First impressions

 Dakar is a city of stark contrasts. 

It is the dusty season, so the air is gritty and redolent with exhaust from passing cars. Yet walking by the busy port you get a fresh breeze.  The sky is blue over the city. Birds sing cheerfully while stray dogs and cats roam and look for food or affection.

A tabby cat looks directly into the camera with green eyes. Her fur is grey mixed with orange, and she has a white chin. She is standing on a paved driveway.A pathway paved in diamond-shaped grey and white stone stretches through a park. A long tunneles walk runs along on the right, gardens along the right. The sky is blue and strung with cirrus clouds.

Crumbling buildings and vacant lots are intermingled with more well-kept structures. The Presidential Palace glistens a luxurious white at the end of the street, while down the block in the other direction street-side vendors sell their wares out of ramshackle sheds built from corrugated metal.

An opening in a wall reveals a sandy, vacant lot. Buildings frame the space, some either partly built or under demolition. A smoothly paved traffic circle surrounds a small green space with a statue at its centre. Well-maintined buildings are in the background.

The roads are pocked with holes and there are few sidewalks, yet when you leave the street to enter a cafe or shop they appear newly renovated. In one case, the shelves one one side of the epicerie were literally receiving a coat of varnish as we browsed produce across the floor. 

The ocean is a deep blue and where there are trees they are lush. Flowers pour over walls that need a new coat of paint.

A Senegalese flag, red, yellow and green, hangs beside a black laquered door frame. A banyan tree to the right of the door sends its branches over and around the flag. A low, spiked palm grows to the left along the roadway. In the distance, a yellow tax has turned onto the road.A wooden door painted a soft teal is set into a concrete wall . Cream cokoured paint on the wall is chipped. A flowering plant grows in the garden beyond, and branches laden with purple flowers spill over to the right.

The impacts of colonization and capitalism are visible at every turn, yet Dakar is one of the most politically stable countries in the world.A group of men, women and children stand around carts and tables strewn with goods. A toddler in a long tshirt watches as their father loads melons off of a truck.

The people are resilient and friendly, welcoming you with a smile on the streets and in the shops. On New Year's Day, families were enjoying time together. Some helped each other with chores, and many gathered in the nearby square taking photos with the holiday decorations.

An urban park is filled with people in colourful clothing. Apartment buildings form the backdrop.A family walks down the street in front of apartment buildings.The adults wear Flowing, traditional garb in turquoise and white. Their son is dressed in shorts and an orange polo shirt and their daughter in a purple dress.

I look forward to exploring and reading more about this country's history. I want to learn as much as I can about life in this part of the world.


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