Dakar Senegal: foggy/sunny 24 degrees

Arrival at the port at 7:30 AM in foggy weather. At 9:15 AM we started our city tour through Dakar. It took us past the central hub, the Independence Square, and along Avenue Leopold Senghor into the business district, where hundreds of street vendors sold their goods. Our trip continued to another market where mainly sheep were sold. We walked to the beach and were shocked at how dirty it was there, trash everywhere, we saw dogs and sheep eating plastic. The sight and smell were disgusting; we had never seen such a 'dirty' city. Yes, those impressions are also part of a world trip; not everything can be perfect. We then went to the Maison de la Culture where they performed traditional dances. Our next stop was the Monument de la Renaissance Africaine, the 52-meter high bronze statue that was erected in 2010. Afterwards, we visited a sand painting gallery where we admired examples of Senegal's most popular art form. It was fascinating to watch these artists create a sand picture using only sand from Senegal, with motifs depicting daily life. After so many impressions, we gladly returned to the ship. Now we have 2 sea days until we arrive in Fuerteventura.

We are just leaving Africa behind us for the time being and I am not sad at all. Dakar was not nearly as desolate as the two previous port cities, but I still found it annoying.

There is a lot of traffic with a large proportion of junk cars (some of them have "For Sale" written on them, which suggests that the owners are very optimistic), and as a pedestrian you often come into close contact with the local population. As a "white bread" you are approached by every beggar, taxi driver and salesman with a crude and familiar "Hey, friend!" and sometimes harassed in a persistent manner. An artist and Germany fan forced himself on me as a guide, chatted me up and led me through the chaos. He also took me to the market hall, where I saw the biggest lobsters I had ever seen.

At lunchtime I wanted to go to a restaurant serving local cuisine. The guide first took me to something that looked like a shell between two buildings, where smoke was blowing towards us. On one side there were people sitting on the floor, preparing meat skewers by hand, and on the other side people were squatting closely together, holding these skewers over an open fire. I told the guide that it was too "rustic" for me, and he took me to a slightly more civilized restaurant.

While I was waiting for my food, the guide and I parted ways in mutual dissatisfaction: I had given him more than I wanted, but less than he wanted.

My meal was fufu with chicken. Fufu looks like mashed potatoes, but also contains plantains. The whole thing tasted pretty good, but was so filling that I could only manage half of it.

After dinner, I headed back to the ship. Before that, however, I went to a modern supermarket that offered a large selection of drinks. Following my motto "buy what you don't know," I bought three juices that I didn't know and am looking forward to trying them.

A towel animal greeted me in my cabin. I don't know what it's supposed to represent, but it's definitely funny.

In the evening, the "Philip Brothers" performed as jugglers. And who did they bring on stage for the riskiest trick? Me. First, I had to check whether the glasses and hoods of the two Frenchmen were really opaque. When they couldn't see anything anymore, I had to sit down and they threw their clubs just past me. I was just not allowed to move. Everything went well!

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...

October 27, 2023

Day 8

Today can no longer be beaten when it comes to “chilling”, “lazing around” and “relaxing”. We really don't do anything - nothing except "chilling" etc. It has to be done sometimes 😄

We lie lazily on the loungers all day, read, listen to music or sit/swim/paddle in the main pool.

The wind is back and what felt like +42 degrees from yesterday is over.

It's "only" +34 degrees and the wind is actually quite bearable.

Otherwise, we indulge in the all-inclusive routine: breakfast - lounging - splashing - lunch - lounging - splashing - getting cocktails - lounging - splashing - dinner - show - cocktails - bed.

In between, the sunset on the beach - day is over! 🍹🍸🍻🍷

October 26, 2023

Day 7

Today is by far the hottest day! The wind has completely "gone away" and there isn't even a breeze on the beach. It really is unbearably hot. After breakfast we drag ourselves to the beach despite the heat because our daughter and husband want to rent kayaks at the water sports station. After all, someone has to take advantage of the all-inclusive offer (Sohnemann and I aren't really into water sports). Sohnemann and I watch for a while, then we walk along the beach back to the main pool. On the beach there are a few fire-red corals, fan corals and today a relatively large amount of algae. No, nothing gets me into the water here.

We try a "sit-in" in the pool, but even just sitting in the (warm) water in the bright sun is unbearable.

Even the heat-resistant husband, after cooling off in the pool after coming from kayaking, wanders from the lounger to the shower every 10 minutes.

Nothing works after lunch. Felt +42 degrees according to my weather app, NO wind. Too hot! Way too hot!

I spend the afternoon in the room with my son and daughter. We play a few card games and enjoy the view of the pool from the cool room. The husband is determined to spend the day at the pool - but good thing: he apparently never sweats!

Towards the late afternoon we dare to go out again, but there is still NO wind and it is incredibly humid, the broth is running from doing nothing.

After dinner we go to watch the evening show: Michael Jackson Show.

October 25, 2023

Day 6

After breakfast I walk north along the beach with my husband towards the Ex Club Aldiana. We actually want to take a look at the former club where my husband spent a large part of his 4-year stay in Senegal as a child. However, the almost 3 km as the crow flies turns out to be an exhausting walk along the beach. The heat doesn't make it any better and we don't have anything to drink with us since it's actually still "early" in the morning.

We walk a little over 2km to some buildings where locals are sitting, but decide to turn back. The situation is not that safe.

We encounter herds of cattle on the beach, a toilet seat in the sea 🫣😵‍🥴 and stray dogs. One of them has a rope around his neck that is cutting into his flesh. You can see the bleeding, but we don't dare to attract the dog, who is standing in the water with his pack. Two other dogs have “buried themselves” in the sand on the beach to escape the heat.

Shortly before the hotel we are greeted by locals who want to take us to their “market” that they have set up on the beach. They also ask us for water. The sight of the children playing in the sand in torn clothes, right next to the 5***** all inclusive temple, makes me feel bad again. We also find out later that the RIU Hotel largely does without local employees - after the experience with the Club Aldiana. Since we don't have any drinks or money with us, we quickly become uninterested and can go back to the hotel.

Off to the pool – it’s hot again!!!

After lunch, I treat myself to a break in the room with my son – at a pleasant +24 degrees. It feels like +41 degrees outside - I'm walking on a stick...🥵🥵🥵

Towards the afternoon I'm sitting on the beach, there's a slight breeze here and I can bear the temperature of just under 30 degrees - it's quite hazy now - quite easily.

In the evening there will be the Kahoot quiz again at 9 p.m. Unfortunately exactly the same as a few days ago. At first we are disappointed, but then we benefit from the fact that we already know the questions and so, working as a team, we secure places 1 & 2. Of course, the son and husband have to annoy the French-speaking entertainers and choose names that are difficult to pronounce. We know from the last quiz that the top 5 will be read out after each round. The entertainer probably cursed us after the first round when he unsuccessfully tried to pronounce the word "squirrel" 🤣🤣🤣 Son, I'm crinkling with laughter. The husband doesn't make it any easier for the poor guy with "matches". Damn! 🤭🤭😂😅

In the end, the son is happy about a bottle of champagne and the daughter benefits from dad's second place, there is a shell necklace.

Anyway, fun evening!

The entertainer doesn't miss it and comes to us after the show to find out "HOW" to pronounce these terrible words correctly and "WHAT" they mean 😅

We explain it to him and he thanks us with a wink. Poor thing... 🤭

In the hallway of our "villa" there are again tons of critters waiting for us in the hallway that are attracted to the light. Not nearly as many as the first two nights in the main house, but it was enough for me. Quickly go into the room - and the next animal greets us: a giant hopper. Quickly get out with it and put a towel in front of the door. Hopefully this will stop at least a few critters from getting in. In the other room in the main house that didn't help at all. We had cloths on the outside and inside of the door. Without success.

