Jiboro to Ziganchor - Day 202

Date: March 8th, 2010
Distance: 96km
Country: Senegal

Today I started off by crossing back into Senegal. No real problems at the border. There were a few signs out for land mines though. That is always fun to see. I guess the area that Ziganchor is in is called the Cassemance. There is a group of separatist rebels that operate in the area. So I was warned to stick to the main roads and not travel at night. Good advice.

Actually, I didn't notice any problems. There were a few army trucks full of men in camo rolling by. Other than that the place seemed pretty calm. I stopped for lunch in the shade under some trees. When I stopped I noticed that it was also being used to shade an army checkpoint. They were actually very nice, and gave me a bench to sit on. Maybe it was just the day I was there, but it really didn't seem like they were on high alert.

Just outside of Zig I saw another cyclist. It turns out he was from Seattle as well. Derrek had just finished up a Masters program at the UW and had taken a travel grant. Pretty cool. He had just rear packs on, which I wouldn't think of as enough. He was making it work though. Plus his bike and frame couplings so it could be taken apart and packed up for a flight. He knew a cheap place to stay in Zig, so I went with him.

The last 8km into the city was along a brick causeway winding through a mangrove swamp. It was really pretty. I sort of thought the bricks might have been used because they were more resistant to the effects of the water. We were only a couple of inches above the water. Any good storm must just wash over the roads.

In town we found the Campamont to stay at. We also headed out to a place to get some dinner. e explained a little more of his story. I guess he was flying to various places and touring around on the bike. This was also the end of the African expedition. From here he was heading to Brazil.

After dinner we were both pretty tired and pretty much just crashed.

-Dravis