I got back to Lome this afternoon from a week in lovely Dakar, Senegal. Though the trip got off to a rocky start, Dakar is stunning, and - mosquitos and heat aside - seems to be a very comfortable place to live.
So if I start from the beginning... Tom and I were invited to join a couple colleagues in Dakar to work with the national AIDS program there during a weeklong workshop to define their care scale-up plans for the next three years. So we booked our flight to Dakar from Lome, with a connection through Abidjan, Cote d'Ivoire.
Now if you knew me during Adventure Western Europe a few years ago, you would know that missing trains/planes and getting lost/stuck in unfamiliar places happens to be my forte.
When we checked in at the Lome airport, they were not able to give us our boarding cards for the Abidjan-Dakar connection and said we needed to pick them up at check-in once we reached Abidjan (which I knew from my previous visit happens to be a little tighter on security). When we got to Abidjan, some airport agent immediately starting guiding us around to try to check-in for our boarding cards - he was really high-strung and would grab our passports and run around while we chased after him. Our random airline had apparently closed check-in so we had to put in a little more effort to get our boarding cards. Tom got his card no problem, but they started flipping through my passport and realized that I did not have a Senegal visa. Senegal happens to be one of few, if not the only, country in West Africa where I don't need a visa as a Canadian. A very rotund lady with a stubbly beard was explaining that I couldn't go without a visa (trying to justify it by saying that if a Senegalese went to Canada, they would need a visa, which is clearly not the same thing), and got a colleague at the boarding gate on the phone who apparently confirmed this. They explained that Tom could go ahead as an American, but that I had to stay in Abidjan and then ripped up my freshly printed boarding card. We had about 30 minutes to spare before the flight took off for Dakar, and stunned I was really no help as Tom continued to argue with the bearded lady and others at check-in to let me get on the flight. The beard was referring to a guidebook that they use that says that I needed a visa (which still wasn't right), but after she walked away all stubborn, we realized that the most recent version said that I was exempt from needing a visa. It was too late to try to get on this flight at this point and Tom stayed with me so I wouldn't be alone in Abidjan, so we got lead around by high-strung man (who I later realized was not just a nice helpful man working at the airport, but expected us to pay him $100 for his help, which Tom unfortunately did) to a travel agency kiosk, drawing a crowd of people who had nothing to do but watch us struggle with our situation, and after more confusion and arguing, we ended up having to buy new flights to Dakar which didn't leave for another 8 hours. (Tom is currently trying to confirm that our travel agent doesn't pay the bill for our missed flight)
As we were trying to locate Tom's checked bag, we ran into the beard again - at this point after our planned flight had already left for Dakar - and she apologized to me, realizing that yes I really could have gotten on that flight, saying "Je suis vraiment desolee, I am deeply sorry... je pense que Dieu n'a pas voulu (I think that God didn't want you to get on that flight)." Ughhh...
So we killed 8 hours reading, watching DVDs on our laptops, eating duty-free cookies... When we checked in for our 11:15 pm new flight, they started joking that I could go and Tom could not go, which was not very amusing. We had heard that immigration in Senegal was a huge hassle, so we were not looking forward to our 2:30 am landing. Surprisingly, it was a BREEZE; after all of the chaos over me not having a visa, and our worries that we'd have to bribe our way into the country, they just stamped our passports and waved us along!
Finally, we were in Dakar! The next day, once we got in a car to go to the office where the workshop would be held, our first glimpse of Dakar by day was stunning - cliffs pouring into the bright sea, nicely paved roads and freeways, hundreds of people running and exercising on the beach, modern storefronts, beautiful houses, so many great restaurants, big grocery stores... We were thinking, what is this place and why don't we live here!
So to quickly run over Monday-Friday which was mostly spent working... We were introduced in the Terms of Reference as a team of expert consultants coming to help... umm and I got put in charge of Monitoring and Evaluation, and I think I know what that means? Again, like the rest of the summer, I was a bit daunted and needed to do some homework...
In general, the national AIDS program team there was very organized and motivated, and a lot of the time I really couldn't figure out how I could help them since it seemed like they had it all figured out. (Now I realize that I may be able to help out a bit, and will continue to do so from Togo)
I got to spend some time with some other Foundation colleagues that are based in Dakar or passing through, which was great. And the whole workshop was very well-catered - I got lots of Senegalese hearty lunches and deep-fried treats, mmm... (the caterers would even by freshly deep-frying french fries for lunch in the middle of this hospital)
In Togo, the sun sets at 6:30 pm which is very sad, but in Dakar it stays out until closer to 8 pm, which meant that even after a long day of meetings, the guys could run over to the beach and go surfing before nightfall.
Finally we reached Saturday where I could finally do some sight-seeing (on my own, Tom left on Friday for a week vacation with his family), since we had been busy at meetings all week. I hopped on a ferry over to Ile de Goree, an island just 20 minutes from the Dakar coast, which is just a very colorful little island with historical sites, cobblestone paths throughout, and a lively atmosphere.
