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Published: January 24th 2005
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Ziguinchor
Hotel Le Provencal It's nice to have left the predatory 'bumsters' of the Gambia behind. Bumsters is the local Gambian name for the touts and would be guides that plague the Atlantic coast.
Here in Ziguinchor, it's much more relaxed. This is undoubtedly because Ziguinchor isn't a mass package tourism destination. The interior of the Gambia may be less of a hassle, but I never got there, as I spent days feeling unwell with tooth ache and didn't want to do anything. It has to be said being pestered by bumsters when I have tooth ache makes me bad tempered!
Anyway, I decided yesterday to move on, despite not visiting some of the things up country that I had intended.
The Lonely Planet wasn't very helpful as to the location of the Casamance garage for the bus to the border. It appeared to indicate it was in the market area of Serekunda! No such luck!
I asked taxi drivers, where the garage was in the market. They said it was a long way away. I assumed they were lying in order to bump up the price of the fare! I've had too
Ziguinchor
Town centre many bad experiences with taxi drivers. So, I told them I would walk. They indicated a general direction and told me to ask further on. I did ask later at some shops, and again they said it was a long way.
It was 10.30 am and it was warming up. So, I was walking in tropical heat carrying my backpack - maybe not a good idea. Someone walked up to me and asked me where I was going. This time I believed him when he said it was too far to walk. So, I let him stop a taxi and escort me to the garage. In fact, it was far too far to walk in that heat.
The taxi to the the garage was only 10 delasi's and the shared bush taxi to the border was only 50. (That's approx 20p and one pound sterling respectively). I gave my guide a tip as I was actually grateful. Unlike the many bumsters who had plagued me, he had actually helped!
The road was very bad for much of the journey. What was very unusual about this journey is that I was not greated by gangs of money-changers and touts at the border. It was a blessed relief.
I arrived in Ziguinchor at about 2.30 pm. Again I was not met by touts. It was very hot. The heat of the sun was spit roasting my face. I finally put my bags down in the Hotel Le Flamboyant.
The Hotel Le Flamboyant is very good value for money. It's 15000 Francs a night. That's about 15 pounds sterling, or 20 Euros. Outside the door of my room is a swimming pool, the rooms are spotless and well decorated. My room has a bar fridge, air conditioning and satellite TV. All the satellite channels are French language.
Ziguinchor is the capital of the Casamance, but it is not that big a place, with a population of perhaps 200000. It is a very fertile area, but has been subject to a separatist struggle against the Senegalese government. But, the Movement des Forces Democratique de la Casamance and the Senegalese government have recently signed an agreement. The area does have a distinct identity - it's majority population is Diola, who are not Muslim, unlike the rest of the country.
The main effect of the recent conflict is that there is still a heavy police and military presence in the area. On my journey here, the bush taxi was stopped many times at road blocks, and they even insisted on opening and searching our bags.
The area though is safe now, and not far from here are supposed to be some of the best beaches in the whole of West Africa. It is also not a difficult place to get to from Europe. Anyone can pick up a cheap flight from London or Paris to Dakar, and from Dakar it is possible to fly to Ziguinchor for 90 Euros.
Although the town is not plagued by touts there is no shortage of child beggars. And, they are very little kids who should be in primary school, except that education is not obligatory in the Senegal. Hence the literacy rate in the country of 40%. The Senegalese state can't or won't fund universal primary education, but can find the money to fight a 20 year military campaign against a separatist political insurgency. Hmm...
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