February 19 :: Foundiougne, Senegal

February 19 :: Foundiougne, Senegal :: 91km / 3072km total

A flat ride inland from Mbour under a strong crosswind had me being blown all over [and just about off] the road whenever a big truck went by. Imagine, you're leaning left into the wind to keep properly upright, then suddenly there's a 'wall' beside you cutting off that wind, sucking you towards the centre of the road... and the 'wall' itself. So I gripped the handlebars tightly, gritted my teeth, and dealt with it. With my overall trip pace relaxing now due to the problems in Guinea, I felt strong and was able to push hard towards Fatick, 64km away.

At Fatick I picked up some oranges and turned the corner, flying South under the same wind, now at my back. Munching away as I pedalled, life was pleasant as the road took me into a mangrove river estuary kind of place. The road surface deteriorated so badly that I passed a truck that was faring far worse from the potholes than I was. For me it was almost like a game... with no traffic in either direction I could zoom all over the road, avoiding potholes, almost like playing a video game at 30km/h, although the 'Game Over' would not have been pleasant and occasionally there was a CRUNCH as a pothole got me.

A short ferry ride brought me to Foundiougne. As the ferry came into port there was a HUGE crowd, rallying for the incumbent president in the upcoming election [Feb 25]. The crowd was surging forwards towards the ferry as I disembarked, and the energy and hustle made me nervous. Spat out the other side of the crowd in one piece I made my way over to a pleasant little hotel.

My usual modus operandi when I get to the day's destination town is to take a quick shower, then set out on foot to check the place out, particularly with respect to eating options. I usually include the upscale hotel, if there is one, because sometimes I can cash in on buffets, etc. Well, at Hotel Foundiougne I noticed a nice pool and lots of other tourists. This was completely unexpected since, if you look at the map, Foundiougne is an out-of-the-way place... I hadn't expected to meet ANY tourists here. What was more, they were all in remarkably good shape, and yes, a very high percentage of females... whats going on here? Turns out it was a French running group vacation, a 1 week womens-only running-oriented excursion to Senegal. Mmmm hmmm. Runners, people of the same ilk as yours truly. Lots of them. Well, it didn't take long to meet them, and have dinner, all good. Unfortunately my broken French was better than their English, which kept the conversations light and simple. Definitely completely unexpected, but thats one of the things I love most about 3rd world travel... the unknown, the twists and turns.