Visiting Dakar

It seems more often than not I fly into cities or countries and not knowing too much about them until my arrival. Dakar was a place that I’ve heard about my entire life, so I felt familiar with it even though I hadn’t visited yet. The city is huge by West African standards, with millions of people in the metropolitan area. The city limits are a bit hard to define though, and from the right vantage point it looks like Dakar goes on forever.

Like most cities in developing countries, Dakar has lots of areas in deep poverty with a few nice neighborhoods. I actually ended up visiting the poverty stricken areas right after my arrival, giving me my first impressions of the city. At first I was a bit surprised such a famous city and a former French colony would be so far behind. In many ways Dakar reminded me of Djibouti City, since both looked to be in similar condition. I never make a point to photograph anything negative when I travel such as poverty, or unpleasant places, so took no photos from those areas I first saw. These two photos above and below show some of the nicer parts of the city which were built in southern Dakar, and where I ended up staying most nights.

Believe it or not but these two photos aren’t of the poorer areas I had mentioned either! Another thing that took me by surprise in Dakar was the traffic and chaos in the city center. My original plan was to arrive to Dakar and that same morning take a bus to Gambia. I didn’t realize the airport was so far away from the city, so after nearly 90 minutes getting to Dakar by bus, I realized I had to take a taxi to another bus station. Also instead of a six hour drive to Gambia I found out it was more like eight or nine. I foolishly thought I would be in Gambia by daylight, and then reach Guinea Bissau on day two and spend the rest of my trip backpacking back to Senegal. As I sat in a taxi and moved only a short distance in 30 minutes I finally told the driver I had had enough. I gave up on my goal of reaching Gambia for the day, and never went to Guinea-Bissau on this trip. Dakar held me hostage for days!

The only benefit of the traffic was I was able to move at a snails pace in the city and get an unofficial tour. The field above was one of many I saw in the poorer parts of Dakar. Despite the poverty of course, the people were always nice to me and seemed to be enjoying themselves. Every field I came across had families out with youth playing a game.

Also during the drive I saw this billboard ad for an energy drink. I didn’t try this specific brand, but did have another local one that was called black power. To me at least, it tasted almost identical to a Red Bull.

The soccer games were popular, but this dirt bike race I stumbled upon was unexpected. It seemed like a semi-professional event since there was a small crowd and someone who looked to be a local journalist. Red Bull loves to sponsor and get involved in events like this, but it looks like 3X Energy missed out on the opportunity!

Dakar is a pretty reasonably safe city, so I walked around most places on my own. I ended up visiting the market multiple times, and got some cheap items like a hat, sunglasses etc. The guy who sold me the hat tried to give it to me for more than western prices, which is normal, but when I suggested a few dollars he acted incredibly offended. I wish I took more photos of the market, but all I really ended up with was this stand selling clocks. In another part of the city I took a photo of “Soweto Village”, your guess for its purpose is as good as mine!

The architecture in Dakar didn’t really stand out as being unique from most other African cities. I came across a few different buildings though, like this one above. It also seemed the further south or west I went, the more rich the houses were. This house below was located near the southern part of the city, almost on the water front.

I stayed in a few different places while I was in Dakar. The reason I passed the rich house was because I was looking for my hotel that was located right on the water. On the way I also passed this large tree in the middle of the road with Africa painted in the center. It turned out the hotel was under construction, and diving wasn’t available because there was way too much wind and rough waters for visibility. Since I wasn’t able to dive, I just walked along the shore, admiring the colorful boats and the fisherman just off the coast hard at work.

The next day I woke up in my hotel to find myself covered in tiny ants and sweaty from the lack of A/C or fan. I went back to my first room closer to the city center, and from there headed to the most famous religious building in Dakar; the city’s Grand Mosque. The entire structure is beautiful, and is mostly dominated by its giant single minaret.

The mosque was closed when I visited, and I’m not even sure if I would have been allowed to visit it as a foreigner. I did walk around the mosque grounds while wearing shorts, but so did a few locals so I didn’t feel out of place. The best I was do was to peak inside at various windows and doors and see what it looked liked in side. The photo below shows the massive minaret of the Grand Mosque, and to my knowledge I’ve never seen another minaret with a square design.

After the mosque I finally visited a place that I had wanted to see for decades. Lake Retba, also known as the pink lake, is known for being one of the most colorful lakes in the world. The lake’s color apparently is hit or miss, and depends on a lot of factors. The biggest one of course is the sunlight, and with this slight overcast I’m guessing that’s not what I needed. Other factors include recent rainfall, temperature, etc.

While the pink lake supposedly can shine some beautiful colors, it also is a major source of work and income for many locals. The pink, or in my case orangish brown coloring, comes from the salt and minerals found at the bottom of the lake. Every day, dozens of people work in the incredible hot sun to mine the salt.

While some miners work hard and fill boats with salt, others have an easier job and take people like me around in a boat. The boat ride can be as long as you want, but usually 30 minutes is sufficient. No matter how far you go out into the lake, it never really gets deep. This photo was taken near the center, where this man with a ten pack was still able to walk without even being waste deep.

After returning to the shore, I did a bit of hiking around the lake, and eventually came to where they store their salt. This boy climbing a massive mountain of salt, and the mounds below give some persepctive on how much mining occurs here. You also have to keep in mind that all this is done by manual labor, and there are no power tools or motorized equipment, not even the boats!

I knew about Lake Retba for probably two years, but I hadn’t known about the African Renaissance Memorial until I made it to Senegal. This enormous statue is larger than the size of the Statue of Liberty, and is the largest statue in the continent. But instead of being a source of pride for Senegal it brought controversy. The memorial was created to show African independence and strength, but it was designed by a white guy and built by North Korea for a price topping $25 million. Even worse, after its completion the president of Senegal decided he should keep a percentage of profits from visitors to the memorial. There’s some more controversy regarding the art, and even the depiction of the Africans in the statue.

One evening I walked to one of the nicest parts of Dakar. Known as Les Alemaides, this area is not only the western most point of the city, but also the western most point of all of Africa. You can easily see from a distance this is a beautiful neighborhood, and I actually took this photo while at the Renaissance Memorial. There are some of the best places for restaurants, nightlife, and accomodations in Les Alemaides. I even passed right by my embassy.

When I finally walked to the western most point of the African continent, I found rough seas, strong winds, and one of the most beautiful sunsets I’d ever seen. I was able to enjoy the sunset from a rocky coast and sat next to a local Senegalese. He told me about how he had lived in the US before, only about 12 miles (20 kilometers) from me! A small world, but we had some great conversation and from here I took these two photos. Above you can see a distant lighthouse, while in the photo below the sun begins to disappear behind violent waves. This remains one of the most amazing experiences I’ve ever had in Africa!