April 19, 2024 Dakar, Senegal, 16 days left of 138

 We have arrived, but not quick enough for me to win a bet. I made a bet with Greg that we would be on time and docked at 7:30 am. When I returned to the room last night I noted they had changed the time to 8:00 am. Darn. I took pictures at 7:30 of other ships docked, but he would have none of it, so I was the biggest loser today. I will change my bet for the next port.

Today we are in Dakar, Senegal. If you check out the map above you will get an idea of what our next 16 days look like. It will be a whirlwind finish.

This is in the area of the Presidential palace and other government buildings. There was a police presence in these areas.

I wanted to give you a flavor of some of the street activity. They are washing cars where they are parked. Everything is covered in a find dust or sand. They are in their dry season and it shows.

The chamber of Commerce with a banner celebrating the newly elected President. We had a speaker that reported 6 weeks ago the newly elected President was in prison, and his Prime Minister that he appointed had been his cell mate. I was curious, so I did a little research. Yes they both had been imprisoned, but by the current government that they were running against. Their campaigns continues and were possibly improved by being placed in prison. The former President let them out just before the election, and that is the rest of the story.

We asked several locals, and they are excited with the election results, and are hopeful for the future.

We stopped at a Catholic Church. We learned that 90% of the country is Muslim, but there is a devoted Catholic and Christian community. They are always very proud that they are able to live together in peace.

The stain glass was beautiful, and definitely showed an African influence, the pipe organ is also a unique design. The church design almost reminded you of a mosque. We have seen churches that have been turned into mosques, and back to churches. We do not know the history of this church.

Below is the Monument of the African Renaissance, which was unveiled in 2010 to commemorate Senegal's 50 years of Independence from France. The bronze statue towers against the skyline at 164 feet high taller than the Statue of Liberty. It was built on the highest point in the city by a North Korean company. There was controversy due to the cost of 27 million US dollars. Out guide seemed to think it has been worth the cost as it attracts many visitors. 

Mike climbed to the top of the 180 stairs. If you look close you can see his blue shirt at the top of my first picture. I made it about half way, as you can see from my pictures. We only had 15 minutes, and I didn't think I could get up and down in time. In the end I think I could have done it with time to spare, but hind sight is 20/20.

Note the map of Africa behind me, with the statue behind me.

This is Mike on his way down.

These students were excited to get to view the statue, and be out on a field trip.

These are street scenes. They were selling any number of items on the street, including food, produce, shoes, art, furniture, cloths, and clothes. They also have piles of construction debris in mounds around the area. You see lots of construction going on, but you also see former construction sites that seemed to have been abandoned.

These two pictures show a town trying to better itself. There are areas where they are decorating the area with colorful umbrellas, and then there are the areas of homelessness, litter, and disrepair.

This was not the best example of the local men and women carrying things on their heads. I also loved the colorful clothing being worn.

This was our guide for the morning. He did a great job of introducing us to his city and country.

Le Baobab tree is honored in Senegal. This was a young one in the hotel we stopped for a cool drink and a toilet stop. These trees are throughout the city, and can live up to 5,000 years. The trees are not only remarkable for their size, but lifespan, fruit and bark but also in the way it continually grows multiple fused stems. The bark regenerates in the space between these stems, called false cavities, which is unique to the Baobab.

This is the US embassy in Senegal.

One of the many small enterprises on the streets. 

This larger Baobab is about 1,000 years old. Just outside the Sand Art workshop.

This is the many colors of sand from different areas around Senegal. They are used in the sand art being created. It was an amazing demonstration, and appeared so simple.

First the sap of the Baobab tree is used as the glue to paint the picture on a piece of wood. Then the artist takes sand and places it in layers across the wet sap to cover the whole board. The artist then picks up the picture and taps it down on the table and this picture is what appears. You can see the other paintings for sale behind him.

Above and below you can see pictures of many structures which the locals can use to exercise. I only show you a couple of pictures, but the area was pretty extensive. He says many people of all ages use this park through out the cooler parts of the day.

This shows some of the boats in the water. Please consider the size of these boats. Many people fish for a living, and we saw them a long way from land, and after dusk out in the open ocean in these boats. Some of them were standing taking pictures of our ship as we sailed by. Fishing is big business here in Senegal.

Above is were they are building their own boats. Mike thought it looked like they were using pallets in the building process.

People are gathering in the streets, as well as selling their produce.

Below is the Market place we walked through. This is where they come to purchase their food, produce, fish, and meat. We had a hard time again with the lack of refrigeration, and how chicken, fish, and meat is handled.

This was the entrance to the Market place. Just outside this area was more shops covered by tarps. The shop owners are very aggressive trying to get us inside their shops, to hold what they are trying to sell, and bargaining the price. We stayed here for longer than expected as we had lost one of the wives who went into the market. Our guide went back in looking for her, he was asking everyone if she had been seen or was with another group, but no luck. He finely called to the bus, and she was sitting on the bus. We have heard this is not the first time she has held up a tour. Our guide was beside himself. Thank goodness it all turned out well. 

On our walk back Mike found something for himself that I will show at a later date.

It was a good overview of the area. 

Sunset tonight was on the hazy side.