Tag 9 - Bye Bye Senegal

October 28, 2023

Day 9

Today is our (unplanned) last day. Actually we would have had one more night, but Turkish Airlines changed the flight schedule a few weeks ago and canceled our return flight! 😡😡😡

TUI then rebooked us on the only available flight - today - and (after some discussions) refunded us for the lost night in the 5***** hotel.

But we still had a good time because a mother and daughter who were traveling with us had a real odyssey after Turkish canceled their return flight. Apparently she also had a not so well-informed travel agent, because they flew out 2 days later, missed the connecting flight in Istanbul to Dakar, and had to stay 2 nights in Istanbul in 2 different hotels (WITHOUT suitcases, they were lost somewhere along the way) , as there was no (available?) flight to Dakar and were also “rebooked” 2 days earlier on the way back. Of their 14 days of vacation in Senegal, they ended up with just 7 days left on site. However, the luggage probably still made it to Senegal. Cool...

So I don't want to complain.

We pack our bags in the morning and leave the room, leave the suitcases at reception and chill out on the beach and in the pool in the morning. The husband and daughter rent a stand-up paddle for an hour while I chill on the beach with Sohmemann and enjoy the last day in a light breeze.

After a late lunch we change. Our TUI “bus” is supposed to pick us up at 3:45 p.m. and take us to the airport. The bus arrives at 4 p.m., the luggage is strapped back to the roof and off we go! The journey takes what feels like an eternity through the streets of the many towns with markets, donkey and horse carts, people on and next to the road. Past backyards, dirt, rubbish, horses and donkeys, free-roaming goats and cattle... we are in a third world country - you tend to forget that in the "safe all-inclusive" facility.

After more than 1.5 hours we reach the airport at around 5:45 p.m. We quickly change in the toilet and join the queue of waiting passengers.

After checking in our luggage, we go through security and go to the gate. Our plane is supposed to take off at 8 p.m., but it ends up being an hour late and we take off towards Istanbul at around 9 p.m. The plane is packed and the night is modest - night flight...