But tonight we have peace and quiet and the beasts stay outside!

Day 5

Chill day!

Today we spend the day exclusively at the pool and on the beach. Compared to the last few days, where it was constantly around 30 degrees, the temperature is going up.

The wind keeps blowing every now and then, otherwise it would be almost unbearable. In the afternoon I sit on the beach again. There is still a bit more wind blowing here, but a look at the weather app shows: even in the late afternoon at 5 p.m. it is still +33 degrees, the perceived temperature is +38 degrees! Cool! Luckily we have a well-functioning air conditioning system in the room 😅😅😅

Tonight we're having dinner at a Japanese restaurant. I'm already mentally preparing myself to eat in the buffet restaurant later, as I don't eat meat or fish and don't necessarily like the fishy taste of vegetarian sushi.

As with the Italian restaurant, there is a buffet. The Japanese restaurant boasts a huge selection of sushi. At the chef's counter there is vegetarian food, although neither Japanese nor Asian.

But the family is thrilled with the sushi!

After everyone is full, we stop next door at the Yassa Buffet Restaurant and Sohnemann and I treat ourselves to a main course and dessert. The dessert in particular is simply the tastiest here (and the selection is the largest). However, we miss the chocolate fountain today! Where did he go!? We almost have the impression that dark chocolate has run out because almost all desserts that were otherwise made with dark chocolate can now be found with white chocolate. A matter of taste…

Tonight's show is called “African Heartbeat”, where the animation team shows their full commitment and dances as much as they can 🤪

Day 4 (October 23, 2023)

Today it's time to sleep in. After breakfast we chill out by the pool and play a fun game called “toss the bag” at the activity pool 🤣🤪

We saw this in advance in the “event calendar” in the RIU app and were already wondering what that could be!? So today before lunch we'll just walk by the pool and see what this strange game of "throwing the bag" can be. We've already imagined the funniest scenarios and are almost disappointed by what they actually involve: sinking small bags (i.e. "pockets") into a hole on a wooden board. I win twice! Yay! 🤣

After lunch we chill by the pool. It is hot! Very hot! Without the wind it would be almost unbearable. At the pool, the employees are constantly busy gluing the small pool mosaic stones back onto the pool loungers. A small group of children have great fun scraping the mosaic tiles from the loungers and then playing with them. Almost all loungers have “mosaic holes”. Very unsightly and of course also uncomfortable. Unfortunately, the kids' parents seem to be left unaffected - no one intervenes.

Mosaic – why do people still do something like that today!? Actually it's no longer up to date and it's really shocking how broken and dirty the stones and joints are after just over a year. This doesn't seem to bother most vacationers. I try to ignore it. In any case, I won't set foot in the pool with the swim-up bar anymore. Even today, the “drinking group” has been in the pool with beer and cocktails since 10 a.m. and doesn't seem to be moving anywhere else until sunset. Well, to each their own. Tour groups also cavort around in the main pool with cocktails in hand. Really a no-go for me. The children imitate it and not all of them manage to safely bring their “Cola/Fanta etc” back to the edge of the pool while playing/splashing around.

Disgusting….not a 5***** standard. I'm just not a package vacationer. Getting soaked by or in the pool all day is just not for me...

Regardless, in the afternoon, when the heat subsides, husband and daughter want to look around outside the hotel. The “largest” baobab is said to be somewhere here, which is also the “holy” baobab. It's too hot for my son and I, so we wait in the hotel and chill on the beach.

As soon as they set foot outside the hotel door, husband and son are overwhelmed by taxi requests. Hardly anyone can understand why tourists want to set off here on foot.

After a few meters they come across cows, stray dogs and a herd of zebu. A small group of local boys curiously ask where they are going and offer to show them the way to sacred baobab. It goes cross-country through the field, past the herd of zebu (the boys explain that you should avoid the herd because the bulls are protecting the young animals), to the giant baobab. There he is, the holy baobab!

Even at sunset! A dream!

Although the boys don't want anything for the "tour", their husband and daughter thank them with a €5 note - unfortunately they don't have any sweets, food, water or anything else with them. The husband explains to the eldest boy how much €5 is in CFA francs, the Senegalese currency, and looks into the children's eyes beaming with joy. The boys are totally happy, thank you several times and wave goodbye. Welcome to Senegal 🤩

Tonight the dessert buffet is strikingly “colorful”. Real eye-catcher!

However, we stick with the tried and tested chocolate fountain with fruit and some small chocolate cakes. You can't go wrong with ice cream either 🤪

The evening show is really good today! We see the acrobatics show "Les Warriors form Guinéa". Applause guaranteed!

Day 3 (10/22/23)

We have breakfast at 7:00. We're pretty much alone at that time because the buffet doesn't actually open until 7:30. Last night was very humbling for all of us. This time it wasn't just me who heard the bass and music from the disco directly below us. The beds shook until 2 a.m., the music was so loud it was like having a boombox in front of the window.

We will definitely ask today if there is another room! So we can't stand another week here... (and the many critters in front of and in the room are another point of criticism).

At 7:30 the local driver is at the door. Into an absolute piece of junk. Welcome to Africa! We only pay a fraction of the price of what the TUI package trip would have cost. And we wouldn't have been able to decide individually where we wanted to go.

The first thought when you see the car: “Does it have air conditioning?” Without it I probably won't survive the 2 hour drive to Dakar..."
Son gets sick quickly, so he sits in the front, husband and I in the back and daughter in the middle. There is a blanket on the back seat that we sit on. I'm not sitting down yet, I already have a wet bottom. The seat is soaking wet! The driver laughs and explains that he cleaned the car and washed the seats especially for us - with a lot of water!

Ok, we notice. I'm sitting on the towels we packed, but my butt is still wet. It will be a great 2 hour drive to Dakar.
Our travel guide “Magnifique” joins us at the hotel gate. He also makes his jokes about the soaking wet seats. I don't understand everything, it's been a few years since I learned French at school, but my husband speaks it fluently and talks to "Magnifique" while we bump through the many small streets of the towns, looking for an ATM, changing money, with a bad feeling Stomach ignore the begging children who press their noses against the car window and put their little hands in the car as the husband gets money from the ATM.

The kids, five in total, are wearing torn clothes, two of them have no shoes on, and all of them are carrying a small plastic bucket in their hands. My heart breaks. Unfortunately I don't have anything with me, not even sweets or anything. Our driver chases them away.

Welcome to Senegal, away from the “beautiful, ideal world of the 5***** hotel”.

Today is Sunday, so the streets are largely empty, no markets and no “rush hour traffic” – if you can call it that. Here and there a horse or donkey cart. I also get a stomach ache when I look at the small, delicate, mostly completely emaciated horses running in front of huge, sometimes fully loaded carts.

How spoiled we are...

With every passing minute I understand my husband's dislike of “consumption” and “waste” more. If you grew up in a third world country for years, you just have a different outlook on life...

At around 9 a.m. we are on the highway just before Dakar. Our driver speeds past the overcrowded local buses at 120 km/h, where some of the passengers are standing on the outside of the bus at 100 km/h and holding on to the railing. OMG!!!

I'm just barely over the sight of the bus passenger standing on the back of the bus bumper, holding on to the rear doors, when there is a loud bang followed by a violent thud directly below me. Oh god – what was that????

The husband shouts something in French to the driver, we slow down and with careful steering movements - with loud French shouts from the husband and "Magnifique", we roll to the right on the 3-lane road to the side and stop - in front of the gates of the big city - on the dusty shoulder. The tire on my rear side burst!

