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

The most important thing in life...Food.

Food.  Its so important.  Like, a daily need.  And something that I am truly passionate about.  I love to cook and try new things (at least once). So when moving to abroad I was quite hesitant about what was going to happen with my daily consumption of noms.  Like I said before, I will try anything once, but if that something is something that I am not sure about its origins then we might have a problem.  

You all know about my love affair with the Marjane (the Walmart of Rabat)...Well we have had a falling out. I think the first time I went there I was just in a state of awe.  Now when I go its always crowded and there is a certain smell that is just...putrid. That is not a good thing when you are there to purchase food.  Nuh uh.  And anyway I have found new loves and their names are La Fonda (for REALSIES!) Proxi and Nait Hamou.  These three shops have everything and anything that I would need for the kitchen and are right in a convenient little row about a half mile away from the house.  The La Fonda is a butcher with all sorts of delicious cuts of meat from just about any animal but pigs (so sad, but there is a pork store on the other side of town...we have to find it!) And to my awesome finding today, some of the lovely lads that work there speak English!  Yes! Some of the epic purchases there have been BBQ beef ribs, pastry wrapped hot dogs and my favorite lamb chops.  Everything is fresh, clean and best of all CHEAP.  And I mean dirt cheap.  We purchased over 10 lbs of meat today and it cost us about $60.  So I am happy to announce that we are out of the rut of eating chicken every night for dinner bc of La Fonda.  We have run into some things that we thought were one cut from a certain animal, but turn out to be from a different.  Veal Tbone steaks?  Delish!  (Yes Daniel, I am becoming a lover of the bebe moocows, sans Caraway seeds.)

 Next door to La Fonda is the Proxi.  Looks just like any ordinary Bodega any where in a big city in the states.  But this one is just that much better bc they carry amazing American and French products!  Oh and fresh baguettes everyday. My love of bread and cheese has become a small obsession and I think that Ry might try an intervention soon.  You can probably find all of the dry goods you would need at the Proxi and there is never a line and always a smile.  Oh and once again, they speak English!  Score!  And the Orangina is always cold.  So nice after pushing a stroller up the hill!

And then one store down is the Nait Hamou which is the produce market.  But this is the produce market of all produce markets.  It puts every road side stand and farmers market in California to shame. It seems that a lot of restaurants get their produce from this store, so that is a really good selling point.  Everything is in season, fresh and beautiful.  I technically have never been inside this magical place, but I send Ryan in with a list of what we need and he comes out with armfuls of amazing produce. The isle are small and there is always a crowd so it is not very stroller friendly. Gotta strap the kid to the Ergo and elbow my way in there soon.  They have a wonderful staff that help you with whatever you need, and they probably have some of the strangest fruits and veggies I have ever seen.  Maybe I will be brave enough to ask what some of them are how to cook with them sometime soon.  Oh, and its cheap.  Like cheaper than dirt.  We purchased potatoes, zucchini, strawberries, mushrooms, lettuce, and apples and it was about $10.  Ten, Dollars.  The only sad point of the Nait Hamou is that I have not found anyone that speaks English.  Meh.  I guess when I am on my own I will just point and grunt and smile!

Eating tangerines after lunch, that were bought on
the street for about a dollar and cleaned a prepped for us by the wait staff.
 Amazing. 

So that is my shopping trip.  Three different stores, all in a row and a work out to boot!  (Its an up hill walk to them!) Our dinner table is back to being used for hosting wonderful dinners once again in stead of fast food and take out, and that makes me one happy momma!

