Senegal and The Gambia

*An amazing warm welcome in the village of Galoya, The Gambia with the Wide Open Walls project*

Senegal

We could feel the cultural shift in Senegal as soon as we entered, as a marked contrast to Mauritania. The country felt more populated, and more light hearted. The sands gave way to active villages, towns and the bustle of contemporary Dakar. Music, curiosity and smiles punctuated our time there.

Mauritania to Senegal Border Crossing at Diama

As always, our first hurdle was crossing the border. Once again what follows is a detailed account, skip ahead if this is not relevant to you!

*First stop police check on the Mauritanian side (on the left before metal gate)*

Stop at metal gate to pay community tax for Mauritania 100 MRO. Then enter customs building shown here for Mauritanian customs. Pay 400 MRO for exit stamp. See Mauritanian blog for additional request for 400 euro bribe (we did not pay).

*Then stop on Senegal side, police check and biometrics on the right shown here (fingerprints), then customs building on the left*

After the stressful unfounded request for 400 euros at the Mauritanian exit from a customs official in full uniform, entering Senegal was easy. The officials were kind, helpful and efficient. There was no visa requirement for either of us (US and UK passports) and we were charged $8 (5000 CFA) for a passavant for the truck (easy for a vehicle less than eight years old, for older vehicles prices go up exponentially). The passavant was good for three days with a requirement to extend it in Dakar. The whole border process from Mauritania took a little over an hour and we were able to buy Orange sim cards on the Senegal side from a young woman who set them up for us. 10 euros for 8 GB.

*Our eight-day western route through Senegal and The Gambia*

St. Louis

Our first stop in Senegal, St Louis epitomized some of what we had already seen in parts of Africa - crumbling colonialism. There was an intriguing contrast between the bones of elegant old European buildings and the decay that was evident as the upkeep of the buildings had been abandoned. The styles and designs had charm yet felt out of place with the Africa of today which blends a contemporary aesthetic with traditional African design.

*Streets of St. Louis with balconies that reminded us of New Orleans*

*Beautiful neighborhood mosque minarets omnipresent throughout Senegal*

*Fishing boats along the Senegal River in St. Louis*

Zebrabar

We had heard so much about the classic overlanding camp at Zebrabar that we decided to stop by for a night. It was an easy place to rest for an evening. Run by Europeans, it was a little more expensive than the norm ($17 for the two of us), but had all the amenities and for us the bonus of a live band.

Laundry day at Zebrabar. We have been using a Laundreez bag which is working quite well. (Basically like a rafting dry bag that you put clothes, some water and a little detergent in then manually rotate and squeeze, rinse and repeat until the water runs clear)

And then back on our way. In Senegal we noticed that we were never far from people. On the most remote country tracks, difficult dirt roads and endless beaches, people were everywhere, working and conducting their lives.

*Women in Senegal so skilled in carrying loads on their heads, their elegance and grace was beautiful to behold*

There were so many pictures we wanted to take but were committed to being respectful of people living their lives and our position as visitors. At some point we may get braver and just ask, if it feels appropriate, but so far we have kept our distance in admiration. In particular, the women of Senegal wore the most extraordinary traditional clothing we have ever seen. Stunning fabrics and styles, Dawn could have photographed every woman she saw if it had been polite, but it definitely was not. We snapped a few dashboard photos from a distance to remember the atmosphere.

Dakar

The longer we spend in Africa, the more we appreciate the iOverlander app to help us navigate bureaucratic complexities. In addition to the standard information on campsites and resources, it has locations and peoples’ experiences at embassies, borders and customs offices. Signage for visitors is usually non existent. You have to rely on asking a person or stumbling upon the right place.

We knew we needed to get our passavant (the temporary pass for our vehicle to be in Senegal) extended in Dakar. The border officer had told us to go to the customs office at the port. After knocking on a few incorrect doors, a friendly staff person told us we were in the wrong place and that we needed to go to an office at the Independence Plaza. We found the building on iOverlander, fought our way through Dakar’s hectic traffic, and left the truck in the care of a nice young man with a parking space and a neon vest (no charge up front, tip what you want upon return). Once we found the right doorway and office, it took 5 minutes to get a 10 day extension. No cost.

*Door to the office to get your passavant extended in Dakar*

In Dakar we stayed in a basic hotel ($50 a night), Phare des Mamelles. Safe, clean and with dedicated parking, it was tucked into a neighborhood and was a great place to access Wi-Fi and do some trip planning. As a bonus it had a great rooftop bar and pizza restaurant.

Dakar itself was a chaotic jumble of people and buildings. We did not spend a lot of time in the modern city center but still had some fantastic experiences.

Our favorite was a day trip to Ile de Gorée. A peaceful looking island, 20 minute ferry ride from downtown Dakar, its appealing streets and architecture bely an ugly history. For four centuries it was the center of the European slave trade. 20 million Africans passed through its holding cells and warehouses.

*Taking in the horror of what happened to human beings on this island*

*Memorial to the victims of the Atlantic slave trade*

For our final stop in Dakar, we made our way to the Village des Artes. We had heard of it as a thriving arts space with workshops featuring the best of Senegal. Dawn couldn’t wait. The object of art is to give life a shape.

*Understated entrance. a little hard to find*

It was a memorable visit with incredible art on display but we were surprised that we were the only visitors. Maybe a victim of Covid, the site felt partially abandoned.

