Monday April 3rd
Lift to Brixton station from our lovely neighbours. (Slight hiccup as Em left phone on bed, so quick run back to the flat and on our way…)
Standard Gatwick beers and onion rings.
Flight delayed from London to Lisbon - so a big rush on the transfer but all fine in the end.
Watched: House of Gucci, Bourdain in Kenya
Reading: Em - Fleishman is in Trouble. Ed - Kitchen Confidential
Very easy taxi with Ousamene from airport to Hotel Atlantic Evasion, arrived at 2am.
50 mins, 20000 CFA = £30 (at airport exchange rates).
Tuesday April 4th
No space at Ngor Island Surf Camp, so advised to head to Black & White Surf in Almadies - a 20-minute walk to the other side of the peninsula.
Slightly odd vibe in the morning, public holiday so not many cafes open early, had 2 expensive coffees in La Terrasse Soleil Cafe and then met up with Madiké for a surf lesson with 2 friendly Korean women from the UN.
Public holiday meant that the water was filled with UN and Embassy workers on their day off. Waves were big and breaking on rocks which made surfing a challenge. Madiké not the most attentive of instructors but a few waves caught by both (as well as a few injuries sustained… Emily still has anemone spikes in her foot).
Delicious lunch at Chez Fatou. Local beers, fish cooked in a local style and grilled calamari in paprika.
Wandered back via the local market to our hotel for some beach time. Beaches packed with locals which was great to see.
Listening to: Leif Vollebekk - New Ways
Evening dinner at our hotel incidentally witnessing an intensive workout (Em later mentioned that this might be army training as there are a few bases nearby).
Slight annoyance at our hotel meal. Em ordered grilled prawn curry, Ed a steak (both around 10,000). Food took 90 minutes to arrive, despite the restaurant being half full. Hotel didn’t accept any form of Mastercard so settling up became a challenge! The only stress of the holiday so far.
Wednesday April 5th
Early run around the various cash points on the main strip. Minimal success as local currency exchange won’t accept £s, and ATMs charge high rates to withdraw cash. Fun to see the main strip though and watch a bit of Dakar life.
Morning coffee on the beachfront of our hotel.
Quick boat ride over to Ngor Island. Should have been 1000 each for return but skipper driver threw away our tickets, so we had to pay each way.
Ngor Island - unusual blend of quiet & artistic; colourful but with a big (maybe abandoned) military base.
Walk around the island took about 20 minutes in total. Settled in for lunch & chill time at a strip beach cafe.
Amazing local lunch, beef in peanut sauce with rice & grilled chicken and onions. Grill was next to the beach so we could see/smell the food being prepared. Spotted an iguana to Emily’s delight.
Lovely swimming off the beach, perfect water temperature. Fairly persistent local vendors on the beach but we were generally left in peace.
Afternoon boat back to our hotel and beers on our beach. Ed now reading Boy Parts by Eliza Clark.
Decided to go as local as possible for evening dinner. Went out of the touristy compound and on to the main strip. Buzzing with people during Ramadan: as soon as the sun went down everyone was out eating together.
Found a small shop with cheap beers and cartons of sangria, followed by a stall with baguettes of homemade veg curry and meat on a stick! Veg baguette 200(!), meat 800 (& some extra sticks for the walk home).
Made a make-shift cup out of half a water bottle for the sangria, & settled in on our balcony.
Listening to: The Shins - Oh, Inverted World.
Watched: Fleishman is in Trouble.
Thursday April 6th
Checked out of Hotel Atlantic Evasion (finally found a card that worked!) and took a taxi with Ousamene to Dakar Port. Interesting taxi journey seeing the Presidential Palace and Independence Square.
The original plan was to take the Friday night overnight ferry from Dakar to Casamance, but this was sold out when we tried to buy tickets. Cue disappointed faces and re-planning:
Took the ferry across to Isle de Gorée, originally a slave-holding island from 15th - 19th Century. It’s now a UNESCO site and tourist spot, but still has residents, schools, hospitals etc.
First impressions were of absolutely stunning colours of the buildings and a peaceful vibe compared to Senegal port. Busy/touristy lunch spots along the beach: we tried to find the most local.