I was convinced that I was leaving on Sunday morning - I had to book my return flight in Abidjan when we arranged the new flights and had requested that I return the following Sunday (we hadn't been exactly sure when I would come home, but again with their visa excuses they said it would be better for me to book the return flight right away), and didn't realize that my itinerary had said that I was returning to Lome on Monday instead of Sunday until after I had already gone to the Dakar airport at 5:30 am with all of my packed bags... I went to check-in and the lady was like, umm this is not for today...
I was staying at another volunteer's (beautiful) house in Dakar for my last couple nights, and the sliding door that I had let myself out of at 5 am did not open from the outside. So, when I returned to the house, I was locked out and so I just doused myself with bug spray and sat outside the house for 2.5 hours until I was confident that everyone inside would be awake so that I could get inside.
With another unexpected day, I decided to of course do a little more tourism and got on a very squishy seven-seater, which is just a very decrepit station wagon that fits 7 people other than the driver - and I had to take the middle seat (both ways) with about a foot's width of space to sit, not the most comfortable, especially in 95* weather. I went southeast along the coast to La Somone, where I heard they had a really nice lagoon. I went on a boat ride tour of the lagoon, did some bird-watching and walked around wtih thousands of tiny crabs, got some great sun and freshly caught seafood. I then got a ride over to Mbour, the main fishing town in Senegal with a huge, bustling fish market on the beach - hundreds of people on the beach running around with fish and rows of colorful fishing boats.
Finally, I made it back to Lome no problem today, thank goodness. Back to work and staying put for the next few weeks, as far as I know.
:)
Side notes on Senegal:
- unlike the other West African countries I have visited, Senegal is majority Muslim - I believe over 80% of the population. It is definitely a different vibe in terms of common views and daily rituals.
- Senegalese people love to work out! I haven't seen locals exercising outside in any other countries here, with the exception of playing soccer in the streets or on the beach. In Senegal, the sidewalks are filled with runners, there are makeshift South Beach-style gyms outside, and a hundred people will crowd a 50-yard stretch of beach just to run back and forth.
- if I haven't already explained how awful mosquitoes are here, they are pretty awful. I got bitten especially badly this past week in Senegal, I have 8 swollen bites just down this one line on my forearm, and I think for the first time every I have a bite on my eyelid. Thank goodness for malaria prophylaxis, or I would have definitely had malaria 8 times by now (though there is still a chance I can get it while on prophylaxis, eek...)
So if I start from the beginning... Tom and I were invited to join a couple colleagues in Dakar to work with the national AIDS program there during a weeklong workshop to define their care scale-up plans for the next three years. So we booked our flight to Dakar from Lome, with a connection through Abidjan, Cote d'Ivoire.
Now if you knew me during Adventure Western Europe a few years ago, you would know that missing trains/planes and getting lost/stuck in unfamiliar places happens to be my forte.
When we checked in at the Lome airport, they were not able to give us our boarding cards for the Abidjan-Dakar connection and said we needed to pick them up at check-in once we reached Abidjan (which I knew from my previous visit happens to be a little tighter on security). When we got to Abidjan, some airport agent immediately starting guiding us around to try to check-in for our boarding cards - he was really high-strung and would grab our passports and run around while we chased after him. Our random airline had apparently closed check-in so we had to put in a little more effort to get our boarding cards. Tom got his card no problem, but they started flipping through my passport and realized that I did not have a Senegal visa. Senegal happens to be one of few, if not the only, country in West Africa where I don't need a visa as a Canadian. A very rotund lady with a stubbly beard was explaining that I couldn't go without a visa (trying to justify it by saying that if a Senegalese went to Canada, they would need a visa, which is clearly not the same thing), and got a colleague at the boarding gate on the phone who apparently confirmed this. They explained that Tom could go ahead as an American, but that I had to stay in Abidjan and then ripped up my freshly printed boarding card. We had about 30 minutes to spare before the flight took off for Dakar, and stunned I was really no help as Tom continued to argue with the bearded lady and others at check-in to let me get on the flight. The beard was referring to a guidebook that they use that says that I needed a visa (which still wasn't right), but after she walked away all stubborn, we realized that the most recent version said that I was exempt from needing a visa. It was too late to try to get on this flight at this point and Tom stayed with me so I wouldn't be alone in Abidjan, so we got lead around by high-strung man (who I later realized was not just a nice helpful man working at the airport, but expected us to pay him $100 for his help, which Tom unfortunately did) to a travel agency kiosk, drawing a crowd of people who had nothing to do but watch us struggle with our situation, and after more confusion and arguing, we ended up having to buy new flights to Dakar which didn't leave for another 8 hours. (Tom is currently trying to confirm that our travel agent doesn't pay the bill for our missed flight)
As we were trying to locate Tom's checked bag, we ran into the beard again - at this point after our planned flight had already left for Dakar - and she apologized to me, realizing that yes I really could have gotten on that flight, saying "Je suis vraiment desolee, I am deeply sorry... je pense que Dieu n'a pas voulu (I think that God didn't want you to get on that flight)." Ughhh...
