After a late start, a few odd jobs and breakfast. We got a taxi into the town centre. We went and found a bank to change some of our money into CFA. That done, we headed of round town looking at the French colonial building before circling back to find n Internet café. They were really busy as it was lunchtime so we wonder off and found our selves a local restaurant to have lunch a kill some time. Stuffed, we made our way back into the Internet café and spent an hour sorting and replying to e-mails, as well as checking the news. We then went and had a look around the local museum before tracking down the cheapest bar in town, known as the Fireman’s Bar. Where we savoured a beer before returning to the campsite and getting a few chores done. On the whole the main part of St. Louis is a very pleasant place and cleaner than the other towns we had been in. But you don’t have to go far over the bridge to get back to the standard ram shackled, hustle and bustle that has been typical of the African towns we have encountered so far. We then spent the rest of the evening chilling out in the campsite bar before going to bed.
After a leisurely start to the day we left Ocean Camping and took the Landies to the town centre. Along the way we had to pass through the fish market. The smell was awful, as we drove through rotting, fly blown, sun baked fish remains. While piles of freshly court fish were being unloaded from the small boats. Why they didn’t just throw the old fish back into the river I don’t know. We had found the drinks wholesaler the day before and so returned and bought 24 big bottles of Flag beer. We got a good price and even a discount for the large quantity. Once back at the Landies we drove over the bridge to the main land and followed the road out of St. Louis and toward Dakar. We were heading for a place we had heard about called the Zebra bar. It had a reputation as a nice spot to stay and supposed to be popular with overlanders. We were not far out side St. Louis when we found the first sign. We just followed the signs down the road that turned into piste and crossed the river before ending up at the site. Once parked, the guy running the place soon warmly greeted us and we had all the facilities explained to us. The site indeed lived up to its reputation as a beautiful location as it is just inside the local nature reserve. We found a spot to camp an made our selves at home. Matt and me then took some canoes, which you could borrow for free, across the river to the sand split along the sea. Once on the beach of the spit the views were stunning. Uninterrupted beach as far as you could see and the Atlantic waves pounding the shore. After a while chasing and looking at the local crabs, as they look quit strange, we paddled back across the river to the campsite. After making some dinner we chilled and chatted the evening away, sipping on our cheap beer, before going to bed.
Once up and after breakfast we all got stuck into various chores that needed to be done. As the water at the Zebra bar was good we used the rough water we had to give the Landy and roof tent a long over due wash. I then changed over the front tyres for the two spares, so to spread the wear evenly between all the tyres. I then worked my way through a mountain of washing before spending the last half of the afternoon fishing and reading some more of my book. After dinner, we again enjoyed a relaxed evening of sipping beer and chatting until going to bed.
We all got up late and had a slow relaxed breakfast. I then spent most of the day reading my book and only stopped for lunch and to go for a walk into the nearby village in the afternoon. Everyone else also had a relaxed day chilling and doing things they enjoyed. I can really recommend this campsite as a good place to stay. As it has good water, hot showers and beer and food if you want it. A nice stop after the hard, hot desert of Mauritania. We spent the evening enjoying a nice dinner and discussing where we should go in Senegal from here. It was eventually decided we should go down to Dakar, even though we had hear mixed reviews of the place.
After getting up, we had our breakfast and packed the kit away, before settling the bill. The first challenge for the day was to cross the tiding river, separating the campsite from the mainland. After Matt and Mirjam waded the river checking for deep water, we then followed in the Landies. The water came up to the bottom of the doors, but none came in, and we both got across safely. We then followed the piste and road back into St. Louis to re-supply on food and beer. Along the way we stopped at a local garage and had the underneath of the vehicles washed and the prop shafts re-greased. As the water we had driven through was salt water. The staff were friendly and helpful which made it quit fun. We parked the Landies by the internet café and whilst Emiel went in to do some updates to there site, me, Matt and Mirjam went round town getting supplies and changing money. On the way back we got some lunch from one of the street stalls before returning to the internet café. Emiel needed more time, so Matt and me made our selves useful and walked over the bridge to complete the rest of our shopping. Along the way we got chatting to a local lad, who then helped us round the market. Making sure we got the right price for things and were not getting charged the tourist price. It turned out that he was studying Social Sciences at the local Uni and was going to move to France and to continue his studies there. We then returned to the Landies to find Emiel and Mirjam waiting. The last job to do before we left St. Louis was to stock up on beer. So returned to the wholesalers to swap the empty bottles for full ones. This done, we crossed the bridge onlyto get stopped at the other end by a policeman. This guy was being a pain in the neck, and went through our documents and decided that because I didn’t have an international divers licence that he wanted to fine me. We called is bluff and phoned the British embassy in Dakar, who had a quiet word in his ear. He then let us go on our way without paying the fine. We spent the rest of the day cruising along the main road heading ward Dakar. As we didn’t think that we would make Dakar we decided to head for a place called Rose Lake. So called, as the waters look pink because of the high salt content and a reaction we some bugs in the water. We were heading for this lake when we clipped a pothole in the road with sent us into a sideways slide. After a couple of attempts at trying to correct the slide and aiming not to turn us over we left the road and came to rest in a pile of rumble. A quick check to see that us the Landy were in one piece and we revered of the pile of rumble. It was then obvious that we had bent the track rod during our landing. We then got out the tools and took the track rod off, which we then straightened, by jamming one end in a fork of tree and three of us pulling on the other end. This managed to get the track rod nearly perfectly straight. We then bolted in back on and checked the wheels looked straight. Shaken but not deterred we then continued on to the lake. As we drove round it indeed looked pink in places. Following the tracks we eventually came to the place we were looking for, which was supposed to be a friendly encampment run by a English couple. Unfortunately the temporary boss we spoke to told us the man had died and the woman had returned to England. With this in mind we decided not to stay, as he was also asking far to much to stay the night. We drove away from the site toward the sea and parked up at the edge of the dunes not far away. There we set up camp and had some dinner before getting our heads down after a eventful day.
