Another busy day, it seems I will never be able to relax before we start out on our grand journey. Today we met just before 9:00 for breakfast. Sue and Chris had been up earlier and had taken the opportunity to visit “Le Castel” on the far side of the island and the fantastic cliffs there.

Chris and I agreed that this was a perfect time for a swim so got changed and met him at the harbour where he was rather embarrassingly wearing his rather stylish underwear (it seems our thoughts about purchasing a swim suit had gone unfulfilled). Nonetheless we enjoyed a swim around the harbour together as we did a circuit from a one jetty to another then to the ferry dock, the beach and then return. Quite a long swim through quite deep, though crystal clear, water. A theme of the swim was who could make it down to the bottom of wherever we were (me, basically) which was mostly rock and sand. Sue and Anne joined us for a few minutes to enjoy the relative cool of the water (though not, thankfully, too cool).

Eventually we managed to pull ourselves from the beach, get changed and catch the ferry back to Dakar. We had agreed that we wanted to spend time in Mali and not in Senegal so taking the bus was not really a good option. The plane would get us there quickly and allow us to begin our holiday in earnest much sooner.

We grabbed a taxi to the Malian Embassy straight from the Gorée terminal. The traffic was horrible but we eventually managed to get to the Embassy only to find that the lady that we had talked to yesterday was not there. The other assistant managed to find our passports and return them to us though he turned down our requests for a receipt (which they did not have) but we were pleased to see that the visas in our passports looked find and in order.

We returned back to the centre of the city were we got the taxi to drop us off outside of a travel agent. Unfortunately, due to a bit of miss-timing it was the time of the afternoon when the offices were closed (around the 2:00 PM prayer times of a Muslim country). Giving up, we crossed to an ice-cream parlour and sat down for a few minutes to enjoy some of the delights of Dakar.

2:30 we headed out once again to find out that the travel agent would not take Visa (the plastic credit card this time, not the thing in the passport). Incidentally, I also took this chance to pick up a watch to replace the one so dramatically removed from my person in Barra from a street vendor outside (“very cheap” “swiss made” ah-huh).

We agreed to try some other travel agents elsewhere along the road but found that no one would take the credit card. Luckily I had been able to get money out of a bank machine yesterday so I took out enough to cover much of the price of all of our tickets and we purchased our plane tickets to leave tomorrow. One way.

Our next exciting adventure in Dakar turned out to be searching for a Peugeot dealership. It seems that Anne needs a part for her car that she was told she could get in Dakar. So, off we went. We were first directed north of Place de L'Independance though we quickly found out this was not correct so we asked someone on the street who helpfully showed us the way he thought the parts dealership could be found. Along the way we passed by some interesting areas of Dakar including the housing for the Senegal “Coast Guard”. He dropped us off at a Peugeot dealership all right but unfortunately one for motorbikes. The helpful man there directed us around the corner (ok, about 10 blocks away) where we eventually gave up and found that the street was simply covered with various automobile part dealerships. Picking one, we went in and after a few minutes it was determined that such a part did not exist and that perhaps someone in The Gambia did not know what they were talking about. Agreeing that this was quite likely we went away sans parts but with a plan of action for Anne to pursue (get them to try again).

Walking back along the street we made our way to the market around the train station (stopping by there quickly to pick up some water – we are being very careful to drink a lot of water while we are away, we don't want to become dehydrated) where we looked over the beads, fabrics, food and other things for sale there. Eventually we returned to the ferry terminal where we sat down to some food (well, Chris did but then, after wandering around the rather food-less market nearby Anne and I also joined him). The benchin (fish and vegetables cooked in oil with rice) that Chris had looked quite good (and not too expensive) though Anne and I shared a plate of Chicken Yassa (each plate being 2,500 CFA) which was quite good with a lot of chicken and sauce.

We waited around for the 5:00 ferry that we used to eventually arrive at 5:45 though we declined to go for a swim due to the number of tourists around and the fact it was low tide. Eventually though the heat and pressure was too much so I joined Chris for a quick swim on the far side of the harbour (well away from most tourists). It was not quite as nice this morning due to the water being so rough but pleasant nonetheless. We watched as the ferry left taking many tourists with it. Perhaps it will be a quiet night on Gorée? Hum. It looks like rain though.

Eventually we returned to Café Tonton for drinks (and my typical “Fanta Citron” which is my favourite drink in Senegal but not always on offer – “Fanta Lemon”). It got a bit cold so I returned to the hotel to change and got Anne as we returned to the restaurant for dinner.

It was a bit of an odd experience though as we were eating dinner the lights on the island (and, it would seam, much of central Dakar) went out. We had to eat much of our dinner by candlelight. The comments from us were along the lines of how similar this was to the ways things are normally back in The Gambia. Returning to the hotel we were issued with candles and retired for the evening.

Tomorrow is travel day.

⇒ Continue to Day 4 - Wednesday, July 21st, 2004

On Île de Gorée, Steve stayed at:

• Auberge Keur Beer - Telephone/Fax (+221) 821 38 01