Finally... Some pics from Senegal

This is Goree island's beach adjacent to where the hourly ferry from Dakar arrives...






This circle of women were practicing the first night I visited Goree for this independence day celebration dance...









This young girl was watching the dancing intently... maybe one day she'll be out there :)







Walking to the festivities.






Hello,


I finally got my visa for Mali yesterday, and I will be setting up for my day and a half overland journey (by bus) to Bamako, Mali on Saturday. I was looking forward to overlanding by train, but after visiting the train station and learning more, I was not sure that any train I saw on the tracks would roll at all, yet alone make the 44 hour trip into Mali. Turns out the train is a sketchy affair at best...

Although I am not an urbanite by trade, I have visited some major cities around the world, but a city like Dakar can at times feel almost overwhelming with it's swarm of activity, poverty, and density. The sheer volume of people living predominately in squalor, amongst garbage and at times around open sewers, all the while working to make a living is really eye-opening. I have walked through some of the worst areas of the city and the best, taking in some of the energy the city has to offer and have felt a number of emotions that only "developing" nation's cities can bring out. Examples: Kids playing on the city street barefeet with a barely inflated soccer ball, trash on the sidewalk (right next to the goats who graze out of a feed bucket...), the smell of human and animal waste very near to where people are cooking meals with a gas stove (again on the sidewalk); homes with no running water, exhaust from the thousands of vehicles that jam up the city streets as soon as the day begins... bus rides that take 2 hours to go 12 miles through streets so pot-holed they should be unusable, on buses so crowded that people hang out the back door and on the bumpers; people sleeping on the street, bathing in the ocean (or using the ocean as the toilet)...

Amongst all this, the inspiring thing is that the people continue to wage forward, and there are plenty of Senegalese flags flown proudly throughout a city and country that for contemporary purposes is only a youthful, post-colonial 46 years old :)

I finally got around to taking some pics; none of which are from in the city, as I value my camera and do not want to highlight myself any more as a tourist... Goree Island has been my favorite place to hang out in Dakar, as there are no cars on the island, less people, good and clean beaches, good priced food, and overall a cool atmosphere. In my opinion the best Dakar has to offer! On the 4th of April, Senegal celebrated its day of Independence, which was back in 1960 I believe. As in most other countries, that calls for celebrations of all sorts from the people; flyovers, parties, dancing, music, parades, etc. Well, all that occurred here in Dakar (the flyovers were over the city, though) and I spent all day on Goree checking things out.

Attached are some pictures from that day... Enjoy!