From December 26 2007 to January 2 2008

My amazing trip to Senegal!

Shortly after Xmas which was spent in company of my Burkina Faso colleagues, I went to Ouagadougou International airport and boarded a plane for Dakar, Senegal. I had made arrangements to have Rémi babysat and I left him in good hands with Daniel to take care of the house and the meals, Angèle for the cleaning and Ludovic for the care of Rémi. As before, I had left behind 5 pages of instructions with day-to-day menu, emergency numbers, daily activities, etc. Everything was set and I was happy to leave on my own to visit another country on this continent which has not yet won my heart. The 3 hour flight went well and I was stunned to look down and see nothing but a brown flat landscape - no montains or lush greens, little water to be seen. Africa is definitely a very dry continent...

I landed in Dakar, the capital of Senegal, at noon on December 26 2007. My dear friend Marie-Annick was there to welcome me and I was thrilled to see her again. First we went to drop off my bags at her place, a small appartment in the heart of Medina, a dynamic area in downtown Dakar.  After a few lively discussions to quickly get up to date on the main things that had happened to us in the past 6 months and on how our Xmas had been, we went to the sea to sit and talk some more. What great joy it was for me to dip my toes in the cool water and hear the soft music of the waves crashing on the rocks. We talked on, shared a large beer and then went to some friends' place to celebrate a Belgian guy's anniversary. Spaghetti night, wine, good music and some Senegalese friends all super friendly. Laid-back atmosphere and this seemed to be the natural « beat » of this coastal country…

The next day, we went to the Guinea Embassy in Dakar to get me a visa (since there is no embassy in Burkina).  Guiinea is another CECI country where they send volunteers, and it is by the sea, so I want to go and check it out to see if I life it. Who knows, I may decide to go there to work one day but even if it is not the case, I want to see as many Western African countries as possible so that I can get a good idea of what it is like in various parts. However, the visa is usually only 20 000 CFA (40$) except for Canadians and Americans - it is 65 000 CFA (130$) for us! Not cheap! I plan to go in early February and will tell you all about my trip soon after…

We then went to the port of Dakar to board a ferry boat to Gorée Island, a mere 20 minutes away. It is a lovely colorful little island with small shops for the many tourists, a nice beach and where it is nice just to stroll around and relax. We walked around the island and then made it back to catch the ferry at 4 pm. We had a quiet dinner at her place with Vietnamese "nems", fruit, and an early bed time for both of us.

Friday December 28, we went to an area of town where all kinds of vehicles leave down for various destinations, with many peddlers and filth on the road. We got in a 7-place family car like the ones we used to find in Canada in the 70s, then we hit the road for Toubab-Dialaw, about 2 hours from Dakar.  It's a small seasside village popular with tourists and we got ourselves 2 nice rooms by the water. Marie-Annick knew many people from having been there before, so everyone seemed happy to see her again. The sea was very chilly yet refreshing so I went for a swim a few times, thrilled to be there "going with the flow".  On our first night, we went to some friends for dinner and had grilled fish with rice and wine - a real feast!  We then learned that an important musulman celebrity had just passed away, and this meant that the whole country was now in mourning and that many New Year's concerts and parties were to be cancelled. What bad timing, hein?

Saturday December 29, the best activity yet came around – heading to Bandia Wildlife Reserve a few kilometres away from Toubab. This trip had been organized by a friend of M.A. and an old beat-up car came to pick us up early in the morning. At first we thought that it was only going to drive us there, and then we would switch to a nice safari jeap, but no, we had to enter the park with our tin can on wheels. The park's pick-ups were nice with roof seating, but it would have cost us another 100$ for the pleasure of luxury. Still, we got used to getting our bodies out the window to see the sights. Since there were too many visitors, we had to share a guide with 2 other groups (all in a nice rented pick-up of course). This was not good because it meant that we had to keep up with them, and not keep them waiting. Alas, when we came to the giraffe, I would have stayed there forever since the sight of them was so mesmerizing. They are not actually natural to Senegal and were "imported" here from other parts of the continent just for tourists. We also saw some rhinoceros, and when we got out of the car and walked up too close, one of them turned towards us and I was sure he was going to charge. I was real scared but at the same time I wanted to be right up there close to them! We also saw some monkeys, crocodiles and turtles. Back in Toubab, we went for dinner to a nice and authentic Vietnamese restaurant which is operated by folks from Saigon.

