Kaolack

29th April – Kaolack

Last night ended in success. Not only did Nicki land OK, and get through customs and immigration in record time, but I only paid CFA 1,500 for the return leg of the short taxi ride to the airport. We retired to the campsite and lay awake chatting for some time.

My plan was to leave Dakar for the weekend, then return on Monday to go to the Mali embassy to apply for the visas we need. This takes 48 hours so would mean being in Dakar until at least Wednesday, although later I realised this would actually probably be Thursday, as Monday is a holiday here. Not really ideal, but did we have much choice? Actually, yes – Nicki noticed that there is also a Mali embassy in Conakry, Guinea, which also processes visas. As we were looking at going to Conakry anyway, maybe this would make more sense.

We left Dakar mid-morning and toiled through the busy traffic to a place called the Pink Lake, which the Lonely Planet promised had a good restaurant which also allowed camping. After a slight trial of navigation – I should have listened to Nicki instead of trusting my instinct – we got to the lake a couple of hours later. The lake is highly saline, and there’s a small industry there producing salt, at the southern shore, which is then sold on. For reasons not totally clear, it has a pink hue, although personally I’d say reddish-brown is probably nearer the mark. We drove anticlockwise on the dust roads around the lake to find the Bonobo Café which was so highly recommended, but when we got there it was actually a bit of a dead loss. I think it’s changed hands since the Lonely Planet was issued in 2003, and there wasn’t much to do but have a drink. They were serving food, but the option was chicken, which neither of us really fancied.

As we checked out the lake, which stank to high heaven, a Spaniard pulled up in a Nissan 4x4. He’d been living in Ghana and other parts of Africa for twelve years, and is finally heading back to Spain. We talked about routes and options, including our thoughts of going to Guinea. Most overland travellers, including him, drive through Mali straight into Senegal and miss out Guinea. He’d originally intended to go but had been put off by the fighting near Guinea Bissau, the country next door. I can’t entirely see why Guinea is not widely travelled, as it doesn’t appear to be unduly dangerous or unfriendly. Nicki and I have discussed at length whether to go there, but we both think it’d be better to visit Guinea as originally planned, get our Mali visas in Conakry, and then we can go on to Sierra Leone if we want to, depending on what we find out as we get nearer.

There was another, nicer, café just east of the Bonobo, but they were full and had run out of food, so we decided to head south, in the general direction of Gambia. In one village not far from the lake we pulled over to check directions on the laptop, and a helpful local came over and gave us his own directions. Straight on, going over the nice tarmac road we’d come from and onto the dusty road opposite, turn right at the next village, and left at the town. Nicki pointed out that it might be better to take the good tarmac road, but we didn’t want to insult the guy, so we followed his directions. He was also angling for a ride, which is never a good sign, as the directions tend to be a bit partisan, but we explained we couldn’t accommodate him. The dust road went through the village and into open country, and we saw some other vehicles, but after about twenty minutes we hit another major pothole, not quite as bad as the one the other day. With nothing broken we carried on, but after a while the track seemed to peter out near a rubbish dump which was being grazed by pigs. The road seemed to become a path, but in the absence of any better ideas, we carried on, edging the truck down quite a small track. We came out into another village, but when we nearly drove into a workshop at the end of the road, we had to reverse up and seek directions. As it happened, we weren’t far from the tarmac road, but I don’t know how we’d ever have found it on our own. I can see now why Harry’s wife had misgivings about the size of their truck.

Back on the main road south, we stopped for petrol, and while Nicki went to buy some stuff for lunch, I was petitioned by various people selling bananas, nuts and melons. One young girl had a bowl of bananas on her head, so I asked them how much she wanted for a bunch. “Cinq cent.” Right, I know this game… I offered her 100. “Non, cinq cent.” Hey, she’s playing hard ball. So I go to 200. “Cinq cent, monsieur!” she laughed. I went through 300 and 400, but she wasn’t budging. In the end I said I’d pay 500 if I could take her photo as well. We closed the deal, but I thought there was a certain irony that four months ago, I was an international salesman for a global software company, but I’d just been out-negotiated on a deal by an 8 year old Senegalese girl. Darren and Nigel, if you’re reading this, I always told you I needed to go on negotiation training! On the bright side, the bananas were delicious.

Our destination for the day was Kaolack, just over half way from Dakar to Gambia, on very good roads. According to the Lonely Planet, it’s not often visited by tourists, but has a great indoor market, the second largest in Africa after Marrakech. The journey was fine, but away from the sea it started to get quite warm.

Arriving in the town, the good old Lonely Planet highlighted a hostel which had secure parking, but when we arrived there they had nothing of the sort. If anybody from Lonely Planet happens to be reading this, you really need to update the damn book! We found another place down the road which had a tiny courtyard, the Auberge Carrefour. I was somewhat unsure as to whether the truck would fit through their gate, but I edged it in, with no more than an inch spare on each side. If the truck was another inch taller, it wouldn’t fit under the overhang either, so it’s wedged in like spam in a can. At least we know it’s secure, because you can’t really get in the front doors at all now.

The plan now is to go for a wander, find something for dinner, and hopefully post the blog.