(Above - Emily eating thebou dieune, ordered spontaneously and involving many fruit and veg we had never seen before)
Checked into Chez Eric - a simple, quaint hotel on the outskirts of the main square filled with wooden sculptures & masks. Had a wander around the streets - lovely to see a school break time & students playing:
We went to the Slave House museum, originally the defensive fort of the island lined with cannons. The museum emphasised archaeological findings and the anthropology of Senegal, including skeletons dating back to 10th century. More fascinating for Em as she was able to understand the French. Rooftop also had amazing views of the island.
Went back to Chez Eric to plan for the next few days (at this point we weren’t booked in for anywhere to stay the next night and didn’t know what city/country we would get to the next day. Emily much more comfortable with this than Ed, who likes to know where he is sleeping).
Headed out to dinner and stumbled across a church service with the most stunning music - full choir accompanied by djembe.
Ate dinner at Chez Thio on the beach - meat/peanut curry and rice for Ed, monkfish kebab with a tasty mystery green sauce for Emily.
Friday April 7th
TRAVEL DAY!
Up at 6am to catch the first ferry (6:45am) from Gorée back to Dakar port. Fortunate to see the beach and boats under moonlight:
And catch the sun rising over the island from the ferry.
Very hectic at Dakar Port trying to get a taxi to the bus terminal. We had decided to try to find a “sept-places” - cars of 7 that fill up and drive long distances. Advised that a taxi from the port to the bus terminal should cost around 600 CFA for the 20-minute drive. First offer came in at 7000. Really aggressive taxi drivers, we finally managed to get them down to 2000.
Even more hectic at the bus terminal as we were swarmed by people who were a bit grabby. Managed to find someone (or he found us) who pulled us over to a bus that was heading straight to Banjul in the Gambia, so we accepted that and bought 2 tickets for 6000 each. Bit of a bargain as a local tour company had offered us a journey half the distance for 65000.
Fortunately we met a Gambian man on the bus, Sarjo, who was incredibly friendly and made a point of looking after us.
Em now reading: Ian McEwan - Lessons
Bus stopped at the border, where we navigated a complicated immigration stamping system and got a taxi with our friend into Gambia. Banjul, the capital, is an island and involved a ferry crossing to get there. Long wait for the ferry but chatted to a dad and 2 children from Shropshire who were on their way back from a safari.
Said goodbye to Sarjo in Banjul and took a taxi (more super aggressive haggling) to Luigi’s in Kololi, in the hope we would find a room. Kololi is very touristy but comfortable - and the beach is paradise.
Ed had a quick sea swim before we headed out for dinner.
Beautiful moment as some guys were cooking their meal on wood fires outside our hotel and invited us to eat with them as they broke their fast after Ramadan. A random concoction of meats, pastas and potato followed by a peanut beef stew. Absolutely delicious.
We had our main meal on the beach at Solomon’s.
Fish Tacos for Em, fish burger for Ed. Both great with lovely fresh fish.
Highlight of the meal was Em finding a local puppy in need of attention.
Listening: Full Brian Adams album from the 90s on repeat. Not by choice.
Saturday April 8th
Morning Nescafé sachets in our room and decided to walk along the beach to Bijilo National Park and Monkey Reserve. A fair amount of hassling on the beach but beautiful views.
Slightly annoying at the ranch as the ticket office pressured us to buy bananas and get a guide, which we refused - very insistent that they were both essential and in the end neither were. Plenty of red and green monkeys to feed at the beginning.
Em far more relaxed around them than Ed.
Most of the monkeys seemed to congregate around the entrance of the park, so the parts further away were peaceful and scenic!
Arrived back to our beach for a 3pm lunch after a valiant attempt to find a local bakery: grilled prawns and ladyfish in foil for Em and fish Yassa (curry) for Ed.
Afternoon of swimming in a choppy sea and a calm hotel pool, eventually followed by a twilight walk along the beach to a restaurant further out.
Arrived at a posh hotel which had the only live music advertised so far. Unfortunately the music was bland/commercial and the restaurant super expensive so we went on down the beach to Justice Bar. Lovely vibe, Em had a tuna salad and Ed a chicken kebab, with beers, all for about £13. Devastating moment as 3 buskers started to play outside the restaurant - vibraphone, djembe and guitar. Some of the most stunning music we had heard, but it was stopped by the waiters who deemed it disrespectful during Ramadan.
