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Finishing the Dakar Rally

Posted on October 30th, 2009 in Africa,Senegal by robjkentjr

We crossed back into Senegal and spent one night at Popenguine before going to Dakar.  After crawling in traffic for hours to get to the airport, we decided to have lunch and head to Lac Rose to sleep.
Welcome to Kaolack, officially the dirtiest city in all of Africa.
Nothing like a fresh oyster respite before heading back out in the gnarling traffic.  Thinking we were smart, we took some back streets only to get hopelessly lost in the suburbs of Dakar.
We finally made it just before sunset to the lake.  Lac Rose is where the Dakar Rally finishes up and is known for the colour of its water.  At certain times of the year, it will be a brilliant light pink.  Now is not the time.
The salt quarry is how all the people are employed here in the off season.  They pull mountains of the stuff out of the water.
All packed up and ready for export.  Think twice before shaking that container of sea salt next time.
They scrape the salt off the bottom of the lake and fill up the boats.
The wind picked up and caught these kids out on the salt flats.
We were a bit sad at not getting to see the famous slave islands off Dakar but we got over it as soon as we were back on the open road.  Our next stop is the very Carib city of Saint-Louis.

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Sukuta ‘beach’ Camping

Posted on October 16th, 2009 in Africa,The Gambia by robjkentjr

We made it to Sukuta Camping, near the beach resorts of Serrekunda, and collapsed for a week.  Other than our daytrip to Abuko Nature Reserve, I did not take many pictures but let me assure you that we did eat like kings at all the fancy expat restaurants.
The perfect holiday beach but it is the night time activities that make the tourists change their return tickets.  Let us just say we learned something new about foreign females and strapping locals.
The hiking trail through the nature reserve.  We were told not to linger on the walkway because of crocodiles.
One of several 2m (6ft) long monitor lizards that scared us to death while walking through the forest.  This guy was just a 1m (3ft) baby.
I am almost certain this is a Red Colobus Monkey but it sure looks like a baby chimpanzee.
If I only had a macro lens these bugs would have been the highlight of my trip.  Their colors were absolutely stunning.
Love must be in the air with the camp dogs.  Can you guess which one is Lilliput and which one is Adonis?
This is Dean and the bike he has ridden from South Africa to The Gambia.  The night he arrived, we went out with his mercenary friends from Sierra Leone. The rest of that story stays forever in the many bars of Serrenkunda we visited.
Just so glad to be speaking English, eating great food, and sleeping in cool weather again, this was longest we stayed in one spot for the whole trip.  Sad to leave, we set out for Dakar, Senegal and passed through the dirtiest city of our trip (a week of firsts).

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