Central Dakar

New-to-us Port #21.

The countries that are along the west coast of Africa were once all one country known as French West Africa. I have no clue if those states were as poor or as lacking in infrastructure then as they are now as independent countries. We saw evidence of it everywhere we went, yet smiles were in evidence everywhere as well.

We understand that building the tourism infrastructure takes time and are willing to accept the sightseeing challenges and the substandard infrastructure we’ll be facing in West Africa as we continue south along the coast of the continent. It’s all part of the experience … even if we have a hard time understanding or accepting what our eyes behold.

We arrived at our berth on time at 8:00a, but as CD Ray predicted last night, it took a while for the ship to be cleared. We were on a tour organized by Sonia and Boris. The four of us waited patiently to meet up with our guide, Oumar, and driver, Malik. It was nearly 9:00a when we finally walked down the gangway. And soon we were on our way.

Driving through Dakar, we left the city behind for the suburbs … and those for the rural towns and villages. Oumar regaled us with all kinds of tidbits about life in Senegal in general, pointing out things of interest along the way. That he was proud of his country was obvious from his comments.

The drive — on a well-maintained, French-built highway — was smooth .. traffic flowing without hindrance. Around 10:15a, we entered the Bandia Game Reserve. But I am going to skip that part of our day for now as a separate footprint is warranted for that portion of the tour. This one will focus on the rest of the story and photos.

After leaving the reserve, we passed through towns and villages that were a hive of activity, with some of the women dressed in colorful traditional dresses. People — men and women alike — didn’t much care to be photographed, so I limited my shutter clicking to some discreet photos as we sped by. Of course, sped is relative. Traffic was horrible here so it was more like inching along with spurts of speed. Oumar explained that this was the shortest route to our next destination. Nonetheless, by this time we were getting concerned about the timing for the rest of the tour.

When we stopped at Chez Salim, where we had a buffet lunch, we discussed options. It was already 2:15p and we needed to be aboard by 5:30p. We decided to curtail some of the activities … such as the boat ride on the Pink Lake and the buggy ride on the dunes to check out the ocean.

Pink Lake, known worldwide for its color, wasn’t pink today. What gives this lake, which has a high concentration of salt, the color that was missing today? Algae. Turns out that due to heavy rains in recent days, the lake is flooded. The extra water killed off the algae, taking the signature color of the water with it. Oumar pointed out structures that should have been on dry land to give us a sense of the extent of the flooding. He did say that the white foam edging the shoreline was a good sign that things would return to normal soon. But not soon enough for us to see.

Upon leaving the lake, Malik took short cuts through neighborhoods to avoid the heavily congested rural traffic and got us to the highway in record time. This gave us a chance to do a quick drive through Dakar, with Oumar pointing out some of the landmarks. Then, it was back to the ship.

Returning to Insignia, Mui and I took advantage of the veranda being in the shade to enjoy wine and snacks al fresco. Then, a quick dinner at the Terrace Café. Now, it’s nearly bed time. We have a 7:30a meet up tomorrow for our next port of call.

By the way, the four-man security detail that will be with us through the HRA is onboard now. We saw them waiting to embark Insignia this morning. Yup … just like on RTW2017, there’s no possible way that they will be blending in with the general passenger profile to remain anonymous 😄Read more