Travels with "Senegal Expeditions" - Part One

Wanting to get out and explore Senegal beyond the city of Dakar, I asked my daughter to arrange for a guide to take us to two UNESCO heritage sites - the colonial capital of St. Louis and the Parc Nationale des Oiseaux due Djoudj. She'd had an excellent experience with Seydou Diallo from Senegal Expeditions before on the recommendation of a colleague, so we asked him to prepare a long weekend itinerary for us.

Seydou and his driver picked us up early on Friday morning and we hit the road. It's a long trip to St. Louis, but there is a constant stream of daily life and changing landscapes outside the window, and Seydou provided interesting commentary along the way.

We learned that baobabs lose all their foliage during the dry season and the leaves burst out again when the rains come. We watched men herding cattle into the countryside where they will be safer from theft and accidental injury, and better understood that these animals are a family's wealth - their "bank account" - and are sold when cash is needed.  We increasingly came across carts drawn by horses and donkeys - the original modes of transportation in Senegal - intermingled with the trucks and motorcycles on the roads.

Driving in Senegal also comes with frequent encounters with the police, particularly when there are white passengers in the vehicle. Sometimes they simply look at the driver's papers and wave the car on, but sometimes there are longer discussions. We were stopped four times between Dakar and St. Louis, and each time the street vendors or children seeking something to eat pressed their hands or their wares against the windows to plead for our attention. 

 

Seydou had planned a few rest breaks along the way. We pulled over to purchase mandarins from a roadside vendor and later explored a roadside market on foot, sifting through a wide range of baskets, and examining dried bissap tea, snacks and other wares.

 

 

The farther north we travelled, the drier the landscape became until at last we arrived in St. Louis, crossing the bridge designed by Gustave Eiffel.

 

We enjoyed a hot lunch at a local restaurant, then decided to explore before heading to our hotel. Seydou explained that St. Louis is a city in three parts - an area where all aspects of modern life take place, the colonial area that attracts tourists, and the fishing village along the water. Today we would see the fishermen and their families at work.

Some of the children took the opportunity to show off for their visitors, hamming for the camera. The adults were more resigned to our presence, though one woman engaged me in a brief moment of dance by the waterside.

  

We marvelled that fishing crews take these large boats - with no shelter from the elements - out onto the ocean for two weeks at a time. Their wives and children meet them on their return and help to unload the fish into tubs and onto carts to be transported to an area near the trucks for packing into bundles with ice and loaded for shipping through Dakar. This fishing village feeds the nation.

Drifting over to the smaller boats, we watched the crews undertaking similar work to ready for fishing.

 

Wrapping up our tour, we drove along the shore to Hotel Mermoz, our accommodation for the next two nights. Following a refreshingly chilly swim in the pool, we enjoyed a glorious sunset at the beach - and made a new friend.

 

 

We joined our guide and driver for drinks and a delicious dinner. Other tourists were staying at the same hotel, in groups large and small, including some Canadians at the next table who were easily identified by their Quebecois accents and distinctive French-Canadian style.

Soon after dinner we were off to bed. We would get an early start the next day to visit the Parc National des Oiseaux du Djoudj!