We took a sept place home to Dakar. It was Thanksgiving Day, a fact which had escaped us until a Senegalese who works with Americans pointed it out to us later that evening. Abraham and I bought the whole back seat to ourselves — three “places” — so that we wouldn’t have to spend 4-5 hours packed like sardines.

Like most sept places and buses, this car was decked out in Islamic symbols. The decals on the rearview mirror are of the founder of one of the several Muslim “brotherhoods” in Senegal. (more…)

I love those words. Road trip. The time has come for us to take our own road trips here in Senegal. Tomorrow (Sunday) we take an express bus up to St. Louis (pronounced the French way, of course), in northern Senegal near the border with Mauritania. St. Louis is the most important city in northern Senegal, an otherwise sparsely populated area. It was until 1956 the capital of Senegal (and Mauritania), and was also the first capital of French West Africa (it was eventually moved to Dakar).
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To all my Northeastern family and friends who are braving today’s cold front (hey, it’s November, the warmth couldn’t last), and to my pals in the parched deserts of the Southwest, I send you these images from one of our favorite places (so far) in Senegal. The village is Toubab Dialao (pronounced too-bob jallow), and the hotel is called Sobo Bade. We heard about it through the expat grapevine as well as saw it written up in our Lonely Planet travel guide, and decided to take a quick weekend getaway last month to pay it a visit.
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