Olivier and Monica in Bamako: juin 2008

Olivier flying his kite in Kafountine...

Olivier and I decided we really needed to...see the ocean! So after long debates between Guinea and Senegal, we finally decided on Senegal...we had heard so much about how beautiful the Casamance region underneath The Gambia is. So, after a long two day trip...and hours and hours on the road,...we finally arrived in Kafoutine...a beach town north of Ziguinchor.

It was so amazing to arrive...to sleep just 50 meters from the water and enjoy the sights and sounds of the ocean and a bustling fishing hub. There were hundreds of fishing boats at the port in the town and we saw some amazing piles of fish of all kinds - sting rays, hammerhead shark, grouper... We also decided to spend one day exploring the mangroves. We found some fishermen who agreed to take us to the Iles Karone... Islands that you reach through a maze of waterways. It was a two-hour boat ride to get to the village our recent acquaintance was from... The most exciting part was the return...where about an hour into the ride, as we were driving AGAINST tide, the motor blew out. We hadn't passed a single other boat the entire day...it was 5pm and getting dark...and our two young guides decided we'd "wait" for the "next boat" that should come by later!!! Olivier turned into MacGyvor instantly - pulled out his swiss arymy knife, found some random piece of metal he sawed up, took apart the boat motor piece by piece and within a 1/2 hr we had a working motor. Wow... the two Senegalais were impressed! As was I! We spent a few days in Kafoutine, and then headed to Ziguinchor - an old French colonial town that served as a major trading port for the French - it is located at the mouth of the Casamance river... which flows in from the ocean. We feel in love with the town immediately - vibrant, beautiful old buildings, river flowing through it...and people were so friendly. From Ziguinchor, we decided to take their new ferry (the previous ferry - the Joola - was the one that tragically sunk a few years ago...It had only one working motor and 2,000 passengers rather than the 500 person limit!!!). The new ferry came straight from Germany and felt brand new. We had a fun overnight ferry ride and arrived in Dakar the next morning by 7am... From Dakar we drove around the city a bit... and then headed up to St. Louis (another major French Colonial town...) and again fell in love with the city. We wanted to stay longer but alas, after two nights we had to start our drive home. Within a few hours of leaving St. Louis we reentered the SAHEL - desert-like, dry, hot, and we realized then we were really going back to Mali...