How lucky that nothing happened! We didn't even have working seatbelts in the back of the car.

We all get out and look for some shade under a tree, Magnifique and the driver look in the trunk for tools and a spare tire. Apparently something like this happens more often, neither of them are surprised about the burst tire or helpless. You know exactly what to do.

I, on the other hand, am anything but relaxed. The situation is overwhelming for me, the heat, lack of air conditioning, flat tires... In Africa….

The driver and Magnifique put the spare tire on after about 10 minutes and assured us that everything was ok. We could now move on.

With mixed feelings we get back in the car and drive on to Dakar, to the port. Here we buy a ticket for the Ile Gorée, the former slave island.

In the waiting area we meet two TUI groups who also come from our hotel.

I am also approached by dozens of “traders” who all tell me their names and of course have the “best” shop on the Ile Gorée and definitely give me the best price for souvenirs. I have to promise to visit her on the island and buy something. Oh dear...

So after less than 15 minutes I have a date with “Ayla”, “Maria No.1”, “Maria No.2”, “Elisabeth”, “Mama” and “Claudia Schiffer” 🤣😂😅

After an almost endless wait in the ferry terminal building, you board the ferry with the sonorous name “Beer”. The ferry is packed!!!

We first sit on top, but as we drive through the harbor and see not only the big “pots” but also the cruise giant “Mein Schiff”, we stand in the shade on the lower deck at the railing. It's too hot up in the sun.

The crossing to the island takes 30 minutes, then we have solid ground under our feet again. We are greeted by a drum and singer group on the jetty.

You are not allowed to visit the island alone, you need a “guide”. Magnifique organizes an English-speaking guide for us to explore the Ile Goree.

The gate remembers many details, but also many things that did not exist 40 years ago (the “selfie” heart on the pier, the Mémorial Gorée-Almadies, which stands like a huge white sail on the hill).

We walk through the colorful streets, past the church and stalls up to the hill to the cannons “Canon de Navaronnes” and the Mémorial Gorée-Almadies. From up here you have a beautiful view.

Some sheep are lying in the shade of the bushes, dealers are sitting everywhere trying to sell their works of art, pictures and jewelry.

It's getting very hot in the sun, luckily there's a bit of wind.

We go back down and continue to the House of Slaves (Maison des esclaves), where millions of Africans were enslaved and shipped to America for almost 200 years.

A truly horrible idea. The small museum on the first floor of the house shows many painted pictures, documents and models from that time. Goosebumps moment at the “Door of No Return” (Porte du voyage sans retour). Anyone who passed through here never came back.

After lunch in a small restaurant opposite the pier, we take the same ferry “Beer”, which is again packed, back to Dakar on the mainland.

Our driver is waiting for us – with a new tire! The car was in the workshop in the meantime. We drive past the train station into the city center and stop at the husband's former home, discover his old route to school, which he used to walk to his school when he was in primary school, and then drive on to this very primary school, which still exists today - 40 years later ! The “École Franco-Senegalaise Dial Diop” has even opened its doors. Since today is Sunday, of course all the rooms are locked and no children are in school, but some workers who are working on the outside of a school building allow us to enter the school yard and look around. The husband reminisces. He rediscovers his old classrooms, which he used in grades 1 and 2. Class and 3rd + 4th attended class. Of course, everything here is now new and renovated, even the schoolyard is now very modern and colorful, but the husband is still visibly touched by the journey into his past.

Very exciting for us too - after all, we only know everything here in Dakar from old photos.

After a few photo stops, including at the Mosque of the Divinity on Plage Ouakam and a short visit to the market (we are overrun by the merchants as we are the only tourists and end up quickly looking for the “far away”), we drive to the last destination for today, the Monument de la Renaissance Africaine, a 49 m high bronze statue from 2010 depicting a woman, a man and a child looking out to sea.

While the husband, daughter and Magnifique climb the steep stairs to the statue, my son and I wait in the shade below. Too hot and too many steps…

In front of us, 5 “Mein Schiff” excursion buses roll down the street and park on the shoulder. The ferry was already half full with “Mein Schiff” tour groups that were visiting the Ile Gorée and were traveling in groups of 30-40 people each.

Same now. All of a sudden, hundreds of cruise tourists are milling about on the stairs to the monument. Luckily we got there a little earlier and were able to leave the monument before the hustle and bustle.

The TUI bus with the tour group from our hotel also stops here. So we'll see each other again 🙈😅

We are exhausted and decide to go back to the hotel. The return journey takes forever and our local tour guides are now really unlucky! Shortly before the hotel a police officer waves us out. We learn from Magnifique that the police here are corrupt and that if you are waved out you actually have no choice but to “buy your way out”. This is what happens to our driver, who grits his teeth and comes back to the car and says that he has now lost all of his earnings from today's tour to the police officer. We don't know whether the two are officially not allowed to play travel guides. But one thing is clear: for both of them, today is a losing proposition with us - after a burst tire, a workshop and a police report.

Since we only paid a few euros compared to the TUI tour or the tour operator's offer at the hotel, where you could also have hired "a driver and car", we gave them both a €50 note and thanked them for today's trip.

Both are still trying to persuade us to go on another trip. If it weren't so hot, I would like to do something, but with temperatures of almost 40 degrees - without air conditioning - I can't imagine doing that.

At the hotel we ask at the reception if there is an opportunity to change rooms as we cannot cope with the disco noise at night.

The staff is really helpful. After 15 minutes of “searching” we were told that we could come by in 30 minutes and pick up our new room cards.

Yay – it can’t get any worse (… or can it!?)

We pack our things, take a quick shower and roll our suitcases downstairs. Our new rooms are in “Villa Number 6”, sounds promising 🤩🤪

Villa 6 is the building in the first row of the beach, near the main pool, on the outside... so the furthest away from, for example, the restaurant and water park. Doesn't matter!

We have rooms 6210 & 6212 on the 2nd floor. No elevator, but a sea view 😃😃😃

And: almost no critters!!! Yeah!!! 👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻

We move into the new rooms, go out for dinner and just manage to watch today's show, a Madonna cover show, before we fall into bed exhausted!

October 22, 2023

Day 2:

We sleep until 9 a.m., have breakfast at the huge buffet in the main restaurant and then look for a place at the activity pool.

The hotel is huge! We already knew this from reviews and pictures, but when you walk around the facility yourself, you realize how huge it is.

We would have liked to stay in the "Club Aldiana", which was based here for many decades just 3 km north, but unfortunately closed its doors forever a few years ago and can now not escape "deterioration". A pity. That would have had a little more African "flair" and my husband basically spent his childhood there - every weekend for 4 years.

The night was okay, I actually slept well, except for the booming bass tonight, which didn't bother anyone except me. Today there's water aerobics (the daughter is trying it out), water polo (the husband is joining in) and I'm going to the water park with my son, where he's testing out a slide.

The good thing here: there are no people occupying loungers!!!

There are tons of loungers available at all pools at any time of day.

On the beach anyway, it's so huge, there are loads of loungers. Even at lunchtime in the front row of the beach! Where can you find something like that??? That is really cool!

However, the stand is not pretty at first glance. Although an employee does his best to pull and collect all the plastic waste from the water, the beach remains dirty and is full of smelly brown algae, which is also spread like a carpet in the water for the first few meters.

Ok, nobody can do anything about that - just nature. Algae come and go (hopefully), but I'm puny...

You can't look at the bottom, I'm now used to the crystal clear water of Curacao from my summer vacation...

No, I don't have to go swimming here...

By the way, the sea has a water temperature of almost 30 degrees...

When we get back to the pool I'm sweating wet. It's terribly hot, so off to the pool.

