February 11 :: St. Louis, Senegal
February 11 :: St. Louis, Senegal :: 102km / 2612km total
A very easy ride to the coast today down a flat flat road. What a pleasure it is to be cycling here... good road, friendly people, little shops every 20km or so, very light and respectful traffic. The only thing preventing a perfect score being issued is the heat... by 8:30 a.m. I'm already down to my lightest of riding clothing, by 11:30 a.m. I'm beginning to suffer. But hey, I'll take it, its great to be here. Its nice to see wildlife: today, lots of birds and a stocky warthog. And water! Rivers! I feel tempted to jump in, but the microbes in the water would be hazardous to my tenderass North American upbringing. Every few km or so I hear "toubab!" chirped out from children roadside... "white person" said in a "hey look there goes a..." kind of way. Very cute.
St. Louis is the old capital of Senegal, built by the French. Its a heritage site now, and very much a tourist centre. Other than French-kind-of buildings laid out in a grid pattern I don't really see what the fuss is about. It feels odd to be in the presence of other tourists again... I've seen only a smattering of tourists since leaving Marrakech. Sure, there were the RV's (which have been absent since Morocco), but its different seeing tourists in person than on the road. I treated myself to a fantastic Vietnamese meal... $11CDN! Outrageous! But SO GOOD.
I'm probably going to have to change my route plan due to recent problems in Guinea. The short story is that a month ago Guinea's unions enforced a nationwide strike to protest the dictatorship of Conte, an ailing senile diabetic who apparently has "lost it" and has little grasp on much but, of course, power. After a week or so of rioting, killing, etc. Conte announced that he would appoint a new Prime Minister, something that the unions demanded. OK, all good, partying in the streets of Guinea, etc. Yesterday Conte announced that one of his right-hand men would be the new PM, one of the corrupt old guard, promising no change, and the unions balked, announcing strikes to resume on Monday (tomorrow). Sigh. Rioting resumed, people killed everyday, etc. Not a good time to visit a country. The strikes really hurt the people, people living from day to day who suddenly have their meagre paychecks withheld, and it forces them to desparate measures... enter a toubab, an ATM with a little arm-twisting... ummm, no. Logistically things are ok, since flights from Gambia to Sierra Leone (hopping over Guinea, basically) are cheap, around $160US one way... and I save about $60US on visas by missing Guinea and little Guinea-Bissau! The question is... what do I do with the extra few weeks? I hear the beach calling...
A very easy ride to the coast today down a flat flat road. What a pleasure it is to be cycling here... good road, friendly people, little shops every 20km or so, very light and respectful traffic. The only thing preventing a perfect score being issued is the heat... by 8:30 a.m. I'm already down to my lightest of riding clothing, by 11:30 a.m. I'm beginning to suffer. But hey, I'll take it, its great to be here. Its nice to see wildlife: today, lots of birds and a stocky warthog. And water! Rivers! I feel tempted to jump in, but the microbes in the water would be hazardous to my tenderass North American upbringing. Every few km or so I hear "toubab!" chirped out from children roadside... "white person" said in a "hey look there goes a..." kind of way. Very cute.
St. Louis is the old capital of Senegal, built by the French. Its a heritage site now, and very much a tourist centre. Other than French-kind-of buildings laid out in a grid pattern I don't really see what the fuss is about. It feels odd to be in the presence of other tourists again... I've seen only a smattering of tourists since leaving Marrakech. Sure, there were the RV's (which have been absent since Morocco), but its different seeing tourists in person than on the road. I treated myself to a fantastic Vietnamese meal... $11CDN! Outrageous! But SO GOOD.
I'm probably going to have to change my route plan due to recent problems in Guinea. The short story is that a month ago Guinea's unions enforced a nationwide strike to protest the dictatorship of Conte, an ailing senile diabetic who apparently has "lost it" and has little grasp on much but, of course, power. After a week or so of rioting, killing, etc. Conte announced that he would appoint a new Prime Minister, something that the unions demanded. OK, all good, partying in the streets of Guinea, etc. Yesterday Conte announced that one of his right-hand men would be the new PM, one of the corrupt old guard, promising no change, and the unions balked, announcing strikes to resume on Monday (tomorrow). Sigh. Rioting resumed, people killed everyday, etc. Not a good time to visit a country. The strikes really hurt the people, people living from day to day who suddenly have their meagre paychecks withheld, and it forces them to desparate measures... enter a toubab, an ATM with a little arm-twisting... ummm, no. Logistically things are ok, since flights from Gambia to Sierra Leone (hopping over Guinea, basically) are cheap, around $160US one way... and I save about $60US on visas by missing Guinea and little Guinea-Bissau! The question is... what do I do with the extra few weeks? I hear the beach calling...
posted by Graham Durrant at 7:24 AM
2 Comments:
Still following you with great interest. Hadn't read in a while, been busy, so surprised with how much you'd enetered. Love the way you write and you must do a book about all your trips some time.
Beach break sounds well deserved! But too bad about having to change your plans. I could just about feel the sand in my teeth at your explanation, experienced that in Utah. Keep up the good spirit!
its all good. i'll be taking my sweet time, now, on the way to Gambia . and i'm still getting sand out of my ears!
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