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Published: February 14th 2011
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Dear Friends and Family
I have finally done something blog worthy. I have broken my sedentary behavior and left the confines of saint Louis for the even quieter conditions of Podor. Me and three other intrepid travellers decided that we needed to escape the monotony of Saint-Louis, which has become rather repetitive. Even in the small former colonial capital we wanted to escape the constant din of city life for something quieter and more relaxing.
Podor is a sleepy town/city in one of the most northern reaches of Sénégal. Its draw and claim to fame is the French fort that rests beside the recently refurbished waterside. Thus Saturday morning I met my fellow adventurers at the main transit station, I myself was rather sleep deprived, as I thought that going to the local night club to dance the night away was a brilliant way to start the weekend off and figured I could sleep in the car on the way up. Unfortunately my three hour sleep had to last me much of the day since we caught a sept-place, a taxi that is one of the main form of transport in Sénégal that charges per seat to your destination.
I crammed myself into the back seat with another fellow traveller who shared my idea to spend the previous night celebrating instead of sleeping. For the next four hours we rested hour heads together to get some intermittent sleep that was constantly interrupted by the large, deep, car rattling pot holes that litter Senegalese highways. Yet despite it all we arrived at the dusty gare routiere of Podor.
At Podor we called the hotel, and with directions shambled down the dusty, quiet main street of Podor. There were some substantial differences between Podor and Saint-Louis. The most obvious was that this urban setting was devoid of car traffic, Saint-Louis constantly has taxis, buses, and odd luxury car cruising the main arteries and back streets. As a consequence things were really quiet, tranquille as an urban area is going to get in my books. The other thing that really was different was that people were very friendly, none of the young’uns upon first bout of conversation demanded for money. In Saint-Louis there is a constant chorus of “Don moi l’argent” from most youngsters when you walk down the street, which is French for give me money. While in Podor people
were genuinely friendly and just wanted to say hello. The other thing we were quickly taught by the locals, that yes the do understand the miniscule amount of Wolof that we had learnt, but they did not speak wolof. Instead the ethnicity surrounding the Senegalese river spoke Pular.
We found a nice cozy hotel facing the river that was fortuitously empty for us, and more importantly served cheap beer. We had launch at a local restaurant, than had a great night of drinking beers, talking and playing cards on the hotels terrace that overlooked the Senegalese river. The next morning after a restful undisturbed sleep on a beautiful matress we meandered to the Fort which was the touristic focal point of the town. The fort itself was closed to the public. We were a little disappointed, but I looked at the walls and proposed to my peers that why don’t we just break into the fortress and take the tours by ourselves.
For a French fort that was erected in the min 19th century to establish the French presence in the area and defend against local chiefdoms it was exceptionally easy to climb into. Hopefully the pictures can
do most of the talking. It’s a fairly small, but quant little fort, bricks can be seen through the decaying plaster, yet the main administrative building still stands tall as an imposing reminder of French colonialism.
After some camera malfunctions and adventures we had in a hole a very relaxing trip to Podor, which lived up to our expectations of a tiny quiet regional capital. It was just large enough for there to be some kind of accommodations and things to see, yet it still retained its quiet friendly atmosphere that draws weary volunteers looking for a small get away. Also the photos are curtesy of Frank, one of our adventurers who has a much nicer camera than me and refuses to be in his own photos.
I have passed the two thirds way mark. My sojourn here is coming to rapid end. It is terrifying yet comforting to think that in less than two months I will no longer be stranger in a foreign land but back to my own culture and standard of living.
Hope all is well on your guys end.
Cheers
Jan
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Marianne
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Podor, Hodar
Is Hodar from George R. Martin series? or a name or town in Senegal? Great pictures and nice to see you enjoying yourself. Love Mør