During our luxuriously long holiday break, we traveled first to the Casamance in southern Senegal, and then to Saint Louis in northern Senegal. It was great to get the chance to explore other parts of the country!
Here are Sylvia and Skylar in front of the overnight ferry that we took the the Casamance. We loved our sleeping quarters! We brought our car on the ferry so that we could easily drive around the Casamance, but unfortunately our car got confiscated by customs as our tax papers for the car were a month expired, unbeknownst to us. There was a long saga involving, on Marc's part, much negotiating, much waiting and much paying... and still we returned 6 days later from the Casamance without our beloved Peugot. 
Our beloved Peugot.
It is now January 2nd, and we THINK our car is on the ferry back to Dakar as I write this! Despite our wide-eyed introduction to Senegalese bureaucracy, we still enjoyed our trip:
A view of the bustling harbor in Ziguinchor from the balcony of our hotel (the backpacker favorite), Le Perroquet.
The man in the yellow shirt was loading bag after bag of super-heavy cement mix into the pirogue.
We think these folks came into the Ziguinchor harbor from one of the smaller villages on the Casamance River.
We rode in a pirogue to a few small villages on the Casamance River.
We enjoyed wide expanses of beaches in Cap Skiring, about an hour west of Ziguinchor via taxi (most of the taxis are Toyota Corollas from the 1980s, so you can imagine their state).
Skylar and Sylvia enjoyed drawing in a hammock after a beach-shack lunch of rice and fish. We were able to have a more nuanced discussion with the proprietors, as they are from the Gambia and speak English.
After returning to Dakar, Skylar and Sylvia's grandparents arrived. We spent a few days in our capital city and then headed north to the St. Louis area:
View across from St. Louis to a fishing town.
Mosque near the fishing town.
Goats are everywhere, including on this wall.
Trash is mild to extreme along most, but not all, of the shoreline we have seen in Senegal.
"What's up white foreigners" We got a good laugh from this graffiti. 
More goats. More trash.
Group of boys totally consumed with their game.
Paintings of Cheikh Amadou Bamba, a 19th century pacifist religious leader of the resistance to French colonialism, and his disciple Cheikh Ibra Fall, are everywhere. Typical graffiti reads, "Bamba Merci."
We drove up to Djoudj National Park, where a plethora of birds live year round, and a plethora more stop along their migrations. For many birds, Djoudj is the first stop after a long migratory haul over the Sahara Desert.
Cormorants in a tree.
Pelicans aflight.Pelicans in action.
Did I mention that warthogs are also at home there?
Oh, and pythons? Yes, pythons.
Finally, we made one last stop in Lompoul, where there is a topographic anomaly: a desert. So you can take a very bumpy jeep ride into the desert, stay in a large tent, run free in the dunes, ride a camel, and gaze at the sky packed with stars so low you can almost rearrange them. Cool factor of this place: very high.
Our home for the night.
Sylvia and her grandparents: free in the dunes.
Loved it.
Just so sweet. How can you not be charmed with those super-long eye lashes?
Until we meet again!
Wow! I've never seen so many pelicans!! And Wow! I've never seen so much trash on a beach!
ReplyDeleteOh, I also do hope you now have your car back!!
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