The same week we went to Guinea Bissau, we also went to the Casamance region of Senegal. Casamance is in the far southern part of the country, between the Gambia and Guinea Bissau. It is, without a doubt, my favorite part of Senegal. It is by far the greenest region, and the people are more relaxed, less uptight, and more genuine than the people in Dakar (sorry if I have offended any Dakarois — this is just a generalization). You have the feeling in the Casamance that people are without ulterior motives, that they genuinely want to be friendly to you.
(more…)

Sorry for the long gap since my last posting, but Abraham and I have been on the road and have just returned to Dakar. This time we went to Ziguinchor in the southern region of Senegal known as Casamance, where Abraham had several meetings. While there, we decided to take a few days and visit Guinea Bissau, just 15 miles away. A short paragraph in our Lonely Planet guidebook mentioned a small town called Varela as having a spectacular coastline, so we decided to check it out.
(more…)

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…)