*Enjoyed talking with Mienandi in his studio (and bought some art). He has done work for Coca Cola in Atlanta.*

*Walkways between studios filled with art*

Toubakouta

We were looking for a place to wild camp along the coast on our way to The Gambia and stumbled upon this village which ended up being a favorite place in Senegal for us. We drove into town at the end of the afternoon, navigating ourselves toward a spot on the mangrove-filled river that we had seen on iOverlander. A young man on a scooter drove up alongside offering to guide us. We declined with smiles. When we found the spot on iOverlander it looked like an active fishing pier and it didn’t feel right to us to park ourselves there. Our scooter friend again came up to us and convinced us to follow him to a place he knew of where you could camp for free, no problem. Thank you Alfa Romeo (his artist name). He showed us a great place. We declined a boat trip on the river but agreed to come visit his shop later.

*Our guide Alfa Romeo in his shop (yes we bought more art)*

*The morning sun comes up on our beach side spot*

The Gambia

This was one of our easiest border crossings yet - about $10 for our vehicle passavant and visas on arrival. Dawn with UK passport was free, Andy with US was $100.

As soon as we left the border, the check points began. The first police check point we were greeted with friendly smiles and a request for a gift which we politely declined. Second stop was driver passport review and waving us on our way. The third stop was more aggressive, asking Andy to come into an office with a strong ask for some money. Again he politely declined (it’s actually very cute, he gives them a huge smile and says “no thank you” when they ask for a gift). In all the police stops in The Gambia were friendly and people had a sense of humor about asking for a bribe. We never paid one.

*Banjul where the ferry crosses The Gambia, streets alive with people and activity*

Arranging for the ferry was a little bewildering. We entered Banjul and were immediately surrounded by fixers promising us VIP access to the ferry. We explained that we were just normal people. We accepted some help in parking the truck and navigating the confusing scrum of people and vehicles to find the ticket office and bought our passage. Then, having declined VIP ticketing waited in line for three hours. It was fine, we didn’t have anywhere else to go and learned a lot from conversations with the Gambians in line either side of us.

Dawn’s favorite Banjul story is that coming back from the line to buy a ferry ticket her Teva flip flop broke. She was limping her way when a young man came up and offered to have it sewed. She asked how much and he said, “You just pay what you want.” Since it was useless as it was, she handed over her shoe and he disappeared. Ten minutes later he re-appeared with a perfectly fixed shoe. She gave him $3 and they were both very happy. Problems in Africa always seem to have human solutions delivered with kindness.

In general, we found the people of The Gambia we encountered to be some of the most outgoing and extroverted people. A small, highly populated country, people lived in close community with each other. It also helped that we were able to speak English for the first time in a long time, a bit of a welcome relief and it definitely made conversations easier. Everywhere we went, people came up to us and wanted to know our story. Children would gather around the truck and just watch what we were doing (even if we were just reading books, we really were not very entertaining for them). We even found that for a couple of countries after we left The Gambia, the people who came up to us in the street or along the road to start a conversation were most often from The Gambia.

*Finally made it onto the ferry across The Gambia river*

*Very busy ferry, pedestrians coming on board*

*Fishing boats along the shore of The Gambia River*

We had been in Africa for over a month without seeing any native wildlife (didn’t feel like we could count domesticated camels in Morocco and Mauritania, although we loved seeing them). So despite it being touristy we headed to Bijilo National Park (known as Monkey Park) to see some wild (but very habituated to humans) monkeys.

*Walking into Bijilo National Park with our guide*

*After some convincing from our guide Dawn agreed to the monkey on the shoulder picture*

*Then to complete our Gambian wildlife adventures we went to visit the crocodile pool in Bakau*

Our final and favorite stop in The Gambia was Galoya. With Dawn’s dual backgrounds in the arts and economic development, a village engaged in developing tourism through art - The Wide Open Walls project -couldn’t be missed. Although hard-hit by COVID and a lack of funding, it was clear the village leadership had a vision and entrepreneurship galore.

*Mural by Sickboy depicting the juxtaposition of the Baobab tree and the village well, connection of nature and humans and a plea to leave the old tree standing.*

*Battle of the mongoose and the snake. Andy wanted to know which was better and should win but our guide told us that we got to choose.*

*Themes of Africa and peace throughout the murals in the village*

*In addition to the murals, many of the houses participated in the project*

*Our artist guide, Amadou Bah posing infront of the mural he is working on with his friend and artistic partner Musa Bah*

*While Dawn takes in the art, Andy gives a geography lesson to some of the kids with our hood map*

*A very rewarding cultural visit to Galoya*

For our final night in The Gambia, we worked our way down the coast to the end of the road where we were welcomed to camp on the beach.

*Evening light on the endless white sands of the southern Gambia coast*

*What a place! Resort coming back to life after Covid but welcomed us to camp for free on their beach*

*But of course we sunk in a little overnight and deployed the Maxtrax again in the morning*

Senegal

Then we were back into Senegal, continuing south down the west coast. Feeling the effects of moving on every day we opted for a luxurious lay over day on the beaches of Cap Skirring.

*Baobob tree acting as village roundabout*

*Only campers at Campement La Casa, north of Cap Skirring.*

Two days of walking on the beach, doing more laundry and catching up on some truck cleaning and maintenance and we were rested and ready to continue.

It was an interesting time to be driving West Africa. We would do weeks without seeing another tourist or overland traveller and the infrastructure appeared to be suffering economically. We were warmly welcomed wherever we went and people were happy to see visitors. It also challenged our introverted souls because we attract so much attention with our white faces and bright white American camper. We are very obvious wherever we go. Much as we love the curious children and conversations, we are grateful to have the type of rig that allows us to retire and close a door in the evening.

Continuing south we are ready for what the adventure brings. Thank you for reading!

Guinea-Bissau and Guinea-Conakry

Mauritania