Slummin' it in Senegal

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Geo: 14.6953, -17.4439

Bolstered by time with family and the luxury accommodations, where "roach & mouse turd" checks were not necessary, we plunged back into the developing world by flying from Casablanca, Morocco to Dakar, Senegal.

We arrived at 3am and approached the airport exit with our "scam/crime" antenna fully extended. Amongst travelers, Dakar has some reputation - a Westernized, cosmopolitan city that lures both honest folks and criminal types from all over sub-Saharan Africa. Outside, we were quickly surrounded by the latter element of hustlers/scam artists. Offers of "ATM" and "change money" rang out in French and we were quickly led to an ATM. We adroitly reversed course and found our way to the taxi stand (we weren't going to take money out with 20 guys looking over our shoulders).

After the usual haggling over the fare ($20 was whittled down to $10 - pretty good price for using phrase-book French at 3AM), we set off to the Hotel Continental. We didn't have the local currency, the CFA (the Central African Franc), but the taxi driver was happy to take our payment in Euros. Half-way through the deserted streets, our driver pulled over to a dark section. Jamie gripped Justin's leg as we both anticipated the worst, but the driver merely wiped the dew off the windshield (the wipers were one of 40 broken parts of this car). We crept into our hotel without incident.

We got a better look at Dakar the next day during a taxi ride to the Mali embassy (to get a visa). It reminded Justin of the post-apocryphal city in the sci-fi movie "Mad Max: Beyond the Thunderdome." Battered cars are everywhere and you think they're junked until the hulks start moving toward you! Living room furniture is being built and sold right on the side of the street (amidst the dirt and car exhaust), since renting a show room is too costly.

At the Mali embassy, we met an American (Chris) with whom we hung out with over the next few days. One morning, the three of us were walking to breakfast and, as is usually the case, were besieged by young men wanting to sell things to us. One of them was asking Chris about his pants and gesturing towards them. Only after we parted company with the group did Chris realize that they had unzipped his pants pocket and taken about $30 worth of local currency. The ex-Air Force pilot didn't even feel the pickpocket. After that, we were extra paranoid about Dakar.

One less than redeeming feature about Senegal (as well as Mali and Burkina Faso) is that it is relatively expensive. Coming from South Asia, where a guesthouse room can be had for $5-10 a night, West Africa is pricey where one has to spend at least $20 if not more. Part of this is that the countries above use the Central African Franc (the CFA) which is held by the French treasury and is tied to the Euro. So, since the Euro is strong against the dollar, so is the CFA. The other, more psychological issue is the fact that you get really low value for the money you spend. It is irritating to pay X when you know it isn't worth it back home. We could only be slightly grumpy about this because we knew this: West Africans on low daily wages (low even in absolute terms) have to contend with this same situation everyday when they faced with $5 a gallon gas, a $3 gallon of milk, or super-expensive household item that's imported - there is often no African manufacturer!

One redeeming feature is that Dakar is right on the Atlantic Ocean, so although there are no swimming beaches, the crash of the waves (when heard above the sounds of traffic) can be soothing.

On every light pole on the main highway, was a poster of somebody vaguely familiar. On closer examination, we saw it was Mumar Quadafi, the arch-nemesis of Ronald Reagan and president of Libya. If you'll recall from '80's news footage, he was accused of sponsoring the bombing of the Pam Am flight over Lockerby, Scotland. Mumar was to be the guest of honor for Senegal's independence celebration the following day.

We spent a total of three days in Dakar and settled into the Hotel Continental in the center of town. Lodging is expensive in West Africa, but we decided to pay a bit extra for a "2-star" hotel, though we are not sure who gave it that rating. The first problem was that we shared our room with cockroaches, not big hairy ones with tennis shoes on, but many little ones nonetheless. The second problem was that in Senegal, many budget accommodations double as brothels. We were hoping if we paid a bit more, we could avoid this. Turns out that women of immoral perpitude" were also allowed in this hotel (judging by the number of couples without luggage who went upstairs for an hour or two).

We later learned that prostitution is legal in Senegal and prostitutes are licensed and have regular health checks. Senegal currently has a very low HIV/AIDS infection rate, compared to other parts of Africa. That said, public health folks aren't quite ready to attribute this low HIV/AIDS infection rate to legalized prostitution. The exact reason(s) have yet to be figured out. As for us, so much for our efforts to avoid prostitution and bugs!

April 4th was Independence Day (from France) for Senegal and most of the town was shut down for the celebrations. To get away from the hustle, we took a ferry to the Ilea de Goreé (Goreé Island) which once served as a Portuguese trading base, including trafficking in slaves in the 15-16th centuries. No cars are allowed on this tiny island and it is quite calm in comparison to the hustle and bustle of Dakar. We watched a "home grown" Independence day parade and strolled through the narrow streets of the town and impromptu dancing afterwards. It was eerie to think that such a colorful, peaceful island like this once witnessed something as horrific as the trading in humans.

One highlight of our time in Dakar was meeting a friend of a friend (an American who has lived in Dakar for 40 years) for a lovely French dinner. Gary currently runs a NGO in Dakar. Since we can't really communicate with the locals (our French and Wolof being rusty) it was nice to talk with someone who could explain a bit about local life in Dakar. We talked public health "shop" with Gary; he let us know about HIV/AIDS in Senegal.

We can't really say that we have seen Senegal, so to make a general "like or dislike" statement about the country would be unfair. As for Dakar, it leaves a lot to be desired and its reputation among tourists well deserved. But we did meet some very friendly and helpful people in our short time there. We also enjoyed the French food which is a legacy of the 300 years of French colonization. We never imagined that we would find goat cheese in W. Africa!

Being anxious to have enough time in Mali and to get to Ghana before the first of May, we opted to skip spending more time in Senegal and head straight to Mali. Such is the way travel plans go.

We left on the 6th of April for our next adventure/challenge in Mali.

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