We rose early, had some breakfast and packed the kit away. We then retraced our steps around the lake and stopped many times to take pictures of the pink waters in the morning light. Before heading out onto the main road to Dakar. It was not long before we started to see the urban sprawl, and soon got stuck in crazy traffic. I took us ages to crawl our way to a campsite near the airport, along the coast. Once parked at the campsite we arrange with the guy to leave the Landies and headed into the centre of the city using the local bus. The bus fair was cheap, only 100CFA. These buses are wrecks though and they squeeze as many people on board as possible. After shuffling around the bus as people got on and off, Matt and me were sitting on the front seat. Here we could see that the floor and been plated in five different places and that the window screen would nearly come out under braking. This made us glad of the heavy traffic which meant the driver could not go that fast. An hour later we arrived in the town centre, and started walking round the streets. We soon stopped for some lunch at a roadside stall and enjoyed some local food. We then spent the rest of the afternoon wandering around the town centre getting jobs we needed to do done, and ended up enjoy a beer in a local bar. This proved quite fun as the hawkers on the street where trying to get our attention through the doorway of the bar. We then made our way back to where we were dropped off by the bus to take another wrecked bus back to the campsite. This took us a hour and a half as the driver had to stop to make temporary repairs to keep the thing going. Once back at the campsite we had a good look around and on finding the facilities were crap for the money they were asking we got our money back and left. We then drove around for an hour or so and found the other campsite we had in one of our books. Unfortunately this one did not take vehicles and we had to find our selves a quiet spot in a back street to sleep. This was not simple as one of the guards of a nearby hotel made our lives difficult and we had to move on again before getting a quiet place to sleep. By this time we were well pissed off and tried and just glad to get our heads down.
We awoke and found that we had been sleeping at the edge of a rifle range. Not wanting to push our luck, we left quickly and went down the road to have some breakfast. We then continued on our way out of Dakar and toward the area to the south of the city called the Petite Cote. This area has a good review in the guidebooks as having nice beaches and coastal villages. After a bit of a detour as the map showed the turning for the road we wanted in the wrong village, we got to the place we were looking for, Toubab Dialao. After picking our way through the maze of streets and following the signs we arrived at a hotel called La Source Ndiambalane. This is just set back from an area, which makes and sells all sorts of crafts, and is right on the beach. After having a look around and haggling the price we decided we would stay they night. I soon went for a swim and after had lunch, before spending the rest of the afternoon reading. For dinner we decided we would have a look around the village. We came across a beach side restaurant, which was closed for redevelopment. But after getting chatting to the French owner and his mates they said they could do us dinner anyway. We whiled away the evening chatting and eating before returning to our hotel to get our heads down.
After waking late I stayed in bed and finished my book before going in search for some bread for breakfast. I then spent the rest of the morning and early afternoon taking advantage of the mains power in the hotel and court up on my diary for the last week of events. Only stopping for lunch and to go for a quick swim. The rest of the afternoon I spent relaxing in the sun and discussing where we were going to go next. Matt and me spent the evening playing chess, while Emiel and Mirjam read their books. During which we had a light dinner and sunk a couple of beers, before going to bed.
The evening before, during the discussion about where to go and what to do next. Matt said that he didn’t want to travel around as much as we were planning and that his budget could not stretch to it. So he decided that he would stay around Toubab Dialao for a while and then move onto Mali at his own pace. So we shorted the kit out in the Landy, and made sure Matt had all his gear, before saying our goodbyes and leaving him at La Source. We then headed out of the village and back to the main round. We then headed east following the main road toward Mbake and Touba for the rest of the afternoon. Around 16:00 we were close to Mbake and decided to stop short and bush camp. We found a nice spot a couple of kilometres down a piste, which turned off the main road. As there was a far number of settlements around we decided not to set camp until we new it was OK. Sure enough within a short time a group of kids had found us. Who stood about 25m away and watched us. They came and went and so did a couple of adults passing by, but no one gave us any hassle. Once the sun set the kids returned home and we were felt in peace for the night. It was only then did we put the tents up and settled in for a pleasant nights sleep.
We got up at 07:00 and had breakfast and packed up camp by 08:00. We didn’t want to hang around to be stared at by the local kids some more. We headedback out to the main road an then followed it on to Touba. It was not long before we were there and it was easy to find the Mosque as it is the tallest building in town by far. We found a place to park the Landies and after a bit of wondering around we had it explained that we needed a guide. We were soon taken to one by a helpful stranger, and started the tour of the Mosque. The building its self was massive and very finely decorated throughout. The guide said it could hold 10,000 people at one time, and that it had taken 70 years to build in total. Defiantly an impressive building. Once the tour had finished we gave a donation and left. After driving round town for a bit we found a new spot to park the Landies, and went off to do some shopping and for a walk around the market. We then returned to the landies and left town, heading along the main road passing through Mbake, Diourbel and Kalolack. Where we stopped to do some shopping before continuing along he main road east, heading for Tambacounda. By this time it was getting late, so we pulled of the road and found a bush camp for the night, a nice spot under a big shady tree. Again we didn’t set up the tents and things until dark, which was just as well as we did have some visitors. They didn’t give us much hassle, as they didn’t speech much French and so it was hard to communicate. They left before dusk and we had a quite night messing around with the laptop, before going to bed.