The South Africa Trip
Chapter One – Dakar, Senegal
In 2007, Delta opened a direct flight from "Hot-lanta" to Johannesberg,
South Africa with a short stop in Dakar, Senegal. Senegal is the Western most point in Africa and sits on the Atlantic. Never heard of it? Me neither...
'till I got out the 'ole Fodors and discovered the rich history it had to
offer. Why not layover for a couple of days and discover the wilds of
exotic Sengal before hooking up with Wayne in South Africa? During one of our meetings with Wayne, I told him of my plan. He thought I was
NUTS!! And that I might want to "RE-THINK" this one. I did....and
we were going! Adventure is my middle name so Judy, Denny &
Mike humored me.
We arrived at the Dakar airport at about 3 in the morning and we all thought it
would be quiet. We were about the only ones to get off of the plane, which
should have been a sign! A guide met us to escort us to the
waiting van. As soon as we stepped out of the door we were
immediately surrounded by hundreds of locals begging, grabbing and
trying to sell us stuff! WOW!!! It was extremely frightening and I was
beginning to regret that my middle name was ADVENTURE! Once
the doors of the van were closed and the night was dark, we all took
a sigh of relief and headed to the hotel for a well deserved nap before
venturing out for our first days exploration.
Around 10 in the morning our driver "Biggie" arrived. And he was BIG!
But a sweetie, who spoke good english and had great manners.
Our first stop was the Island of Gor'ee, with a population around 1000 and very
poor. It was first settled by Europeans in the mid 1400's, and became a small
port for trade. The one thing it is famous for is its "House of
Slaves." Built in 1776, its center courtyard became the focal point where
slaves were auctioned to the highest bidder and immediately boarded waiting
ships through the "Door of No Return". Their destination...the cane fields of the Caribbean and of course, the Americas. The house has been somewhat restored now and stands to
educate tourists about the horrors of slavery. I believe we all got something from this visit.
The city of Dakar is attempting to become modern but it has a long
way to go. Imagine New York City with mostly dirt streets, many cars (every single
one had major dents), no real traffic lights, donkeys and carts and people
standing in the streets selling stuff! Selling raw meat hanging from
lean-to shacks, produce, fish, clothing, car parts, vaccums (most
of them do not even have electricity!). In all of this
poverty and chaos however, the women were wearing the most
beautiful clothing I have ever seen! Saris of the most spectacular
fabrics and colors! We wanted a closer look, but we dared not get out of the car as it was surrounded by the masses. I must tell you the most curious part....the one
thing that most of these people were selling...you ready for this?
Cell phone cards!! Are you kidding me? Everyone had a cell! Go
Figure! On to the hotel for a good dinner, lots of wine and great
conversation about our day of sightseeing. It had been a long trip
across the ocean and we earned a good nights sleep.
Day two was our last day and we headed out once again with "Biggie". He was a
great source of information regarding the local culture. And we learned alot
about how he and his family lived and worked. Isn't that why we came? As we
drove towards the Pink Lake, as we passed through village after village,
the story was the same....Life was in the streets.
The Pink Lake was Pink! Surprise! It is pink because of the salt
content. Small wooden boats are floated out by two men, and while
standing in waist high water, wooden rakes of a sort are used to
dredge salt from the lake and placed in the boat. The boat is towed
to shore and the salt is offloaded by hand onto hundreds of piles up to 10 feet
high. And as you can see by my pictures, these people resided in
thatched dwellings along the banks. Grueling work, day after day, just
to survive. We were getting a little concerned now as we were driving WAY out in
the country, dirt roads, desolate...Biggie has a surprise for us??
We pull up to the huge gates of a VERY large walled complex.
Guards open the gates and we drive through. I feel" STINKEYES" from
everyone in the vehicle as I think to myself....what the hell have
I gotten us in to? They are going to hold us for ransom and we
are going to die right here in the middle of nowhere! Relief, to say the
least, when Biggie introduced us to his cousin who is the foreman of a
massive farm. He jumps on the running board and out we go to tour and pick
mangos. Under one of the mango trees sat two women, dressed
identically. They were twins and also cousins to Biggie. They cut
up some mangos and the feast began. The most delicious we had ever had.
I knew there was nothing to be scared of....didn't you?
After lunch Biggie knew of a beach where we could go four wheeling.
In the nearby village, we pick up a guide (probably another cousin) and
off we head to the dunes! Beautiful ocean and lots of fun...UNTIL...we
get stuck! I mean really stuck! The wheels are spinning and you could
smell the engine burning up on our RENTAL VEHICLE! Nobody around
for miles and it is getting late. So we let the air out of the tires and
everyone pushes! Out we pop and off we head for home.
I must say, that at times, I did regret going into a place where there was
a great deal of danger around us. We all laugh about it now. Judy,
Denny and Mike say that is the last time I talk them into one of my
crazy adventures. But I would do it again in a heartbeat. I learned a lot
in Dakar about appreciating the life we have in America, much more so than
many of our other trips. Biggie is a man who has a dream of coming to America, and he is working hard to get it. Odds are against him, but I hope he makes
It!