Bridget in the Gambia: Allons-y!

For our Easter holiday, the house decided to go to Senegal. We left Old Jeshwang a little after 6:30 am to catch the first ferry out of Banjul. After waiting for a couple of hours at the ferry terminal for the boat to arrive, we literally ran onto the boat in an attempt to get seats. This was of course unsuccessful as Gambians are much more experienced at pushing, shoving and claiming territory. Luckily, we were able to stand and so we parted with the first boat leaving the port. We crossed the Gambia River and ended up in Barra, where we took a bush taxi to the border with Senegal.

The border between Senegal and the Gambia is anything but- people walk between the two countries constantly. Our professor took our passports, talked to the immigration office while we were sitting in a bushtaxi, and we were let through. Not what you’d call high security. After crossing the border on foot, we took a real bus (with real seats, a functional door and air conditioning) to Lac Rose where we were staying. Lac Rose is located about 45 minutes outside of the city of Dakar, which was convenient since we were visiting the city, but Lac Rose is itself a tourist destination. Lac Rose, in French translates to pink lake- and it is just that. The minerals in the water turn it pink, and the water has a salt content similar to the Dead Sea, perfect for floating around. We arrived around 5 pm, and exhaustion kicked in almost immediately after our dinner.

The next day we headed into Dakar. We ended up at the ferry terminal there and headed out to Ngorre Island- an old French colony right off of the city, famous for its beautiful buildings and color, and for its importance during the slave trade. Here, we also met up with Raven, another Susquehanna student who is studying abroad in Senegal. It was wonderful to catch up with her and hear all about her experiences.

We ate lunch together, and then we wandered around looking at all of the paintings and the artwork. The artists display their work all over the island so as we strolled we saw some absolutely amazing sand and glass paintings. One of the painters took me and Holly back to his compound where we drank tea and checked out his studio. It was interesting to watch the artists paint- in all honesty, it was sort of nice just to see people working. The Senegalese certainly seemed to have more of an appreciation for time and labor than Gambians.

On Sunday, we took a lake/sand dune/ocean tour in a safari vehicle. Our guide, Ousman, spoke only French, and I had a wonderful time just listening to him speak. His accent was of course different than the Quebecois I chat with at Strawbery Banke, and the Parisian French I learned in high school. He was totally knowledgeable about the people, environment and history of the Pink Lake. We watched locals harvesting the salt from the lake, and visited a village right near the lake. We were escorted by the Chief of the village who was interesting to talk to until he tried to marry me…when I told him that Dylan and I are married (only in Gambia) he wasn’t happy, and pretty much abandoned us.

Ousman then proceeded to drive us to a mostly deserted area with enormous sand dunes, and he drove us up and down mini mountains at what I thought was a rather reckless speed. I did not enjoy it, but the others enjoyed their wild adventure. We ended up at the beach, which was fantastic! Beautiful waves, perfect sand and nobody else in sight. We spent the rest of the day lounging at the pool until we got the surprise of a lifetime…

TICKETS TO VIVIANNE N’DOUR!!

Vivianne N’Dour is an African pop star. We hear her music at all of the local clubs we frequent, and now she’s become a music staple at the compound. Vivianne happened to be playing in Rufisque, another old French colony about an hour from our hotel. We left around 11 and the concert got going around 1 am. We got real close to the stage and listened to Vivianne belt it out. She called audience members on stage to dance/sing with her so I made eye contact…AND ALL OF A SUDDEN I WAS ON STAGE. I totally loved it. We also got to meet Vivanne back stage during the concert, and she was very nice. By four am, it was about time for us to go so that we could make our seven am bus with time to get to the hotel and pack.

Running on less than an hour of sleep, the trek back to the Gambia was tough. But after the noise, infrastructure and fast pace of Senegal, I was ready to go home! This week classes are wrapping up and I am writing final papers and spending quality time at the beach. Taking it easy- after all, everything in the Gambia is slow, slow (ndanka, ndanka).