Saint Louis

After about a week together in Dakar, the fearless fifteen split into three groups headed into three different directions in Senegal.  Seven of us boarded a minibus and headed north to Saint Louis.  (Yes, it looks a lot like that name of the arched city in Missouri, but remember it is French city, so say it as such.)

Mouhamadou, one of in-country-hosts, road along with us to make sure that we arrived safely.  He also, generously, invited us to his home in the large city of Thies along the way.  We even got to drop by one of the schools he teaches at and briefly meet some of his students during their break.

The road north was a wide, flat, paved two-lane road through desert landscape.  I loved the opportunity to see the countryside and not just the large cities.  I'm not sure I once saw soil on the journey, but rather as far as the eye could see was sand.  However, it wasn't vast stretches of nothing, as many trees and often shrubs had found a way to live in the dry sand.  Goats, sheep and cows wandered seemingly freely, knowing that they would return to the place known as home to get food and water.  All lower branches were cleaned off by the wandering herds.

Every few miles, there would be a small village.  A mosque was almost always central in the buildings with modest homes in concrete squares surrounding it.  I took this slow motion video on the drive to help show a little of what the scenery along the way was like:

The city of Saint Louis is a vibrant coastal town with different parts of the city that have completely different vibes.  The mainland part of the city is bustling, full of street markets selling fresh fruits and vegetables and crowded with people living their daily lives.  Then, you cross over a bridge onto the small island that is a UNESCO Heritage site and you are blown away by the quiet.  Parts of this tiny island felt very reminiscent of New Orleans, but well, is it not an island settled by the French?  It was much more touristy, for sure.  There were many French people there, and so while we still stuck out as tourists, it wasn't quite as obvious as in other places we had visited.

And then, once again, you crossed over another bridge onto a small narrow island that is not protected by UNESCO, and you are blown away by scents and sights of a bustling city.  When you travel down the busy city streets, sometimes you also get glimpses into the mazes of narrow pathways that weave in between the buildings within the same city block, and they were packed with doorways and store stalls.  

This tiny island is actually one of the hardest hit places in the world when it comes to climate change due to the fact that there is water behind it and ocean in front of it.  This fascinating story from NPR not only gives you glimpses into what life there looks like, but why it is so hard hit.  It is also believed that this is one of the most densely populated areas of West Africa.  Most people in the area are fishermen, a tradition for many generations.  These men, who can often be gone for months at a time, typically have four wives who all have, often, ten children each.  Our carriage ride through the area was overwhelming and beautiful.  Was it crowded?  Yes.  But, all the people we saw were happy and engaged with others around them.  It was the life they had always known, and they took great pride and joy in it.

Kids are the same all over the world and will always find places to play!

Senegal is believed to originate from a word that means "our boat".  Not sure there was a better place that embodied the meaning of this word than the beautiful, bustling city of Saint Louis!