Anyhow, on to the real meat and bones of my journey with Plan (work) to Dakar, Senegal.
Dakar is the capital of Senegal, a primarily french speaking nation nestled on the west most corner of Africa.
Arrived:
We arrived safely to the main airport in Dakar. We were told to be careful about hagglers who want to make a quick buck (or West African Franc.) As soon as we exited the airport, we were bombarded by cabies and beggars wanting some change. Luckily, we had pre-arranged a cab to take us to the hotel. We walked across uncharted territory with the cabi to the "parking lot" to pick up his car and head to the hotel.
Impression of Senegal:
Take a look at the pictures. Should be generally self explanatory. Feels like you warp back in time. Imagine construction sites with donkeys to load the bricks, 30 year old cars that are barely glued together to withstand a cab ride, and mix to that the beauty of the simplicity of it all...
Agriculture:
Dakar does not generally produce much in house. In fact, almost all of the food is imported from neighboring countries or elsewhere. This is primarily due to the land and location. The main crop is peanuts; they are definitely delicious!
Senegal is very expensive compared to the rest of Africa as taxes on goods are sky high. Prices there are comparable to that of Europe or the States but people earn next to nothing as compared to our standards!!!
Gambia and Senegal:
It's unfortunate that under European rule, the region has been divided into two countries based mainly on English vs. French rule. It kind of looks like Pacman!
Goree Island:
This place is absolutely amazing and sad all at the same time. This was one of the main ports used during slavery to ship slaves from West Africa over to America. The Slave House where thousands entered the "door of no return" is situated on this island. I have included pictures here. It is incredibly sad and strange feeling to enter the "museum" and gaze at the door leading to the dock. Nelson Mandela once hid under the staircase where slaves were imprisoned, only to be found an hour later, in disarray with tears running down his face. I had the honor of taking a picture with the House Keeper who has preserved the house throughout most of the last century. He has shook hands with many presidents, and dignitaries who have come through to see with their own eyes what cruelty humans are capable of unleashing.
SMOKING KILLS
Sign at the entrance/exit !!!
The Island itself is beautiful...
Our Plan group photo ...
Departure:
We had a nice early flight scheduled for 3am on Thursday night/Friday morning. As if that wasn't bad enough, we showed up at the airport at 12:30am only to wait in line like zombies. They had not even opened up the check in counter. Time went by, we grew more restless, more waiting, it was at about 2am that we found out that the plane we were supposed to be on had a "technical problem." By technical problem, what I mean is that the engine had decided to make breakfast out of a bird and apparently couldn't recover. Whats worst is that the friendly staff at British Airways (Sarcasm anyone?) had not made any general announcements nore did they really make an effort to resolve the issue or at least inform us of options. They finally decided to tell us that the plane was either going to be fixed the next day (when, we don't know), or we had to wait until Sunday. Simple question, do these people have another plane anywhere? Or even better, could they have booked us on another flight? Well, that would be too easy wouldn't it? Instead, we proceeded to leave our tickets behind and book with another airline for a 6:30am flight connecting at Casablanca. It would have been a horrible nightmare, had I actually slept.
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