#Dakar🇸🇳, the capital of #Senegal, is the 1st destination of our little West Africa side trip. We passed surprisingly quickly through immigration at DSS just to find that the promised hotel pickup was nowhere to be found. After we woke up the 24/7 receptionist we found out what the problem was: a.m. in French means après midi – afternoon, and is therefore the exact opposite of ante meridiem – before noon. We had tried to explain that online and even sent the flight number to look up the inevitable flight delay but still had to take a random taxi at what then quickly became 3 ante meridiem.
A day prior, the Senegalese president had indefinitely postponed the elections, which rightfully sparked outrage in Western Africa’s most stable democracy, but also, due to violent demonstrations, made it impossible for us to go to the centre ville on the first day. So we spent it wandering around Ngor, went to the eponymous island & enjoyed a bubble tea at the westernmost point of AfroEurAsia. On the 2nd day it appeared to have calmed down (elections will now be in Dec?) & we took a ferry to the Île de Gorée, the first African World Heritage Site and the first WHS that dealt with slavery, as this tiny island was a base for the transatlantic slave trade for centuries. Afterwards we walked around the Marché Sandaga and found a little smokey hole in the wall which is said to host the best brochette street food places of the city. @zoeclares speaks French of course and I understand about 80% but the accent is so thick we both just understood boeuf and missed “foie” – liver 😬 Can’t say that was my favorite but certainly an interesting experience. On the last day we found out Lake Retba isn’t actually pink anymore and therefore did a 12km walk to the biggest statue of Africa instead and even took the elevator up to the head to overlook the city. We initially thought of Dakar as just an add-on to the Mauritania trip, but are really glad we visited this vibrant African city #feb2024
