Saint-Louis

Breakfast was basic but pretty yum. Warm baguette with spreads. My kind of food. I really enjoyed the cashew apple jam which comes from the fruit of the cashew nut tree, which I had never heard of.   Coffee of course finished it off.

Breakfast done some of the group walked the dunes, others rode camels; I watched and drank my coffee. The sand was so gloriously soft and each time my foot hit the ground it sunk in about 3inches burying my ankles and making a ‘sand spray’ when I lifted it out again. It made walking a little harder than normal and I was quite happy to just watch from a distance while the others climbed the dunes.  The setting was just gorgeous and reminiscent of some of the dunes in my beloved Wadi Rum in Jordan. 

Bidding our hosts goodbye we boarded our super bus and started out on our trip to Saint Louis with a few stops on the way. 

The first was where we saw kids playing football with a home made ball, rags enclosed in a sock. We each chipped in and bought them a soccer ball and watched the look of delight when they saw it. 

Then we stopped to watch a family harvesting their peanut crop. Peanuts are one of the staple foods here and it was interesting to watch them being harvested from their ground level bushes. They have not had too much rain this year so the nuts are quite small. 

Before long we arrived at the riverside city of Saint Louis, the original capital of Senegal and now a UNESCO heritage sight. It looks charming. We head for food. Once again I am not disappointed; Langoustine, super fresh and perfectly grilled and with a drizzle of lime and fries.  Again it was hard to resist licking my fingers and although I am usually very conscious of being disrespectful I did it anyway. That’s where the best bits are. Mouthwateringly good and with a view across the water to boot. 

We checked into out Hotel de la Poste and had the chance to relax for a bit. The hotel is very cute; set aound a courtyard complete with a lovely garden and small but adequate rooms. 

Like my last tour this has been full on with no opportunities to explore or enjoy some downtime so I struggle a bit. But having said that our two hours ‘free time’ was spent in the bar chatting. It was a great break. 

Our team of caleche soon arrived to take us on a scenic tour of the city. Our horse was Michelle and Chef was our driver. Poor Michelle was whipped constantly throughout the trip and I was pleased when someone sat in front of me so I couldn’t see it happening. 

Michelle and Chef weave us through the city streets giving us a chance to admire the lovely buildings and watch the colourful people going about their work. 

We were warned that the sights would change when we got to the fishing village but driving up the main street didnt seem too different; a little more scruffy and less ‘organised’. That is until we turned the corner and were confronted by the most bizarre view I think I have ever seen. 

I dont even know how to begin to describe what it is like to see hundreds of colourfully painted large wooden boats, hundreds of colourfully dressed people, boxes and boxes of freshly painted fish and millions of flies attracted by the stench. The photos may help the story but sadly don’t  come with smelly vision to give a more clear picture.  Amongst the bedlam and the flies was a market, the stock of which must have ponged from the smell of the fish. 

It was fascinating to just stand and watch and then to watch the boats going out towards the sea. Some boats had heaps of people in board and some even wore life jackets.  These were the fishing boats and each was followed by a smaller boat with just a few people on board. These were the bosts that they loaded the fish on board once caught. 

On the fishing boats, as they were going out, we sometimes saw the guys preparing the nets looking like something out of chain gang moving in rythym.  The boats were mainly beautifully painted and most bore a grand flag. Not to indicate nationality as you might expect but to support their chosen football club!!