Karabane Island- Tranquility And The French Fishermen

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I was ready to get out of Ziguinchor and see what I would find in the more remote parts of Casamance. I deceided to make my way to the island of Karabane. Distances were mostly short in Casamance so I arrived in Elinkane in less than 2 hours. After a simple lunch by the river I got by first experience of traveling by pirogue. This happens to be a long dugout wooden canoe with a motor that transports locals from different spots thoughout the islands and small viliages off the river. They can fit 30 or people on these boats but you are in close quarters with the luggage and locals. Only the tourist pirogues have a roof to provide shade so I was at the mercy of the sun for the next 45 minutes.

I arrived at Karabane Island with about 10 dolphins playing near the shore and boat . In fact, I have seen dolphins in many parts of the river so there must be alot of fish in these waters. I immediately like the feel of the island as there was 3 different encampments/guesthoues and 1 simple hotel. The beach wasn't very wide but it went for about 3 miles and I would walk the beach twice a day in the early morning and late afternoon. I stayed at the Le Barricuda, which was one of the many encampments that have been introduced by the ministry of tourism. They offer simple, traditional huts in many places throughout Casamance. You get a room with 3 meals for about twenty US dollars per night. The rooms were basic but the lunch and dinner were delicious and filling. I think over the 3 days there I gained back a few of the pounds I had lost in my first week in Senegal. Everyday at least 1 of the meals was fish and the others included crab and beef stew.

I was the only native English speaker on the island and very few of the tourists or locals spoke any English. Thank goodness I now speak some Spanish as I was able to speak with a few of the hotel staff and guests in Spanish. However, during the 3 days on the island at times it was a bit of a struggle to make myself understood. I was lucky that the staff were so friendly and accomadating with my lack of French. The island was very quiet as it is not yet tourist season yet and they only had tourist boats come in the late morning for lunch.

I was very luck that there were 6 Frenchmen and a guy from Belgium in their late 50's and early 60's who were there for a fishing holiday. They had visited the island previously and go fishing everyday from around 6:30am to 1pm or so. During my first meal there they invited me to join them for dinner and I would share each meal with them during my stay. Once again I was so lucky that one of them spoke a bit of English and another had been born in Spain and spoke Spanish. For lunch and dinner we would start the meal with a shot of pastis(anise liquor like the Greek oozo) mixed with water. They were all from smaller towns and villiages, which was what I had guessed because of their general friendliness to the locals and me. With me being on a remote island and not many tourists I felt very luck they let me into their circle. I felt like this was one of those times which made me realize why I am willing to travel solo through the world.

After the first full day on the beach I had my fill or walking the beach, reading and writing in my journal. So I decided to go fishing for the morning with 2 of the French guy and our driver of the boat. It took me the first part of the morning to get used to my rod and reel but was catching some fish with the first 30 minutes. We would cast out and use shrimp for bait. We caught a number of different types of fish including catfish, a type of rock bass and carp. The largest fish they caught that day were about 10 pounds. My biggest catch of the day for me was probably about 4 pounds. We fished about 4 different spots in the river along the reefs not far from the opening of the Atlantic. I enjoyed by time fishing and was appreciate of the guidance from the fishing pros. However, I was more than ready to return to the hotel around 5 1/2 on the water with no shade from the sun.

Looking at the pictures at the lodge they do go fishing sometimes for bigger game fish and catch alot of big barricuda during other times of the year.

After 3 nights on this wonderful, peaceful island I was ready for a new place with a bit more activity.

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