The Petit Coast and Ile de Goree for some beach time

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I was off to the Petite Coast which is only about 50 kilometers from Dakar but seems like a different world once you get out of the big city. The trip from St. Louis to the coast was a bit of an adventure as it required 2 transfers and me trying to find the right transport to a place on the coast called Toubab Dialao. I was never quite sure I got on the right bus and had to hav blind faith in people that didn't seem to understand me. I was very pleasantly surprised when I found a quiet fishing villiage and my accomadation right on the beach. This was my first time in Senegal after 5 days where I could fully relax and not worry anything for a few days. The hotel was artsy with a great restaurant on the beach and hammocks for lounging. There were a number of artists there with a few of them speaking English. I met a local guy who had spent 12 years in the States. I spent a few afternoons on his roof talking politics and life in Africa over a few meals with August and his roommate.

My first full day I explored the villiages and went down to the beach to see the boats and their catch from earlier in the morning. On the beach I was surrounded by about 25 kids who wanted to shake hands or just touch my skin. I got a good laugh over this and was a bit surprised by their curosity over my white skin and blonde hairs. I caught up on my sleep with some afternoon naps, wrote in my journal and finished a book.

From Toubab Dialao I made my way back to Dakar so I could visit Ile de Goree(Goree Island) with just a 20 minute ride from the port in Dakar. The island was used for a trading base and slave trading with the Portuguese, Dutch, French and English all fighting over the island at one point. The island is only 300m by 900m with it being a peaceful place to escape from the big city. You could walk around the complete island in just 30 minutes taking in the pastel-colored houses, castle and fort. The place was quite peaceful from around 5pm to 10am when many of the tourists and sellers went back to Dakar on the ferry. There was a cool breeze and there was some particular reason I really enjoyed and appreciated the island but couldn't place it right away. It then came to me, the island was clean and had no gargage in sight. This is a drastic change from most of Africa where you see garbage in littered throughout most places since they have no garbage pickup.

After the last 3 days in Ile de Goree and Toubab Dialao I was starting to feel alot more comfortable in Senegal and West Africa. Those first five days in Senegal I was feeling probaly the strongest culture shock I had felt since visiting India 11 years ago. What made me feel the culture shock? I would say the heat, languages so foreign to me, the poverty, garbage, and the many people asking me for things. At this point I only had my faith and previous travel insight that things would get better. I knew that after visiting 8 African coutries that I had only enjoyed one capital city with that being Cape Town. You need to get out of the big cities to enjoy the beautiful nature and charming people of Africa. Dakar was quite the introduction to West Africa but is not such a bad city. It just happened to be my arrival to West Africa when I needed time to adjust.

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