It should be a little cooler - the temperature should be similar to the sea 🥵🫣😅

Lunch is in the main restaurant, as the snack bar only serves fast food (and not really anything vegetarian).

In the afternoon we drink (iced) coffee and play bingo (unsuccessfully). The prize is a bottle of champagne - we can drink champagne at the bar. 😂Also, the winner has to dance. Good thing I didn't have bingo. hehe. 😂

The shell necklace for the runner-up would have been nice though...

In the late afternoon we sit on a lounger on the beach right by the sea. There is a wind blowing, you can endure it here. Tomorrow we're going to Dakar.

This morning we booked the trip for tomorrow through a local guide called “Manifique”. It can be found at the local market to the left of the hotel beach, where many local families sell their souvenirs or offer tour guide services.

Security guards patrol the hotel beach itself so that the all-inclusive guests are not “disturbed”.

Some local women with colorful clothes and goods on their heads walk along the beach to the market. Everyone is nice and polite, greeting us and inviting us to the market.

In any case, we don't feel unsafe here on the hotel beach.

After showering in the evening, we go to the Italian restaurant. It's nice to sit, but that's about it. Food wasn't a big hit. Hardly any veggie items and what was empty remained empty. We then went next door to the buffet restaurant for dessert (especially the delicious chocolate fountain).

Let's see how the Japanese will do on Tuesday. For me, he will definitely end up in the buffet restaurant - as a "non-fish eater" 😂

On the show stage we played a "Musical Kahoot", an interactive quiz where you dial in using a code on your cell phone/tablet and then answer questions. It's very funny. However, I'm too slow and end up only 13th out of 35, even though I knew everything. Well, here too there was a bottle of champagne as a prize and you could also dance 🤣🙈😅

The evening show (Senegalese drum show) is loud but well done.

With a “Goodnight” Cuba Libre we go to bed at 10 p.m. after the show. The alarm goes off at 6:15 tomorrow morning... then we're off to Dakar!

Childhood memories await...

Early in the morning on Saturday we set off towards the border. On this day it was supposed to cross the Diama Dam to the border crossing to enter Senegal. The roads got progressively worse from then on. To say it in advance: it would take almost 2,000 km before we could get asphalt under our wheels again, with a few exceptions.

About 40 km from the border it happened: “ICEMAN”, one of our Ford Transits, initially had noticeable noises from the engine compartment and had to stop a short time later. Unfortunately, it quickly became clear that “ICEMAN” was out of action for the time being. Since it was “only” 40 km to the border and then “only” another 70 km to Saint Louis, we decided to do a towing maneuver. And so our fighting machine “GOOSE” (Landcruiser) pulled the Transit over the dam or what was left of it. An incredible mogul slope awaited us. Wolfgang at the front and Sergej at the back… a dream duo had been found. While the off-road vehicles had fun on the dam and couldn't change drivers often enough, the two of them made it over the dam and to the border in record speed, but we got there late.

The procedure on the Mauritanian side was, as usual, tough, but still entirely acceptable. But what then happened on the Senegalese side was pure nightmare. At first everything was as slow and lengthy as usual, with no apparent system, but at least things were moving forward. But then it was about the vehicles. The end of the song was another 5 hour stay at the border, during which not only our guide Karl had to go to a hut in a village with all the passports and a few notes to take out further insurance, but also our two Ghanaian friends Ogidi and Sadick were treated extremely badly. The two are allowed to move freely across the borders in Africa with their passport, similar to the Schengen area. Here people saw things differently and wanted to have money again.

The end of the song was a paid escort at midnight from the border to the hotel, where they kindly waited for us with a cold beer. Sergej and Wolfgang completed the towing fantastically up to this point and were both understandably completely exhausted. First take a deep breath, sleep in and then take the next steps.

Conclusion of the day: Racism has many faces and again nothing happened with an arrival in daylight.

Sunday October 22nd and Monday October 23, 2023

The die was cast… due to the pending repairs we were forced to extend our stay in Saint Louis. While a mechanic and a welder had to be found, the rest took care of the other vehicles, shopping and were able to relax a little. The forced break came at the right time for everyone.

We were also able to explore Saint Louis with its 200,000 inhabitants a little. Great location, some corners definitely have charm and it was a very lively city; However, the incredible garbage problem that accompanied us the entire trip was omnipresent here too. In addition, there had been heavy rains shortly before and parts of the city were flooded by the Senegal River, which had partially overflowed its banks. Construction sites on the banks were full and the soup of water, plastic waste and leftover food created a completely different smell. But the people were very nice and helped us a lot.

The replacement part was welded and installed on Monday evening. We ended the recovery phase with a very good dinner together.

Tuesday, October 24th, 2023

The destination for the day was Tambacounda, a large town further east on our way towards Guinea. Shortly behind Touba, after about 180 kilometers, “ICEMAN” went on strike again and we stopped. Luckily, a friendly young man came out of nowhere to take charge of the matter and drove Karl, Flo and me back into town to get a strap. This one was obviously through. We found what we were looking for relatively quickly with our companion and drove back to the vehicle.

Unfortunately, when installing the belt, we discovered that the welded part had unfortunately broken again because the welding points were not sufficient. Karl then drove back into town to get a replacement part.

The first group had already driven up with 4 vehicles to find a hotel or to ask the hotel for rooms, which we had originally planned, but for which we were too late due to our stay in Saint Louis.

After a while Karl came back with spare parts and mechanics. Unbelievable…do it in Germany. After a one-hour repair, everything was done and after a little discussion about the appropriate remuneration, we continued. We reached Tambacounda without further incident…late in the evening. The route in Senegal was very scenic, but here too, poverty was omnipresent, especially outside the larger cities. And while we of course knew and expected this beforehand, it was a hundred times more depressing on site. This situation cannot be improved on our own. No chance. Mauritania, Senegal and parts of Morocco (far from the usual tourist enclaves) can no longer get their garbage problem under control on their own. This can't work.

The group that had driven up had already prepared everything when we arrived in Tambacounda and we were able to treat ourselves to a delicious Trek'n'Eat and a beer.

The hotel wasn't really good, but completely adequate. Unfortunately there was no water in the evening, but that didn't matter to us. Since we only got a few rooms, we put in camp beds so everyone had a suitable place to sleep.

Early the next morning we were supposed to go to the border of Senegal and the crossing into Guinea. After a short coffee and the discovery that the “ROOSTER” had been broken into, but apart from a few (very expensive) shoes, nothing was actually missing, we set off towards the border. The destination for the day was to be Labé in Guinea.

3 weeks before departure I stumbled upon the note in my TUI travel documents that our return flight was no longer on October 29th. can take place.

What??? Why doesn't anyone tell me this??? Call to TUI and the unpleasant certainty that Turkish Airlines has simply canceled the return flight WITHOUT REPLACEMENT and removed it from the flight schedule.

Gasp!!! Are you crazy???

For the first time I'm really happy that I booked a package holiday!!! Now TUI has to deal with the old airline. TUI books us on the night flight in advance. Great... So we lose half a day and a night in the 5***** hotel, for which we are still charged.

Another call to TUI. Last night is canceled, we will receive a refund. At least something.

Hopefully that's it for the unpleasant news.

Vacation mode on, it's starting soon!

Thanks to parent-teacher conferences at our school, the kids and I can start on Friday, so we've gained a day.

We research online, we don't really have an idea. The husband announces his desire for sun, beach and sea. In the Mediterranean region you can be lucky or unlucky when it comes to temperature in mid-October. Unfortunately, we are not so optimistic. Maybe a package trip to the Canary Islands? Egypt? Cape Verde?

All offers are not that tempting. Either incredibly expensive or not really “our thing”, as an individual tourist I have a hard time with the classic all-inclusive hotels.