Listening to: Solange - When I Get Home
Sunday April 9th
Took some admin time to figure out our next few days with the input of 2 friendly cyclists from New Zealand and Germany who had biked down from Morocco via Mauritania. Took a detour on our day’s excursion to book bus tickets back to Senegal, and felt a great sense of relief when this worked!
Spent the rest of the morning ambling around Abuja nature reserve, which is located inland between sea inlets and is therefore a water-saturated, tropical jungle - very different to the arid desert of North Senegal and the coastal forest of the day before. Spotted a crocodile, several monkeys and lizards.
The walk finished at the caged section of the reserve with baboons and hyenas. “Green”, the local guide, took pride in taking care of his animals.
Hailed a local taxi for 300 to take us to Bakau for lunch (getting better at haggling). Extra taxi meant we could see some different parts of town as well.
Had a look around the area, including some bright roundhouse developments still under construction.
Lunch at Calypso - upmarket restaurant, with individual thatched booths. Fairly pricey so we both went for (tasty!) burgers.
Taxi back for 180, via shop to pick up soft drinks for the evening meal.
Quick bit of beach time - local pup returned and camped on Ed’s towel. Enquired about surf lessons but the waves looked too small.
Evening meal! Met with our local friends out the front of Luigi’s. Em straight into cooking duties with Abdoulie.
Learnt about different tribes and languages in the Gambia - many of which were represented in this ad hoc group of seasonal workers who came together in the taxi rank. An argument came up with a local group who objected to us (non Muslims) breaking fast. Our new friends criticised the other group for ‘Arabic Islam’ which they found to be strict, imposing, and unfriendly. They prided themselves on their ‘Gambian Islam’, explaining that Africans are about community and brotherhood.
Starter (!) - chicken cooked in a sauce with potatoes and spices, all served on a communal platter, eaten with hands and using baguettes to mop up.
Main course (fish) was delayed a little as the guys ran to accept taxi jobs from their regulars (tourists) heading out to dinner.
We spent the evening huddled around a constant roaring fire, drinking homemade herbal teas. Emily got food poisoning from the washed lettuce but was too embarrassed to say anything and snuck away to lie down!
Main course - red snapper, fried in oil, with a spicy tomato sauce and served with rice. The group sent Ed up with cartons for Em to eat when feeling better - a very thoughtful gesture.
We finished off the food on our balcony together, with the beers we’d been waiting to drink.
(Listening to: Elton John - Crocodile Rock)
Downloaded Ted Lasso to watch but fell asleep.
Monday April 10th
Ed now reading: Educated - Tara Westover
River cruise! The nature exploration day Em has been waiting for…
Met Omar and our driver, Doctor Osman, out the front of Luigi’s at 9am.
Faced with a few hurdles early doors as most cash points were empty after the weekend(!) Got some money out at the 5th attempt and were finally on our way when our driver was arrested at a checkpoint for having an out of date license. Briefly questioned whether today would be everything we dreamed of, but decided to plough on in pursuit of mangroves and rare animals.
Arrived to a… dishevelled… pirogue and politely requested some loopaper, drinking water, washing water etc.
A stretch of the imagination from the luxury minibar and guided tour that was advertised. Nonetheless, our colourful boat chugged through the confluences towards the major Gambia River, with bright sunshine, fleets of pelicans, and acres of greenery.
We stopped at the mouth of the river and were handed fishing rods - with expert results:
Fish: ladyfish, butterfish, crab, juttafish
We asked what we’d be doing with our caught fish, and when it transpired that they’d be going home to the captain’s family - and possibly to market - rather than grilled and in our bellies, we politely wound up our rods and headed up top to sunbathe. Marianna, our cook, brought up an exquisite spread for a late lunch.
Having enjoyed our lunch it was clear that we had experienced all of what the “cruise” had to offer, so we took a bit more time on the deck and then headed back early to dock.
Ed called Omar on returned to the hotel, threatening to write a disappointing review of the day online. Somewhat sheepish Omar returned for a chat and offered 1/3 of the money back. A couple of hours to chill by the pool with Kiwi Jay and German Dave and we headed out to Solomon’s again…
En route to the restaurant we met our friends cooking outside, who again invited us to break the fast with them, which we did briefly before exchanging numbers.
Sat next to a delightful English mum and her 3 boys playing UNO and were served again by Dombo who was ace.
Em had the fish soup and Ed had the prawns in foil that Em had had the day before.
Beautifully touching moment as one of the guys from the dinner group came in to the restaurant to offer us gifts and a written note asking us to stay in touch.
