Kids on the beach

Toubab Dialaw

This quiet fishing town is 2 hours south of Dakar. We had the perfect accidental luck of finding an amazing place to stay : Espace Sobo Bade, a hotel and dance school hand built by an eccentric frenchman. More like a commune than a hotel.

Marché Malienne

Next to the train station is a market of goods from Mali. Here you can buy bricks of shea butter, the best cloths, fruits, beads, calabash bowls, spices...

...and to Louise's delight: maraccas made from little calabash gourds.

La vie Darakoise

Dimanche à la plage

Noir is Beautiful

There's a funky little boutique around the corner from our office, Chez Michelle Kâ. The architect owner has been making furniture which combines the loud plastic matlas found everywhere and Dakar's dominantly 1960's architecture ( think le corbusier).

Its also a hair salon.

Reserve Bandia!

Senegal is not known for its big game, rather its birds. But we did get the chance to see some amazing animals at this reserve south of Dakar.

Among the boababs we met a stranded pilot and a small boy in a blue coat who told us about other planets, a wise fox and a loving rose.

...I wish, but we did get to see some incredible Baobabs, which were as stunning as the animals.

Elephant shaped Baobab!


I think the most interesting thing we saw was a giant hollow baobab in which the bodies of Griots were interred. Peeking into the hollow of this tree we could see skeletons of these wandering musicians, laid to rest in a sacred spot.

We also saw a herd of the wild and elusive long haired baboons...