Egypt is out of the question because our desired destination, Marsa Alam, either doesn't have a direct flight for our desired travel period or is simply incredibly expensive. The last time we were there was when the kids were little. Now they are big, 2 rooms are needed - they are expensive...

We don't like Canary Islands. Nothing is offered in Cape Verde. Difficult. I'm researching "further afield". If necessary, go back to the family in Abu Dhabi?

We are undecided, luxury problems...

When I search for package holidays, I end up in the “Africa” section at some point and see an offer that is almost €4,000 cheaper than the classic 4**** all-inclusive on the Canary Islands. Oh, let's see what that is:

5***** "New opening offer" at RIU BAOBAB, 40% "Off".... In Senegal!!!

It was actually clear: no matter which airline is behind it, no matter how long the journey is: it HAS to be Senegal.

Why???

My husband grew up in Senegal!!! As a child he lived in Dakar for many years, attended primary school there and spent weekends at Club Aldiana for many years - but it hasn't existed for a long time, which is why we never really gave Senegal a thought.

The offer turns out to be a TUI trip with Turkish Airlines via Istanbul, short connection time, there early on Friday morning, return on Sunday. Perfect! 9 days, click, booked!

The husband is in a rollercoaster of emotions - so is his family.

Back to the roots!

We're flying to Senegal!

There is some confusion about the payment. But then everything becomes clear, and after some back and forth, everything is paid, but we are not quite sure if we have been ripped off. Not easy, the quick payment situations and the conversion into the thousands of West African francs. This impression is reinforced when the friendly lady smilingly gives us a bottle of water. "Oh, you're going to Touba? It's super hot! So hot, you need water." With amazed eyes we watch as the woman takes a huge block of ice from the freezer, hits it with an object to produce ice cubes, fills them together with the bottle into a shabby cloth cooler, and hands it to us with a wide smile. We say that we won't be coming back to the river delta and won't be able to return the cooler. The woman nods knowingly and says it's okay, it's a cycle, everything comes back somehow. Alright then.

We get in the car, Miriam buckles up with some effort, as the seatbelt doesn't want to latch properly, and I get in the back of the car, having to sit in the middle because there is only a seatbelt there, a makeshift seat. We drive out of the small village, which consists of a tarred road in the middle, sand and houses with "shops" on the side. Racing past milk shops (recognizable by the graffiti-like paintings of cows on the walls), sewing workshops (where work is only done at night because it gets too hot during the day), alcohol shops (who drinks alcohol in a predominantly Muslim country?), indescribable things (and many of them), bakeries (recognizable by the many metal racks with baguettes on them). And horse-drawn carts, donkeys, goats, sheep, and masses of people in every corner, in every nook. Eventually, it becomes more rural, the sandy landscapes continue, the majestic baobab trees become more numerous and more impressive. We drive and drive, and then we have to stop quickly when I notice that a puddle has formed on the (surely original) Louis Vuitton rubber floor mat and my flip-flop is already floating on it. In the middle of the desert-like landscape, we stop, pour out the water, and also the remaining ice in the completely leaky container, and then we continue.

We need gasoline. At the first gas station we stop at, two gas station employees are lazing in the shade, leaning against the fuel pump. Once again, it looks like the gas station has been in need of renovation for decades. Rust, dust, dirt, ruins. Youssou stops, rolls down the window, asks something in Wolof, rolls up the window again, and we continue driving. "There is no gasoline here. Because of the Ukraine war. We will find another gas station," says Youssou. We nod and wonder where the next gas station is. We find one just a few minutes later. While our car is being refueled by the attendant, we decide to buy a cold Coke and some cookies at the gas station. As I get out of the car, I almost step into a rapidly spreading puddle, apparently flowing out of our car. Water or gasoline? I tell Youssou, Youssou tells the attendant, it's gasoline. Alright then. No one seems to find it particularly exciting, and after all our experiences that we have collected in just a few days, we accept the situation with a shrug and hope that Allah will take care of it. When we step out of the gas station with our acquisitions, we are briefly startled when we don't see Youssou or our car and briefly consider the thought of what would happen if our driver had just left without us and we would be left stranded in Senegal with only a Coke and salty cookies. Fortunately, our car is still there, propped up, and a mechanic is lying under it to see if the car needs any repairs. Youssou is of course still there too. Two minutes later, it's "all good", so we just continue. Today we visit the holy city of Touba, a kind of Mecca of Senegal, a holy city with even holier rules that forbid many things, such as the consumption of alcohol and cigarettes, and of course, female charms like flowing hair and bare skin, except for hands and face. The previous evening, we had tried to put together various disguises from our travel backpacks, made turbans and tied cloths around our hips to hide our pants because they are also forbidden, otherwise you might think we have legs. Of course, we respect the rules and want to dress as well as possible, which is why we document our attempts to find the right outfit on camera the night before and proudly present them to Youssou the next day. What does he think? We're not exactly sure. He says something like, "yes, it's probably good," but we're not completely convinced. In the car, he tells us that we will visit a market later to buy "appropriate clothes" for our visit to the mosque in Touba.

