The World As I See it

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 ...

 I chose the 10 a.m. boat so that I could get a good sleep and a leisurely morning before heading to the ferry terminal for an hour before departure to manage the passport check, lineup to pay the ferry tax and lineup to purchase the ticket. I should have taken exact change for the ticket - they weren't able to make correct change for my 10,000 CFA note unless I added smaller bills, so they told me to wait to one side until they had the right cash on hand. The next in line, a kind local woman, passed me a 1,000 note after they got their change and then pooled small bills with their friends to buy my change and make up the difference. I could have been standing there a while if she hadn't helped out. On to the crowded pre-boarding waiting room where I was next to a tour group - probably from France. These folks were friendly and game to join a local who was selling maracas in a musical number, two of the men up and jiving, singing along, while their friends filmed the "show...