So we killed 8 hours reading, watching DVDs on our laptops, eating duty-free cookies... When we checked in for our 11:15 pm new flight, they started joking that I could go and Tom could not go, which was not very amusing. We had heard that immigration in Senegal was a huge hassle, so we were not looking forward to our 2:30 am landing. Surprisingly, it was a BREEZE; after all of the chaos over me not having a visa, and our worries that we'd have to bribe our way into the country, they just stamped our passports and waved us along!
Finally, we were in Dakar! The next day, once we got in a car to go to the office where the workshop would be held, our first glimpse of Dakar by day was stunning - cliffs pouring into the bright sea, nicely paved roads and freeways, hundreds of people running and exercising on the beach, modern storefronts, beautiful houses, so many great restaurants, big grocery stores... We were thinking, what is this place and why don't we live here!
So to quickly run over Monday-Friday which was mostly spent working... We were introduced in the Terms of Reference as a team of expert consultants coming to help... umm and I got put in charge of Monitoring and Evaluation, and I think I know what that means? Again, like the rest of the summer, I was a bit daunted and needed to do some homework...
In general, the national AIDS program team there was very organized and motivated, and a lot of the time I really couldn't figure out how I could help them since it seemed like they had it all figured out. (Now I realize that I may be able to help out a bit, and will continue to do so from Togo)
I got to spend some time with some other Foundation colleagues that are based in Dakar or passing through, which was great. And the whole workshop was very well-catered - I got lots of Senegalese hearty lunches and deep-fried treats, mmm... (the caterers would even by freshly deep-frying french fries for lunch in the middle of this hospital)
In Togo, the sun sets at 6:30 pm which is very sad, but in Dakar it stays out until closer to 8 pm, which meant that even after a long day of meetings, the guys could run over to the beach and go surfing before nightfall.
Finally we reached Saturday where I could finally do some sight-seeing (on my own, Tom left on Friday for a week vacation with his family), since we had been busy at meetings all week. I hopped on a ferry over to Ile de Goree, an island just 20 minutes from the Dakar coast, which is just a very colorful little island with historical sites, cobblestone paths throughout, and a lively atmosphere.
I was convinced that I was leaving on Sunday morning - I had to book my return flight in Abidjan when we arranged the new flights and had requested that I return the following Sunday (we hadn't been exactly sure when I would come home, but again with their visa excuses they said it would be better for me to book the return flight right away), and didn't realize that my itinerary had said that I was returning to Lome on Monday instead of Sunday until after I had already gone to the Dakar airport at 5:30 am with all of my packed bags... I went to check-in and the lady was like, umm this is not for today...
I was staying at another volunteer's (beautiful) house in Dakar for my last couple nights, and the sliding door that I had let myself out of at 5 am did not open from the outside. So, when I returned to the house, I was locked out and so I just doused myself with bug spray and sat outside the house for 2.5 hours until I was confident that everyone inside would be awake so that I could get inside.
With another unexpected day, I decided to of course do a little more tourism and got on a very squishy seven-seater, which is just a very decrepit station wagon that fits 7 people other than the driver - and I had to take the middle seat (both ways) with about a foot's width of space to sit, not the most comfortable, especially in 95* weather. I went southeast along the coast to La Somone, where I heard they had a really nice lagoon. I went on a boat ride tour of the lagoon, did some bird-watching and walked around wtih thousands of tiny crabs, got some great sun and freshly caught seafood. I then got a ride over to Mbour, the main fishing town in Senegal with a huge, bustling fish market on the beach - hundreds of people on the beach running around with fish and rows of colorful fishing boats.
Finally, I made it back to Lome no problem today, thank goodness. Back to work and staying put for the next few weeks, as far as I know.
:)
Side notes on Senegal:
- unlike the other West African countries I have visited, Senegal is majority Muslim - I believe over 80% of the population. It is definitely a different vibe in terms of common views and daily rituals.
- Senegalese people love to work out! I haven't seen locals exercising outside in any other countries here, with the exception of playing soccer in the streets or on the beach. In Senegal, the sidewalks are filled with runners, there are makeshift South Beach-style gyms outside, and a hundred people will crowd a 50-yard stretch of beach just to run back and forth.
- if I haven't already explained how awful mosquitoes are here, they are pretty awful. I got bitten especially badly this past week in Senegal, I have 8 swollen bites just down this one line on my forearm, and I think for the first time every I have a bite on my eyelid. Thank goodness for malaria prophylaxis, or I would have definitely had malaria 8 times by now (though there is still a chance I can get it while on prophylaxis, eek...)
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