End of Trip Report

Laura and I wrapped up our three weeks in West Africa with a return to Dakar. We decided to not stay downtown this time, but to get a hotel up near the northwestern coast. For the last two nights we have wound down the evening on the patio of our hotel, just feet from the beach and ocean. This is more of a local beach than a tourist one. Families play on the beach and in the water, local fishermen bring in their nets or set off in their pirogues down the beach. There seems to be some sort of organized work-out for men here, too. Each day, one or two groups of a few dozen men go through a series of exercises on the beach. They run a few hundred feet one way, then run backwards back to the starting point. Then they do run and slides, like baseball players sliding into home base. Then a really weird squat jump, where they look like they are all playing a giant game of leap frog. Yes, this has been our entertainment. Since we haven’t seen a movie theater since we arrived, and the tv in the hotel gets one channel, this will have to do.

This has not been an easy trip. West Africa is hard. It is miserably hot, the infrastructure ranges from awful to non-existent; the hotels are more than twice what we’ve paid on other vacations, but (for the most part) only half as nice; reliable and consistent electricity supply is not a given. Except for Mali, we have been constantly harangued by local touts, trying to chat us up before launching into whatever sales pitch they are bound to have. No is not an answer easily or quickly taken. Anti-malaria pills wreak havoc on the intestinal system. This is probably why Laura and I have seen very few westerners here simply on vacation (most we've met are in this area either with the Peace Corps or missionaries).

And yet, despite all that, this has been a great trip. Trekking through Dogon country in Mali led me to sights like I’ve never seen before. Experiencing the unbridled generosity of the Mali people, knowing how little they have compared to us, was heartwarming. Once out of reach of the touts, the Gambian coast is beautiful. And, of course, Timbuktu. I have now been to Timbuktu. I’m not sure how to top that, but I’m sure to start trying. Tomorrow.