Tuesday April 11th
2nd TRAVEL DAY!
Alarm at 4:40, taxi with one of the local guys to the bus terminal. Pleased to see that the buses were far more comfortable than our last one and the Gambian travel company was very organised and efficient. Having said that - the lady sat next to us had booked 1 seat for her, her young daughter and baby boy to share, so things were still pretty cramped!
Packed and early night ahead of another monster travel day the next day.
Cute moment as we bumped into Omar at the ferry terminal. He was taking another family on a safari and was all smiles and hugs.
Ferry across from Banjul and then back on the bus to the border.
Very uncomfortable to experience the harsh reality of children begging and selling menial items at the border.
Back on the bus and the long drive up to Mbour - good to be reminded of the proper Senegalese countryside, passing through rural towns and villages.
Typically hectic scenes as Mbour drop off as the haggling became very aggressive with multiple people involved. 1st offer for our journey came in at 20,000CFA; we managed to haggle down to 11,000 - although still felt we were being ripped off.
The state of the taxi was something else, with none of the dials working, no seatbelts or door handles, no gear stick and a cracked windscreen.
We were happy to arrive safely at the creative retreat of Sabo Bade, on the outskirts of Toubab Dialao.
Straight into a beer overlooking the coast, followed by a swim in the cold sea.
Dinner at the retreat restaurant a little disappointing but we were so awed by our surroundings that it really didn’t matter.
Em - Entrecôte steak (cold), Ed - Kari fish curry was fine.
Bed at 9:15pm
Wednesday April 12th
Woken up by morning prayer (3am), djembe accompaniment (4am), Emily’s alarm (4:40am), second round of prayers (5am).
Faced with the standard West African problem - the resort didn’t accept card and the nearest bank was a 40-minute drive away.
Fortunately Ed found a stack of CFA that had been converted earlier and downloaded SendWave - an app that enables international transfers, so problem solved!
Coffee with a view and slow morning before heading down to the beach for a chill day. Our only task was to choose from the 5 beach bars where to settle. Found a start up bar, run by Malik who had cold beer and hand written menus and was insistent that we hung out with him.
Lovely relaxing day. Ordered grilled chicken and grilled fish for lunch, took over 90 minutes to prepare and the chicken was still pink. Malik explained that some people like their chicken “well done” and that’s a personal preference. Stayed there all day…
Back for cocktails (Sobo Martini) overlooking the sea.
Impromptu jam with percussionist Lili (Argentinian living in Sweden) and Roman ( Swiss cultural broadcaster) who played guitar - alongside local resident musician, Ibrahim.
Thursday April 13th
Last day!
Coffee with our favourite view in the morning. Tried to have a music lesson with Ibrahim at 11 but he didn’t show up, so Ed found a guitar to noodle on.
Interesting to see a school of American children over for a trip, having music lessons and singing songs.
Attempted to buy some local gifts for friends back home from the markets just outside of our resort, but the hagglers were super aggressive and it didn’t sit well with us so we decided to leave it for later.
Left our bags at the office and headed down to the beach - choosing K’Méléon (Chameleon) as the bar for the day. Bought fresh mangoes from a seller for breakfast and settled in. Bar run by a French artist - cool to see him spray painting his sign and some artwork on the shack. There was also a great soundtrack of early Miles Davis and of course Herbie Hancock (fittingly on Herbie’s 83rd birthday).
Lunch was arguably the best meal of the trip. Lotte fish cooked in lemon and herbs for Ed, calamari in a spicy sauce for Em. Again - really simple but beautiful.
Amazing cocktail list at the bar so we treated ourselves to a couple..
Found some far more reasonable local sellers on the beach and bought a few things for our neighbours.
Finally managed to track down Ibrahim for a half-hour lesson in some local instruments. Not so much a lesson as he didn’t speak much - demonstrating patterns and once we picked them up he improvised over the top. Would have been nice to have had a chance to play around a bit more or do some singing but was cool to just have a play.
Both had the mixed grill at the restaurant (again chicken not cooked and had to be sent back), before taking a taxi to the airport. Interested to see Toubab Dialao at night while driving through - seemed to have a really buzzy atmosphere. Even though fewer people fast during Ramadan in Senegal, still everyone comes out to party once the sun goes down.
Beautiful end to an amazing trip!