Speaking of fast food and take out.  It was so comforting to find a McDonalds.  A KFC.  A Burger King.  A Dominos.  And let me tell you.  These do not taste the same as they do back home. BigMacs are super strange.  They put blue cheese on pizza...like baked in.  Gaaross. Which made me really kinda sad.  But thank goodness I have kicked myself out of that rut and I am back on track to being a healthier human being. When in a unfamiliar place and you see something on the shelf that is very familiar, say a bag of Lays potato chips, it makes you happy...and then you get very very sad when those Lays do not taste anything like the Lays you know and love.  Meh.  But Moroccans, as I am sure many other cultures are, are obsessed with 'American' food.  Everywhere has burgers and fries, what they call burritos, sandwiches, milkshakes.  They will offer you ketchup and hot sauce with everything.  It makes me think about how much of an influence we have on the world and this is what we show for it??  Crap food?!!  Anyways, I am not going to get into that right now....

We have finally ventured out an have started to try the different restaurants that there are in the neighborhood.  There is just about anything and everything that you would want, except Chinese food.  But I dont think that there is any Chinese food around here.  Anyway, one of our favorite places is a chain Cafe/Restaurant named Paul.  We first tried it while in the airport in Paris, and the pastries were really good.  Then we found one right around the corner and now we are hooked.  We know that the weight staff always groans when they see us bc we do have a hard time ordering but over all everything comes out just right.  As a matter of fact today we asked for coffee with extra cream and he brought us cups full of steamed milk with a shot of espresso on the side.  Hey, that works too! My chocolate eclair was delightful, and Ryan and Knox enjoyed their treats too. Lemme tell you, you will never leave a place not stuffed to the gills with deliciousness around here.  One serving is enough to feed an army, or my hungry toddler.

Sorry about looking like a Raggamuffin.  

I am pretty proud of myslef for venturing out and about in Rabat.  Although not alone yet, I am hoping that eventually I will be confident in my Arabic/French to make it to the markets on my own and not get flustered or frustrated!  Our Saturday ritual is becoming a thing of normalcy, which is nice when you are still discombobulated about moving half way around the world.

Christmas in the Kasbah

So after weeks of only seeing our house, work, and the local grocery store, we finally ventured out as a family along with some new friends of ours from work who graciously offered to show us around some of the sights and sounds of old Rabat.  Living in the modern quarter of Hay Riad sometimes makes us forget that this city has been around since the 12th century and has some cool stuff to show for it.

After wolfing down healthy portions of Christmas morning waffles (Thanks Aunt Jemima!) and being pleasantly surprised at Santa Claus finding his way all the way to Morocco, we piled in the car to meet our friends who would take us on a whirlwind tour of Rabat.  OK, so my interjections will be done is this fancy but fabulous color.  So, we drove and drove and drove for what felt like forever, but turns out to be less than ten miles away from our house but for some strange reason there is not a single actually straight road in the dang city.  Our adventure started with two men comfortably sitting in the front seats of a van and three women and a baby smooshed into the back seat. Knox was of course the entertainment for the agonizing and terrifying car ride.  And no offense to our awesome chauffeur, other drivers out there make me scream and cringe on a daily basis. 

Our first stop was the large plaza near the Bouregreg river featuring the mausoleum of King Mohammed V and his two sons, Hassan II and Prince Abdallah on one end and the Hassan Tower on the other.  The mausoleum was built in the 1970 and is beautiful on the outside and inside where there is always a high cleric sitting vigil reading from the Quran 24 hours a day.(I tried to offer a Ricola)  Across the plaza is the Hassan Tower and stone pillars which were all part of a incomplete mosque back in the the late 12th century meant to be the biggest in the world at the time.  As it stands at 144 ft, the tower is still pretty impressive and includes a series of ramps inside (instead of stairs) so the muezzin could ride a horse to the top for the call to prayer.

I thought the holes were for air conditioning, turns out its so
 the wall wont fall down when it gets too hot. I was close. 

We always put our kid on a pedestal.  Literally. 

The Roving Gang of Tourists and their trusty guides!  

