Unfortunately my camera that I bought in Dakar later erased all my pictures I took over the next two months. Eventually I got a new card and have some pictures from the end of my trip, but pics are scarce for the next several entries. Sorry! A couple of interesting days in the capital of the Casamance. Salif’s friend Babaka met me at the port and took me to his house. Everything has been great as far as that is concerned. 5000 CFA per night and I buy most of the food, which he cooks. (Babaka is a pastry chef [View Full Entry]

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Wow! I can’t believe the hospitality. I just had a bunch of bread and Nutella given to me by some Senegalese deckhands. I’m pretty sure it was their supper! So I got my Level 1 diving certification card today. My instructor Mamadou took me on two hour long dives, which placated my ire. Le Doyen is a lazy fuck. His sore leg seemed to have completely healed today, as soon as some girls wanted to go diving that is. Oh well, all’s well that… I sort of have a bed on board, which is good because I’m exhausted! [View Full Entry]

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Wow! Unbelievable hospitality! What can I say about Senegalese hospitality?! I had my second meal at Salif’s home in two days. Salif’s pops called me “mon fils”. I still can’t get over all of it! I also went to another soccer game with Salif’s friend Malik. At least there were some goals (2-0) this time. Earlier Malik had invited me to practice with his soccer team, which I had figured was of a ‘beer league’ caliber. It turns out that it’s a very good thing I turned him down, as I later found out that this team plays in Senegal’s [View Full Entry]

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An uneventful day as it was apparently too rough to dive. I went to Ile Goree today, very quaint. Met a Belgian girl who works for the Red Cross. She has three masters, so it sounds like I’m on the right path. She sort of ditched me for supper though, so to hell with her. Also I recently has the difficult experience of trying to explain what laser eye surgery is to my African friends! Their only response: On na pas ca ici… [View Full Entry]

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Well scuba diving went well, despite starting off by putting my wetsuit on backwards. The rest went OK, although for the first thirty seconds or so I thought “there’s no way I can do this”, which surprised me. But I got over it quickly and eager to become competent. I think the initial thing is getting over the idea of breathing while underwater, which just seems wrong. After diving, I went to see Kyromi and Eri for the last time (maybe) at the house they’re staying at (Salif’s). After getting caught in a post wrestling match celebration I went to Salif’ [View Full Entry]

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I finally left that rat-infested whore house “Le Provancal” and am at “Oceanium” where I’m about to start what very well may become a life-long love of scuba diving, or today might be a once only. Yesterday evening was grand! Finally got an email back from Kiryomi, telling me that they were going to see Youssou N’Dor. Thinking that I’d go a bit early to ensure that I didn’t miss them I showed up at 11:15 pm. Of course they didn’t arrive until 1:15 am (with two dudes --- Salif and Baidou). The show didn’t start until 2 am. At first [View Full Entry]

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Well I made it to Dakar, although I’m pretty sure I’m staying in a brothel! Not dumb (desperate?) enough to sample the merchandise. It turns out that Eri and Kiryomi are in Dakar until Monday so I really hope I can meet up with them tonight, if only to have someone to hang out with. I’ve decided that the camera is kaput and have bought a better one in the market. It seems to work well and it seemed to be a good price at 70,000 CFA (started at 175,000 CFA). Hopefully it continues to work well. On the way back [View Full Entry]

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Well the camera hasn’t come back to life, although I hope it’s only the batteries. I met a Dutch family and we went on a pirogue trip to see the birds. The husband has a sweet camera, so he took better pics than I could anyway. Off to Dakar tomorrow morning if I get up on time! Other than that I did little today but eat mangoes (four) and read. Have you ever heard Dutch kids talking? You’d swear they’re making that s**t up! [View Full Entry]

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I had my worst mishap of the trip thus far. I went on an ill-fated kayak trip and stupidly did not think to leave important things on dry land, including my camera, money, and passport! Lost my bug-spray and a bottle of “home-made” spring water. Right now I’m letting the camera dry but I fear that because it was salt water it may be toast! Hopefully, at the very least the memory card will still work. Also the Senegal stamp in my passport washed off and two Myfloquin tablets were destroyed. I should be OK on both counts, however, as I [View Full Entry]

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Well I made it though Rosso (Mauritanian - Senegal border) with few problems. 1000 UM to bribe the Mauritanian border cop and another 1000 CFAs (plus a copy of “The New Yorker” for a guy who helped me to get to the gare on the Senegalese side. In St. Louis they have ATMs and beer! Actually got quite a buzz off only 2 beer! Then I slept for twelve hours. Today I looked around St. Louis and am planning to go to a campermant south of here to relax for two days. Mike told me about some girl Katie who wants [View Full Entry]

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