Adventures in Toubakouta

Last weekend I traveled to Toubakouta in the Sine-Saloom Delta of Senegal w/ a group of 13. Toubakouta is a city, but also a region of ecological reserve with mangroves and supposedly some of the best bird watching in the world! I was the only American w/ 6 Canadian, 2 English, 4 Swedish and 1 Belgian. We left around 5:30 Saturday morning all piling into a septplace (Bush taxi). It was my first time out of Dakar—more importantly, my first time IN Africa.

The sunrise was incredible. The African sun is magnificent!! It really looks like a huge ball of fire—like in the movies. The baobab trees are amazing. Their gargantuan trunks support a random spray of branches covered in spindly twigs. The twigs mimic the twisted, warted hands of the Wicked Witch. Nonetheless, they are beautiful—majestic. It is the symbol of Senegal and they tell a great story—one I’m just beginning to comprehend.

(photo: mangrove delta during the winter)
We traveled for about 5 hours and finally arrived at the Keru Bamboung. We then climbed into a pirogue (long boat) and traveled through an inlet of the ocean for about 30 minutes. Mangroves surrounded us. It was rather chilly (about 60degrees), especially with the breeze. Then we arrived on some shore of fine sand and were met by 3-4 men who helped us out the boat and were to be our guides for the weekend.
(photo: our taxi!! At least for our bags, we walked)
We then walked for about 20 minutes through the sand—I believe we crossed a peninsula of some sort. Finally we reached the ‘encampment’ for lack of a better word. It wasn’t quite a resort but it wasn’t camping. I got to share a bed with Jamie (Canadian Rotary Scholar) and it was to be my first time with a mosquito net around me. Touba supposedly has a lot of mosquitoes, all year round though we didn’t really see many. There must have been some, because I just got word that Jonathon, our Swedish travel buddy, was just diagnosed with Malaria….oops! (It’s actually quite common here and not as big of a deal as we make it in the States—about half of the current students have had it and have managed just fine.)

We were told that lunch would be at 2pm, but then sat there until 4pm waiting for food! Of course, people were crabby. We hadn’t eaten all day and our journey started at 5am! My American impatience was definitely coming out despite my best efforts. I had already mentally budgeted my lunch time for eating and napping. Well, now my nap was gone! Time schedules, ha! It was also interesting that I kind of expected them to come out with free drinks or something in compensation for making us wait 2 extra hours at the table. Nope, that expectation must just be the American in me.
(photo: tree with vulture during one of our walks)

After lunch we went for a walk through the mangroves. Babakar, a man who looks like a chiseled, decadent statue of 85% cacao chocolate, led 7 of us females through murky, muddy waters up to our mid-thighs with only the oyster encrusted roots of mangrove roots to grab onto. I couldn’t help but giggle with disbelief as the mud stuff squished between my toes, “of course I’m wading through mangroves in Africa—what else would I be doing?” An unforgettable “sensation.”
Yes, I was concerned about what could be in the water. Babakar insured us that there was nothing in it such as large animals or snakes. Also because it was salt water Jamie and I were pretty sure that no parasites could get us—and I found comfort in the fact that a local was in the water too. If there was a problem with the water 1) it wouldn’t be a tourist place and 2) a native wouldn’t be walking through it. We made it through ok---at least as far as I can tell thus far!

(photo: our bathroom. the shower is the head hanging down with trickling water pressure. the toilet flushes with the help of a cup of water from the bucket next to the toilet. the long 'pipe' is the wash system that made toilet paper not 'necessary.' all water comes from the reserve above.)

After dinner Babakar was taking people out to look for hyenas. (yes, purposefully looking for animals that could eat us-- in the dark…) While the idea was awesome, I knew I wouldn’t be able to handle the dark. The dark was more intense than the back of your eyelids in a dark cellar. No light pollution, no lamp posts. COMPLETE darkness such as I’ve never experienced before. I decided that Lion King had enough hyenas for me.

The next morning I went with a small group on a 1 hour nature walk that took 3.5hours. We were very diligent in our search for warthogs- Pumba!- but no luck. Maybe next time! I did thoroughly enjoy the choirs of 100 of birds laced in the Baobab trees.

On the journey back, I realized that things are becoming “normalicized.” On the way to Toubakouta we rode in relative silence, in awe of the true existence of the cluster of grass roof huts. They are not just images on TV. Now we ride home to the chatter of “Would You Rather” like the baobab trees are an every day occurrence. The sunset snapped us back into silence only broken by the click of camera shutters. The huge orange ball quietly blazes across the unrestrained horizon of pinks and purples. Senegal…
(photo: sunset w/ Baobab tree)

Monday morning I woke up thinking in French!!! It was just coming out! I was sooo excited. Of course, I don’t have all the words and my grammar is still rather confusing to follow but I can make sentences and it comes naturally. I’m very grateful it happened so quickly—now I can make friends!

This week I also attended my first Rotary meeting. I think I’m the lucky one of the current scholars because my club seems super active and fun. I really look forward to working with them.
Now, week four...