After our stop as Hassan Tower, we headed to the Medina (the old town) full of narrow, winding alleyways and endless shops. Any many heart attack moments for me. I was aware that the Medina if anywhere in Rabat would be the place where our things would magically disappear from our bags or pockets I, as my mother has told me time and time again, had my over cross body bag with the many zippers under my jacket with Ryan's jacket over the top of it all. I looked like a crazed bag lady with the shifty eyes.  And at no time at all today was there even a threat.  Perhaps they could sense my Jedi Knight skills and backed off, or perhaps I was just well prepared and paranoid.  Make no mistake, this place is easy to get lost in even for the most seasoned veterans.  We were glad to have experienced guides with us to get us around. If you are ever in the Rabat area be sure to check out the fine offering from "Louis Vuitton" and "Michael Kors".  Or definitly pick up an 'authentic' New York Yankees jersey. Hey, from my many visits to Canal Street, these fakers are pretty damn good.  Lemme know what you want.  One thing I recommend is an energy drink made only from pure sugar cane and lemon which is ground and pressed in a machine right in front of you and tastes delicious.  No it doesn't.  Its thick sugar water, literally.  Bad KoolAid, and you all know how much I love my KoolAid.  It pained me to drink it.  

And what trip to old-town Rabat would be complete without a visit to the Kasbah des Odayas, located directed across from the Medina.  The Kasbah served as a sort of self-contained fortress city during the reign of the Almoshads in the mid 12th century.  The setting overlooking the river and architecture again were beautiful while the thrones of Kasbah cats gave the place a nice homey feel. Kasbah cats.  It was the most cats I have seen in one location besides the shelter or a great episode of Hoarders.  And they are all healthy and happy.  We even watched a security guard feeding them fried fish heads.  It is obvious that they are well taken care of, and probably for a reason.  Who doesn't love a kitten?! We know that security guard does!

I think Ryan was trying and failing to Rock the Casbah. 

Ooooooh!  Field Artillery that's wicked old!

Ittle Bittle Kitten

Don't mind the passed out bebe. 

Of course we got hungry after a long morning of walking around old stuff. Really old stuff.  The oldest stuff I have EVER seen!!  So our friends took us to what could be the best barbecue joint this side of the Atlantic in the town of Temara just south of Rabat.  But its not like American BBQ, its actually better! You get to pick out your own meat from a huge display case, by the kilo. You order this delish meat by weight. That is some serious business right there.  This, by far was the best meal I've had in Morocco so far.  Then they cook it all up together bring it to your table along with fries, Moroccan tea, salad, and anything else you want.  As you can see, we cleaned up well.....

Of course I pulled off a Moroccan faux pas while at lunch.  I was trying to clean up the table after the carnivorous smorgasbord and threw my uneaten bread on a plate and piled crap on it. I was corrected and told that bread is symbolic and respected by the Moroccan people as a symbol basic subsidence and it is disrespectful to not dispose of it correctly, or by puting it back in the bread basket.  Half eaten or not.  Well, lesson learned. And I felt like a huge idiot. 

Bread and meat is all this kid needs to stay so dang adorable

With our bellies full, we ended out our Christmas Day escapade on the beach (in short sleeves)  enjoying a coffee and good conversation at a seaside cafe in Temara.  Of course Knox made some friends who played a little football (he means futbol, silly American) with him.

Look, 'Murica is over there! 

One (uhh, we!) couldn't ask for a better Christmas Day in Rabat.  It was great to get out with new friends and discover more about this place that we call home.  Insha'Allah (God Willing to all of you non Arabic speaking folk out there....bc you know we know the lingo now)  we'll get to see and do more in the coming weeks as we get ready for our first family trip to Western Africa.  Stay tuned as the adventure continues.

(Also for your listening pleasure, a little of The Clash to get you in the holiday spirit)

And a big thanks to Mounir and his wife Amal for troopsing us all over Rabat and dealing with our many questions and translating everything and anything.  They might be some of the most patient people I know!  And I cant wait to show them the site of the states soon!  

And then there was "Griswald" waiting outside our house patiently for our return.