We eventually arrive in a suburb of Touba, Mbacké. And again, the typical city scenes, wild, unfiltered, bustling, colorful, loud, full of life and impressions that we can only process to a limited extent. Then we stop, get out, meet someone named Ismael who seems a bit strange to us, then he gets in the car with us and we continue driving. As always, no information. Youssou says nothing, we don't ask anything. So we continue driving, let ourselves be driven, wherever it may be, accept that we don't know, continue looking out the window, and marvel at this foreign world. Then we stop at a house, Youssou gets out, that's our sign to get out too. We are standing in the clay and sand, and then we enter the house. A small corridor, a room there, Youssou takes off his sandals, slides the curtain aside, and disappears behind it, together with Ismael. The curtain falls, we are outside and don't quite know if we should come in now or wait or what. We look at each other and try not to laugh because we are a bit uncertain about the customs and don't want to do anything disrespectful or wrong so close to the holy city. Suddenly Youssou's face appears again at the side of the curtain. "Come in!" - Oh, okay. So we should come in. We also take off our shoes and enter the room, a red carpet on the floor, two mattresses where people are sitting, a fan pointing towards the ceiling, a suitcase with clothes, a coffee pot. We sit and wait. Once again, no information. We're not exactly sure how to behave because nobody has really instructed us. Whether I want coffee - Miriam is no longer asked, as she gladly refrains from drinking coffee since it only consists of Nestlé instant coffee. So I get a coffee and give Miriam a sip, because if anything, we want to both be poisoned. In the room, Youssou, Ismael, Miriam, and I, and: the king. Or that's what we'll call him later, or rather: the beautiful king. He sits opposite us on the mattress, lounging around like us on the floor, but still setting himself apart from everyone else. He wears a plain, ochre-colored robe, like the sand, his facial features soft, his aura strong, he has a special charisma that somehow captivates us. We speak, as always, in German with each other and comment on the situation, the room, and what is happening, and when the word "attractive" is mentioned, we are briefly startled because this word is easily understandable in French or English as well. So we agree on "the beautiful king". The beautiful king is of course not a real king, but he is still a big shot, or a religious leader, or at least an important man. He introduces himself to us as the grandson of the famous Ibrahima Fall, the founder of the Baye Fall movement. We are amazed, as we have seen the king's grandfather everywhere in Senegal as graffiti, stickers, and tattoos. The king speaks English with us, and quite well at that. He also seems to be highly educated, talking about his niece who lives in London and is also a speech therapist (or has attended speech therapy? We only understand half of it once again). We exchange some information, but only on the surface. Suddenly, a snapping of fingers is heard outside the curtain, the king hums a "yes", and a servant (also a Baye Fall?) comes in, crawling on his knees with his head lowered, enters the room, puts down a second coffee pot, submissive, turns around, and leaves the room with his head held high. Another Baye Fall comes in, not on his knees, but still humble, wearing striped clothes and a belt with various tools around his waist. He is supposed to repair the fan, kneels down next to it, and starts working on the device. Then nothing happens for a long time, and then suddenly a feeling of departure: Youssou tells us that we are now going to the market to buy "appropriate clothes" for our visit to the mosque in Touba. Another Baye Fall accompanies us, this is his task, says Youssou. We make our way through sandy paths and crowded streets to the market, where we get out, once again we are the only white people in sight, and yet the Senegalese are respectful and do not stare at us (at least not obviously). We walk through the market, but not far, we stop at a stand that sells only long robes and dresses. However, to our surprise, it is not us who choose the clothes. We watch in amazement as Youssou and the Baye Fall get to work, taking the clothes off the racks here and there, or even tearing them off the mannequins to examine them more closely. Discussions, shop talk, we stand there and just watch. At some point, they then hold two of these dresses in their hands, the fabric reaches to the floor and the sleeves are long, and they also have a kind of hood that we can use as a headscarf. But the best part: they are bright orange and bright pink. "C'est bon?" Youssou asks, we shrug and say: Yes, of course. So off we go again, back to the car, back to the beautiful king. When we enter the room again, by now three people are already working on the fan, and we wonder if they know what they are doing. We sit down again, wait, smile, what will happen now? At some point, Youssou asks if we're hungry. We look at each other. Okay, I think we're going to eat here. And shortly afterwards, another Baye Fall servant comes into our room, with his head held low, and puts a large metal bowl, covered with a kitchen towel, in the middle of the room on the floor. The king, Miriam, and I receive spoons, Ismael and Youssou eat with their hands, as is usually done. The kitchen towel is lifted and reveals: fish and vegetables, poisson et légumes, on a bed of seasoned rice. The fish (or fish?) is lying whole on the rice, with bones and small joints in between, and cassava, carrots, and white cabbage. We look at each other, now is the moment when we first eat local food according to local customs, and for a brief moment we hope that the preparation and hygiene in the kitchen will be compatible with our digestion. We eat rice and vegetables and discreetly avoid the fish with our hands, for safety reasons. Youssou picks through the fish and rice with his fingers, and repeatedly picks out the fish meat, throwing the best pieces, already chopped up, into the "food corner" of the king, who then takes them with his spoon. He compresses what he himself eats into a ball with his fist to put it in his mouth. A new technique, different from what I have observed/practiced in Indonesia, for example. It tastes very good to us! Then the beautiful king looks at us and asks, "why don't you eat the fish?" - oh no, now courtesy dictates that we try the fish, no matter what. We eat some of it, it tastes delicious, smoked, grilled. We close our eyes and think, let's just do it, and hope that no nasty surprises await us later. Miriam whispers to me, "I have apple schnapps in the car." and we agree that after the meal we will go and have a sip of schnapps to disinfect ourselves from the inside. In anticipation, we had bought Luzerner "Birewegge" at the airport, originally more as emergency rations, but now they serve as a thank you gift to distribute. When I take the Birewegge out of the backpack and announce that we also have something from Switzerland to trade, everyone is interested, the pack of Birewegge circulates in the group, and every time we hear, "oh, organic!" - that seems to be particularly interesting somehow. In the end, the pack of Birewegge ends up back in my hands, and suddenly everyone gets up and leaves the room, even though Miriam and I are still eating. We look at each other, laugh again because we don't understand how the social rules work, and stop eating too. Everyone disappears for minutes, we quickly take photos of the room, and of the fan, which is still broken. Then the king comes back and we offer him and Youssou some Birewegge and hope they like it. They politely say thank you, but we're not entirely sure if they really like it. I ask Youssou for the car key, "we need to get something from the car." So we step out into the desert sun heat and quickly go to the car. A quick rummage in the backpack and a flask appears, our healing schnapps - for safety's sake, we take three sips and hope for the best. Some children then come, two, three, seven, eight, a whole bunch of children, they talk to us, stretch out their empty hands, and ask for something to eat. Miriam gives them one of our granola bars, which leads to even more children rushing towards us, and in turn, we quickly retreat into the house. Mixed feelings, we would have liked to have hundreds of granola bars to distribute, but it's not possible, in the end, we have to ignore the kids and disappear into the house. How to deal with it? Often we don't even have time to reflect on such situations. We are already back in the house, supposed to change clothes, it's time to leave. The bathroom is right next door, we enter the room and the king brings us two pairs of flip-flops and washes them with water. We think: this man, who is being served here and is apparently an important man, washes our flip-flops for us, serves us, and what are we then, also queens? We change clothes, laugh a lot, have a small photo shoot, and in the background are men's underwear hanging on a clothesline behind the king. As we show ourselves, everyone is satisfied, no great enthusiasm, just "good," and we sweat a lot, now we have long pants, long-sleeved shirts, and on top of that our neon robes, and by now it's really 42 degrees outside. And inside too because the fan problem doesn't seem to be solved, not even with three vigorous servants. Now we're off to Touba, and we quickly arrive in the city. Even in the car, we cover our hair and are ready to visit the grand mosque. At the entrance of the mosque, we entrust our shoes to a woman sitting on the ground with some children so that she can look after them while we explore the mosque. Youssou had told us earlier to wear socks, as the marble floor of the mosque gets very hot. Miriam wears white socks, I wear gray ones, and it works well, the floor is very clean and pleasantly warm under the socks. In the mosque itself, or rather in its many buildings, hundreds of people lounge on carpets on the floor in the shade. They doze off, sleep, or just lie around - it's just too hot and it's Ramadan, they haven't eaten or drunk anything for hours, so their strength is only enough to lie around. The guide explains that in the evening, there is free food for all residents of Touba, or anyone who wants to come, in the mosque, which is why there are so many people waiting here.

The mosque itself is beautiful and impressive, and the minaret in particular looks magnificent, surrounded by many birds - its shape resembles a huge lighthouse that guides us on the right path (not inappropriate, as the call to prayer is also called from the minaret). Then something unexpected happens again: we step out of the mosque with our socked feet onto the street, walk on clay, stones, and an incredible amount of sand, and giggle because we miss our shoes, but no one else finds it strange that we are walking around in socks like this. It should be mentioned that many people in Touba walk around outside and inside the mosque with leather slippers that look like leather slippers.

We arrive at another place that is obviously also holy, and the guide tells us that there is "Holy Water" here. Whether we want to drink some of it? We look at each other, wide-eyed, thinking of cholera and other diseases, and politely decline. He laughs. But Youssou would like to have some of the holy water, and he buys a PET bottle from a roadside vendor, where several women sellers sit with many PET bottles, apparently this is a business here. Miriam and I make a mental note of what the bottle of holy water looks like, for fear of suddenly coming across it in the car and accidentally drinking from it: poisoning for us, less holy water for Youssou - we really don't want that. At the end of our tour of the mosque in Touba, our guide asks us to donate, and we think about how much money we would like to give when he adds, "you can donate if you want. Give 20,000 per person" - wow, almost 30 euros per person? Since this comes across more as a demand than a request, we give the money, hoping to appease Allah, and hoping that the money will actually be used to finance food for all the people. We can't know for sure. We retrieve our shoes, leave another small donation for the woman, and return to the car, where, due to the incredible heat, I gulp down a 1.5-liter bottle of non-holy water in one go.