Sunday December 30, we made it back to Dakar by sharing a taxi with other tourists. We had dinner at M.A.'s place and I cooked - vegetable rice with curried chicken. 3 of her friends joined us and we had a lovely evening. The next day, New Year's Eve day, we had to pack all her stuff because M.A was moving! We had help from some of her friends and she does not have so much so it all went rather well. By noon we were done so in the afternoon, I took a taxi and headed for Ngor beach up north.   But I was a bit disappointed when I got there because I saw many people from the village come and dump their kitchen garbage on the beach. Then goats would walk behind and eat some of it but their was a lot of junk washing up. Not so clean so after a while, I went to try to find a restaurant. But the ones there were really overprices so I left the beach and headed back to the road to finally settle on a pizza place. Then I walked on along the coast until I got to the next beach, and this one called Plage des Virages was much nicer. I sat down and read a bit while taking in the joy of being by the sea. Then I headed home to M.A.'s new place, which she now shares with a French woman, her Senegalese boyfriend and a Belgian guy. And now with a Quebecer, this has become a real multi-cultural household!  Everyone was getting ready for the big night of New Year's Eve, and friends started to arrive at around 8 pm. Snacks, drinks, djembe tam-tams, guitar, full-blast music - and the mood was set, until 11 pm when the downstairs neighbour complained that he was still in mourning and we were disturbing him! So we left and all 12 of us got into 3 taxis, headed for the Plage des Virages where a group of Canadians and Senegalese were having a party.  More music, drinks and a camp fire on the beach with the sound of the crashing waves - and all together we welcomed year 2008 with kisses all around! I went back "home" early at around 2 am but the rest of the gang went on to more and better parties to celebrate the night away...

Tuesday Janury 1, the "gang" came home just when I was getting up!  A nice coffee with bread and jam, then I decided to head downtown and visit Dakar.  As this was a holiday, all stores and restaurants were closed and there was no traffic. I had the impression of being in a ghost town, and I am sure that this was one of the rare times in the year when the capital was so quiet! for lunch, I managed to find one opened restaurant called Ali Baba.  For the second time since my arrival in Senegal, I was served a sandwich with fries - but the fries were inside the sandwich! Before it had been the same thing with a burger (fries inside). What a strange thing, hein? I liked the downtown area which has some charm and most of all, has paved roads (as opposed to Ouaga which doesn't) Two steps away, I made it to a beach and relaxed there a bit. Then I headed "home" to wake up the "gang" at 4 pm. Eventually I headed back out with M.A. to Les Mamelles beach with a rosé wine, a nice sunset and life confessions – what more could you ask for?  Then we took a taxi back downtown and went to a Korean Restaurant called Le Seoul. I had my favorite dish - bim bap - rice with veges, meat and eggs cooked in a large granite bowl.

Wednesay January 2, departure day and time to go "home" to Burkina. I must admit that I have missed Rémi terribly, even tho I called him every day while I was away. It is time to go back, but the tought of returning to Burkina makes me really depressed, especially after seeing how great Senegal is... I've loved it here on all counts – really nice and relaxed people, great food, nice beaches and interesting things to do. And M.A. really impressed me since she has developped such an extended network of Senegalese friends plus she has learned basics in their national language of Wolof. Everywhere we went, people seemed to know her and happy to see her again.  Anyhow, this was for sure a great trip, and now I am convinced that I want to come here for my next mandate. So before leaving, I talked on the phone with the director of CECI and forwarded my CV. Hopefully, I will be back in Senegal next June and then will begin a new adventure. Inshallah (God willing)!