Today we docked in Dakar which is the capitol of Senegal. We took one of the ship's tours since we weren't sure what to expect safety wise.
Surprisingly, the tour bus was pretty modern complete with air conditioning and our local tour guide's English was good. We spent about 4 hours going to some of the highlights of the city. We didn't always stop for photos and the windows of the bus were quite dirty so there aren't that many great photos to share.
Dakar has many modern high rise buildings, well paved roads and a decent highway system yet there is so much poverty. People are set up almost everywhere selling their goods and piles of garbage are all around. On one corner we saw someone selling bed frames and in another area, selling refrigerators.
There are modern cars on the road as well as horses, wagons and goats.
One of our first stops was at the university where we saw a baobab tree. The baobab tree is the national symbol of Senegal and they can live to be thousands of years old. They have large trunks and are native only to Madagascar and North-Western Australia. The one in the picture below was in front of the medical school at the university. Usually the trees have leaves but not at this time of year.
On our tour we also saw how they make sand paintings. The sand comes from all over the region which is why the colors are different (the sand isn't dyed). The paintings are beautiful.
We also stopped to view the newly constructed, multi million dollar statue known as The African Renaissance Monument. It's 160 feet tall making it taller than the Statue of Liberty. It depicts a
man holding an infant in one arm and
guiding a woman with the other. The infant points ahead to indicate the
glorious future while the woman extends her arm behind to acknowledge
the troubled past. It was meant to represent
freedom and promise but many feel it symbolizes a
president's authoritarian rule.
Some enterprising locals had set up shop close to the statue.
Our next stop was in a poor fishing village to see a local dance. It was pretty much a staged event but interesting to see the dress and customs although the surrounding conditions were so poor.
While most were watching the dancing, I turned around to take some photos of life on the street.
Our last stop was at a local market where Larry bought a belt.
Surprisingly, the tour bus was pretty modern complete with air conditioning and our local tour guide's English was good. We spent about 4 hours going to some of the highlights of the city. We didn't always stop for photos and the windows of the bus were quite dirty so there aren't that many great photos to share.
Dakar has many modern high rise buildings, well paved roads and a decent highway system yet there is so much poverty. People are set up almost everywhere selling their goods and piles of garbage are all around. On one corner we saw someone selling bed frames and in another area, selling refrigerators.
There are modern cars on the road as well as horses, wagons and goats.
You can see how developed the road system is in the city...
We saw a number of small, colorful buses on the roads. They're called 'car rapides.' They have no set routes but in general they're used to take locals into town in the morning and back to the outskirts in the evening. The buses can hold about 20-30 people who are packed in and often someone is hanging off the back.
On our tour we also saw how they make sand paintings. The sand comes from all over the region which is why the colors are different (the sand isn't dyed). The paintings are beautiful.
Some enterprising locals had set up shop close to the statue.
While most were watching the dancing, I turned around to take some photos of life on the street.
Islam is the main religion in Dakar and over 92% of the population is Muslim. There are many mosques but the one below is the Grand Mosque.
Touring Dakar was an interesting experience. Below are a couple more photos from our day there.
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