We make our way to our next stop, an eco-lodge that we had already booked, which is halfway to the Lompoul desert. Before that, we linger in the city when suddenly a deafening "singing" blares from all kinds of loudspeakers of the mosque and as a result, surely a thousand people, all in their Baye Fall attire, come running towards us, streaming past our car, where did they come from, where are they going? We can hardly believe our eyes once again and sit speechless in the car, filming. Then we continue, out of the city. Youssou asks if we would rather stay with his friend (the king), he would accommodate us for the night and it is also much closer than this eco-lodge. We briefly find the idea exciting, but then too exciting, and I say, "Let's drive to the lodge instead. We have a room reserved there, the standard is such that we will feel comfortable, and it's safe. Who knows how we would sleep at the king's place." - and that's what we do. We continue, and the landscape changes, becoming more rural, quiet, we leave the city and the noise and dirt behind. The road also gets worse, at first only the edges of the asphalt crumble, then the road is gradually devoured by the sand, and eventually we are driving only on a sandy track. The tires skid on the sand, but Youssou has everything under control, driving us safely and curvily through all the sandy potholes, the sun is slowly setting, on the left and right of the "road" there is only land. Trees, occasional sheep and goats, and the red sun ball, which is slowly approaching the horizon. An incredibly wonderful and peaceful moment, for a brief moment we exclaim out of the window, "this is the good life, we must enjoy it!" and then we fall silent, exhaustion slowly overtakes us, and we wish to arrive soon, take a shower, and fall into bed after all that we have experienced.

Suddenly, the sun is gone, it is dusk, and then it is pitch-black. In between, we still pass through villages, and once again, we adjust our concept of "the deepest Africa" as now there are only clay huts with thatched roofs and the famous village well, where women fetch water and transport it home or to the next village on their heads in buckets. We can no longer imagine a deeper Africa. We look back on just under a week in Senegal and realize that everything has become more intense with each day of our journey, the impressions deeper and more intense, the landscapes even more barren, and running water and working electricity have become a matter of luck. We wonder if this was the zenith or what will happen tomorrow.

Then suddenly we arrive. The navigation on Youssou's phone says we are there, even though we are in the middle of an African village, in complete darkness, and there is no sign of a lodge or hotel anywhere. Youssou wants to drive a few more meters, when suddenly and very quickly we get stuck in the sand and every attempt to get out only results in the nose of the car digging deeper into the sand. Youssou curses, we are completely calm and say nothing, unsure how to deal with the situation that on the one hand we are not at our lodge, and on the other hand, hopelessly stuck in the sand. Youssou instructs Miriam to take the wheel, she accelerates, the car smokes and stinks and Youssou and I push against the car with all our strength - and nothing happens. By now, we have probably attracted attention in the village, and two men and two boys, about seven years old, come out of the darkness, curious, and stare at us. First, Youssou asks about the Eco-lodge and it turns out that we have to drive another 4 km in the opposite direction, or so we think. To be sure, Youssou wants to call the lodge, and he is puzzled when we give him the number, as it is not a Senegalese phone number. When someone answers the call, it quickly becomes clear that we don't even have a reservation at the lodge. Well, we do have one, but apparently the lodge doesn't. On the phone, we receive cryptic directions again. Miriam and I no longer understand what is going on and thoughts run through our minds. What if we can't go to the lodge? After all, Touba is 3 hours away. Will we sleep in the car? Will we stay in a hut in the village? Is that possible? We wait, try to calm down, and I say that I trust that it will turn out well. In the end, there has always been a guardian angel for us.

We make a new attempt to get the car out of the sand, this time I sit at the wheel. The image is burned into my memory: I sit at the wheel of this old car, wearing loose flip-flops, and try to find the clutch's biting point, while pressing on the gas pedal with determination. Outside: absolute darkness, the bleating of sheep. In the headlights: Youssou, Miriam, the two men, and the two boys, who push against the car, look in my direction, contort their faces with effort. The car creaks and then it moves, it's a triumph, I reverse, but where to, I can't see anything, so I just get out of the sand, keep driving, and suddenly Youssou starts waving his arms frantically. I brake hard and take a deep breath, done it. When I then open the car door to get out, I am astonished, I have stopped just two centimeters in front of a thatched hut! For a moment, the image flashes through my mind of the car crashing into the hut or even driving on with the whole hut. Oh dear.

We continue driving, out of the village again, back onto the sandy track, and I have the feeling that I felt more comfortable in the village than driving through the pitch-black steppe, with more potential sand pits where we could get stuck, and there wouldn't be any nice village people to help us out. Youssou is on the phone again, once again with the lodge. He says something into the phone, then the connection is cut off. We are uncertain, as Youssou has been calm all along, but now he seems to be at the end of his nerves too and curses - in German: "scheiße, scheiße!" He tells us that he asked the guy from the lodge whether it was to the left or right of the road, and the answer was, "just keep going straight." We are desperate. But then suddenly, a wooden sign with heavily chipped paint appears, and it says "Ecolodge de Koba." We also see lights. Thank goodness and finally! We get out of the car and are infinitely relieved to have finally arrived somewhere. And as I step out of the car and relaxation sets in, I suddenly realize that I urgently need to use the bathroom, the 1.5 liters of water have to come out. I ask one of the men at the lodge if there is a bathroom. He looks at me, shrugs his shoulders, and says, "yes, each bungalow has a toilet," then turns around and leaves. I stand there rooted to the spot and don't know whether to laugh or cry. Fortunately, Youssou helps me, and then I am allowed to walk through an inhabited bungalow next door, come out on the other side, in the open-air bathroom, and there is a toilet, hallelujah! The fact that the water doesn't work is a minor issue, I pour enough water from the nearby 10-liter bucket into the toilet to flush it. Then we sit there and wait. Still completely perplexed and excited, Youssou is already relaxed again and is on the phone, with whoever. We eat some nuts, our last provisions, and wait. And wait. Nothing happens for a long time. We go through the day in our minds. Wonder, laugh, marvel. Miriam says, "Well, that was probably really the zenith! It can't get any worse than this," and exactly 3, 2, 1 seconds later - power outage. Suddenly we are sitting in the dark, for a moment you can only hear the chirping of crickets, and then we are overwhelmed by a real fit of laughter. We laugh, cry, cry with laughter, and laugh again. If we had to make a film about things that can go wrong while traveling, we couldn't have written a better script. I turn to Youssou. "Youssou. What is this? Today we were blessed by the king, we donated money to the mosque. But Youssou, where is Allah now?" - we can't stop laughing. It will probably be another hour until we finally get to bed. And we fall blissfully asleep and dream of thatched huts and sand pits.

Little country knowledge: 'la Familie elastique' means here in Senegal. That means that anyone you like belongs to your family. Everything is shared with everyone from A like Ataya (concentrated green tea with lots of sugar) to M like Motorbike and Z like Room.

To be honest: this time I had a pretty hard time with this system. I, as a woman socialized in Germany and dedicated to individualism. Even the children repeatedly reach their limits of acceptance of constant visitors, sharing and eating with people who just pass by. Just for better understanding: since our arrival, Fams and I have been buying bags of staple foods and then supplementing with daily necessities. In the morning, just after clearing the breakfast table, the brother comes by and of course helps himself in the already cleaned kitchen. Shortly afterwards his wife. Great, the saved bread for the children is eaten. 😋

Extra food is cooked for lunch, who knows who else will show up... If it's not the children's group from the family, nieces or cousins come to visit. You don't send them away for food, but prepare an extra plate. When everything is cleared away, someone else comes from the beach, right into the kitchen, helps themselves, eats, and leaves. Uninvited of course, because 'that's just how it is here'. In the evening it's similar.

If you come home from work and want some peace and quiet, you would hurt people because you would have to send them home. There's always someone here.

