 seconds.  If only they sold this in Morocco.

Monument at Gorée

Senegal was a beautiful place which we will never forget.  I highly recommend it to anybody in the West African neighborhood.  Driving around, seeing the pace of traditional life as well as accelerating development, one gets the sense that this country is on the verge of a big boom that will put it more on the map in a big way.  As the region becomes more important in terms of oil and security, Senegal's land and people will play a big part.

We stayed at a hotel/B&B called La Residence.  A quaint little place run by French expats who fell in love with Senegal.  The staff was helpful and kind.  The breakfasts were awesome. And the house cats were my favorite.  (of course!) The hotel was small enough to leave the kid sleeping in our room and walk down to have coffee on the patio.  With in walking distance to many restaurants, the beach and the US Embassy.  The area the hotel is in is easily the tourist district.  Many vendors peddling their wares and anything you would want to eat.  I would recommend it to anyone that decides to visit Dakar. Its not exactly close to 'downtown', but it is an easy 20 minute drive.  The airport is nice enough.  Very small, but they don't need much more.  It is a busy place and definitely runs on "Africa Time".  

One very important detail that I would love to share with anyone and everyone about traveling though Africa using air travel...be patient.  I know this is a hard thing to be while anxiously waiting, but the lifestyle is different here.  If you want information, you have to ask.  And you have to ask the right person. Who that right person is, I am not sure but they are out there.  We waited for 4 hours for our flight from Dakar to Abidjan.  We were only supposed to be there for 2 hours, with out even a hint of what was happening.  No one seemed concerned or alarmed.  Just waiting, and watching futbol.  Of course we eventually got on our plane and were on our way, but it was a mad rush of people all at once, which was too much for this momma at that point.  I am a terrified flyer and a momma bear on top of it all.  With my cool as cucumber husband and oblivious toddler, I looked like a straight deranged person. ((But be on the look out for my special blog post about travel.  It will be a good one ))


My first thought on all of these trips is to check out and see if this is a place where I would like to raise a family.  There is a one in like 40 chance that we will live here for more than a year, and Senegal is on the top of the list.  (I know that I have not seen much but for me to want to got to a place again is a big deal) The people are friendly.  Very friendly.  Everyone has a laid back attitude.  The scenery is wonderful.  From what I saw an address in Dakar would not be a bad thing for the Loviner Family.  Plus they have direct flights to the states everyday.  Now that is a definite plus so everyone can come a visit...amiright???




Please see our second installment on Cote d'Ivoire HERE