Saturday, May 18th, 2002 - Dakar, Senegal

At breakfast we had a bit of a chat and paid our bill. We were surprised to see that our driver who had driven us here was at the door a good hour before we expected him. So, we packed up and loaded the back of the taxi and headed off to get the rest of the group for the trip – Ben, Kate and Chris (not Christine). They were staying at the compound so we showed up there to find that they had gone to the patisserie for breakfast so Steve and I headed down to get them (grabbing doughnuts-to-go on the way). They indicated they would be a few minutes so we headed back to the compound to wait.

This was the first time I had actually been in the compound where people were staying. It is quite nice with a series of rooms around a small courtyard. Each room has a number of mattresses on the floor and they all share a single shower and toilet. It had been laughingly (or not so laughingly) as the “comune” by those of us in the city for the festival.

Eventually we headed off to return to Dakar. Ben and Kate had been talking about what we could see on the return trip and it was decided that a side trip to the “most westerly point in Africa” would be a bit interesting – we had talked to Chris and Steve who had done this when they were in Dakar earlier this week so we knew a bit about what to expect. The trip to Dakar was relatively uneventful with the heat seeming to be consistent the whole way instead of just near St. Louis.

This place is just a bit northwest of Dakar and basically consists of a rocky shore line with a bit of a loose rock jetty out in the water. We managed to get our pictures taken by each other before clambering back over the rocks to the shore where we sat at one of a number of long rows of picnic tables for a bit to eat. There were a number of people with barbecues set up with fresh seafood including lobster, massive shrimp, squid and fish. It was very warm so we also helped ourselves to a number of “Fanta Citrons” and chatted for a few minutes. My squid and shrimp were very good (it also came with a small salad).

Heading south towards Dakar we passed by many massive, expensive houses and hotels all around this area. We were also lucky enough to be able to convince the driver to pass by the mosque at Plage d'Ouakam which is truly a magnificant site – almost like a fairytale – with it's two massive towers and simple painting along with it's truly massive proportions. Looking down on it from the surrounding hills we were very impressed.

We continued our winding way into the city where we were stopped for a few minutes by a policeman – I think he was talking to the driver about why he was driving the 504 into the city (since, as I mentioned previously, I think they are not really allowed into the city). Although, he could have just been asking directions to the hotel where we were going to. Ben & Kate and Chris & Steve are staying at the same hotel we were at previously – Hôtel du Plateau – while I am “splashing out” and staying at the Hôtel Al Afifa which has a lot better facilities (including a BATH not just a shower, a pool, and CNN that you can actually hear – it has VOLUME!). So, I left Ben & Kate arguing with the taxi driver about the final part of his payment (we were told to pay the taxi OWNER who we had met from the ferry, NOT the driver the remaining part of the fare) and headed down the road to my hotel.

It really is worth the extra money. A very pleasant room on the 1st (2nd) floor with a large double bed and nicely appointed. I relaxed for a few minutes (showering off the dust and sweat of the journey) before heading out to see about the tickets to Star Wars II that we had seen at the theatre on Place de L'Indépendance. I found the owner that Ben had talked to on the phone while in St. Louis and he indicated that he would not sell me tickets for the evening until a bit later. I was also informed that the film was in French (dubbed) so it was going to be a bit of a challenge for us to understand it…

I headed off to Avenue Pompidou to try the other Chawarma place in Dakar that was recommended in the guidebook that we had not visited earlier in the week – Chez Donald. It is not as nice as the other place but I placed my order for two, to go, as well as a tin soft drink. The strangest things I think about Chawarmas are the chips (french fries) that they put inside. I ensured that they put a bit of hot sauce into them…of course.

On my way to the hotel I stopped in a rather large bookstore I had noticed earlier in the day and had a bit of a brose and was suprised to find they actually had a pretty good assortment of english language books (about 5 of their 100 or so stands) – but nothing really appealed to me.

I returned to the hotel and was not really hastled all that much by hustlers and I sat cross-legged on the bed with CNN on the TV and ate my Chawarma(s) – life does not get much better than this. The air conditioning helped as well.

At 7:00 I headed down to the lobby. We were meant to meet in the bar but it was closed so I sat in the black leather seats and waited for a few minutes for the others to show up. We decided to head off to the Hôtel de L'Indépendance which we understood had great views from it's restaurant and bar on the top floors (about 15 stories up) for drinks before the show. Before making our way to the bar we visited the theatre to get our tickets (a few of us were paranoid we would not have a seat for the show).

Leaving the elevator on the top floor of the Hôtel de L'Indépendance we were quite put off by the rude people in the bar who insisted that we must have a seat and buy something rather than run around looking out the windows like we were doing. They could have been a BIT more polite about it…So we took a few pictures and then left for something to eat, at my suggestion, at Chez Donald. To be polite I had to, of course, have something to eat so there was another Chawarma…The rest of the group was not impressed by the not-so-clean interior (why I previously had take-away) but thought it was not too bad anyway.

Dakar At Night from Top of Hôtel de L'Indépendance

Returning once again to the movie theatre we waited around for the doors to open. I waited outside while Ben & Kate went ahead with a few others since I had tickets for other people that had not yet shown up. There were not many snacks on offer (they were out of popcorn, though we are not 100% sure since we could not make the lady understand our broken French and Wolof – how do you say “popcorn” in French?).

The theatre was quite large and the seats were not too bad. The movie was fantastic though the French was a bit difficult to follow (there is a LOT of talking in this movie). The effects were fantastic and we all had a good time. The air conditioning only being put on for about 10 minutes did make the experience a bit difficult to take as we sat and soaked our seats with sweat but other than that…

We returned to the hotel – exhausted after a long day and an even longer, busy, week. My television has been on for some time now and it is VERY late…Have to get up early for the return plane journey to Banjul.

⇒ Continue to Sunday, May 19th, 2002 - Kanifing, Gambia