The flip side is, on the other hand, very very nice. The community. The sharing of tasks. Or the call: I think someone is out there (when I was alone in the house putting Mina to bed) and suddenly the whole team is there, has divided up, armed with sticks, to chase away a cow that rustled in front of the terrace. 🤣

This is Abéné, a village. Everyone knows everyone and you know exactly what everyone does and can do. You can call someone to bring you bananas from the village to the beach or to build the climbing frame for the kindergarten.

Football is popular everywhere. Especially among children. They can easily communicate without language. Our Emil has gained a large number of fans who come to pick him up to train with him on the beach.

On a whim, Famara organized a tournament with four teams for the children. We bought water and a small treat for them afterwards. Then came the question of when the next game would take place. So, we repeated the competition a week later. Since the games usually take place on the school field and there are no goals for children to play with, we have ordered them. Thanks to your donations, the children will soon be able to play like professionals.

The bulk of the donations is spent in the kindergarten. For more information, please refer to the previous blog.

Another donation point is telecommunications and digitization. We have bought two phones and invested in WiFi for better communication and project exchange, because even when we leave soon, our collaboration should continue to grow remotely.

'Education for Maria Montessori means giving help for life. The statement of a child 'Help me to do it myself' accurately describes the two components of education as Montessori understands it: adults create the conditions that the child needs to advance its growth and educational process through its own strength.'

The project 'kinderwelt-international' emerged from the idea of creating pedagogical exchange with a focus on intercultural education. Finally, we have managed to work together again and develop new ideas based on Montessori education during a project week. The result will be a small concept with realistically achievable possibilities to meet the needs of a large group of children (ages 3-7, 45-50). 

For this, I have invested a part of your donations and bought equipment for coziness and above all for implementation. Together, we sorted the material cabinet, where treasures from 4 years ago were slumbering and can finally be used. 

Movement is crucial for children's development. Since running alone is one-sided and not everyone's cup of tea, besides footballs, a slide and a climbing frame will be made from your donations. I have also refreshed the swing. Now it just needs a little time to implement the new ideas. But above all, support from volunteers. Here, too, I will use donation funds and enable Diak to become an internship location. Specifically, this means that at least the travel expenses for the volunteers can be reimbursed. 

We will also cover structural costs. For example, the annual registration fee that Diak pays from its mini salary. 

And we will pay for another child to visit Diak with the donations. She is causing unnecessary trouble and receiving unnecessary beatings and punishments at home due to boredom and excessive energy. We will help her by providing mental nourishment and appropriate engagement with peers. 

Yesterday we were in Ousman Sonko's garden and received a little organic farming lesson. They fertilize with a mixture of cow dung, mango leaves, and water. The well is cleaned weekly with a bottle of chlorine to eliminate bacteria. The water is also used for drinking. The further the wells are built in the village, the deeper they have to be. Water is very scarce. And it's really sad to see that not all people have access to clean drinking water. Ousman grows onions, papayas, and especially cassava in his garden. Cassava is a very nutritious root vegetable. Both the leaves and especially the root have healing properties. It doesn't require any additional water and loves sandy soil. Organic farming is Ousman's passion. Without any chemicals, he protects his plants from insects and harvests more abundantly than farmers who only rely on chemical pesticides.

A government support program helps women learn this type of farming so they can have a secure monthly income. Ousman got the dog to protect the property from monkeys and thieves.

In the afternoon, Emil was highly motivated to harvest the baobab tree on our property. Baobab is Senegal's little pharmacy.

Our last week went by so quickly and turned everything we had gotten used to upside down. Last Tuesday, the decision was made that we had to move out on Wednesday because the uncle needs his houses earlier than agreed. That's why we women and children went to the kindergarten with Diak.

When the majority of the children had arrived, the day began with sports and games in the fresh air. Diak's volunteer assistant has been sick for some time now, so he is again forced to teach the children's group completely through frontal teaching. This is exclusively a game of patience for the little ones, they don't understand French, they can't write or read on the blackboard yet. Just watch and wait until it's time for a break and time to play... That's when some of them fall asleep. 😜

Once we arrived at our beautiful new accommodation, we received Sylvia's positive PCR test result for Corona on Thursday. She wanted to fly back with her children and colleague on Saturday. Coughing, sore throat, headache, and a day in bed... That's been the symptomatology for many in the group since December 31st. The numerous rapid tests we then conducted did not diminish the hope that it was a mistake. So extended holidays for Sylvia, obtaining an official test result for Fams, and the consolation was at least that they are exempt in Germany as recovered - at least for 6 months.

On Friday, we brought a little Hakuna Matata home and celebrated my birthday with dancing and fun.

Questions upon questions gathered by Nikita (14 years old). Mixed with assignments from school, we interviewed the principal today about the primary school system and the president of the Jiruwa Association about malaria. After that, we were given a tour of the school.

Each class has between 45 and 55 enrolled female students who are allowed to learn with a teacher. The families pay about 2000 cefa per school year per child. Some of it goes to the hospital so that the children can receive medical treatment if needed.

The last few days we have adapted to the Abéné Flow and simply had holidays 😁

The meeting at the hospital was eventful. A newborn and two injured motorcyclists kept the tension. 

Today we discussed concrete benefits of cooperation for both sides. It turned out that we think more idealistically and that things can be tackled here immediately on site. Great addition. A great common path lies ahead 👌

After a trip to the nearby town of Kafountine for Christmas shopping, we made a big purchase of potatoes, rice, oil, onions, and water, which is needed daily. There was a 'sweet' plate and instead of roast, a 12 kg melon. At sunset, we took some fun pictures and thanks to loving donations, there were presents for the cousins.

The donated baby items and materials for medical care were greatly appreciated. The midwife said she would now love to have a baby herself to get the cute things 😍 because the moms can now temporarily take home a starter pack for newborns.

Abéné also means meeting the family and especially getting to know them first. Our nieces and nephews are happy to receive donated clothes. After a week of vacation, our work on the project started yesterday. There was great joy when Diak finally showed us everything he had implemented since our last educational exchange in kindergarten. With his endless patience and vivid pedagogy, he touched our hearts.

Today, we had an appointment at the hospital. There was so much information about the state of scarcity that it initially seemed very overwhelming. After three hours of exchange with the president of Abéné about his association and our work, there were great highlights and ideas for collaboration.

Afterwards, we had oranges from his garden and a little tour. The most amazing fruits... Sun-ripened and fresh...

In the afternoon, we spent time at the beach and trained for the marathon on December 29th. 🏃‍♀️

Today in the sun, everyone could explore our home for the next two months and especially relax and play Kalaha in peace and quiet at the beach... Finally ride mopeds again, draw water from the well to relieve the tap water, which is always empty at noon anyway....

In the evening, there was delicious omelette and some treats for the children as a reward for their incredible patience during yesterday's drive. Now we are sitting under the almost full moon and making plans with the president of Abéné for our possible collaboration.

Good night and a beautiful fourth Advent.

When we finally got on the ferry, the mood of our travel group also improved. There were only 2-3 hours left until Abene. Finally, at 7:30 p.m., we arrived.

A beautiful day in northern Senegal comes to an end.

After the first night in familiar surroundings (for some), we had the delicious chocolate cream in a baguette before we were taken to Lac Rose.

Lac Rose is a natural wonder that is unparalleled. Translated, it means the pink lake. And the salt content is so high that you float. In the sun, it shimmers in a rich pink color. As a sacred place for healing injuries, it is often visited by locals.

Great place.

After the return journey, which took twice as long because we stood more than we drove, we decided to take a break tomorrow instead of visiting the monument in Dakar.

Good practice for the start.

We send you lots of sun and greetings. 🧚‍♀️