Dakar to Thies - Day 182

Date: February 16th, 2010
Distance: Travel by Taxi
Country: Senegal
Song of the Day: One More Night - Phil Collins (For Elie, who kept singing it today.)

Woke up at 8:00, which is impressive because I didn't feel tired from only two hours of sleep. I went out with some of the people to get coffee and croissants. Actually, I had milk and a cinnamon roll. I started getting a better impression of Dakar from the walk over. I guess more than a million people live in and around the city. Goats still wander through the town though. The cars range from things that barely even function, to brand new cars. So it is still a city between two worlds.

After that people started heading out. I did too. A quick stop for a bean sandwich and I started walking to the inter-city taxi stand. I could have gotten a taxi there, but the drivers wanted 1500 CFAs (pronounced "sayfas" by the expats), which is about 3 bucks. Which seems expensive when a (cramped) ride back to Thies is only 1500 CFAs anyway. So I started walking.

After an hour of that, I decided to try how the locals got around. They have these brightly colored buses. I was also told the name of the muslim brotherhood that runs them is written on them. This is not a municipal or government subsidized transit system. They are definitely a private enterprise. Just guys who can make a profit by getting people around the city. From the decoration it almost looks like someone cares, yet there are no windows or other amenities on the vehicles. I saw people just hoping on all the time and hanging off the back. Usually the bag man hangs of the back, but often there are three or four people holding on with him. I wonder if you pay less for that...

My first experience wasn't as casual as I would have liked. I didn't just jump on. I had to ask where it was going, and if they went by the taxi station. They didn't, but it was closer. So I hopped on and found a seat inside (no clinging to the back for dear life). I have to say, that is the way to get around the city. It is a little slower that an taxi, but the buses will get there. Plus it only cost 100 CFAs (20 cents) to take me half way across the city. I did have to take another bus, which for some reason charged me 50 CFAs to go four blocks. I could have walked. Oh well.

The taxi ride back to Thies was about the same. I slept through most of it though. (I guess I was tired after all.) I met back up with Elie at his cyber. We talked for a little while about all sorts of things. I learned his aunt, who is his closest relative, lives in Montreal, but he can't get a visa to Canada to see her. I did ask what the war was like in Rwanda, but, as you could imagine, he was reluctant to talk about it. I knew better than to press the point. Still, he did tell me that for him, it all happened in 3 months, and then it was over. So his country now has a bad reputation for three months of bloodshed 15 years ago. He also showed me pictures. The country looks amazing and beautiful. I really want to go.

Later Paima came over and we hung out for a while. The three of us had dinner again at a place up the street from Elie's cyber. It was at a tiny cafe run by one woman. This seems pretty common here. Just a tiny place. Two rooms, one for cooking and one for customers to sit and eat. The food was great and inexpensive.

Afterwards though, it was getting late. So we said goodbye to Paima and I crashed at Elie's place again.

-Dravis