Visa no. 5: Guinea-Bissau in Ziguinchor

A day in Ziguinchor was spent lazily, like a sort of “me day”. There is a Guinea-Bissau consulate in town that gives visas without hassle. I went there. But things first things: coffee. My Rough Guide to Senegal mentions a bakery Ble d’Or and says they do espresso. It’s right in the centre of town […]

Janjanbureh to Zinguichor: moving with goats

It’s been a transport day. The Baobab Lodge didn’t let me sleep. People live in that compound and they didn’t care for one passing guest. Music till 11pm, then some hammer sounds at midnight, then at 1:23am heavy stuff being moved from side to side, then more conversation. Roosters wake up at 7am at that […]

Visa no. 4: The Gambia on the border

It’s dingy and seedy and sleazy and dark. The bar in Farafenni, my first town in Gambia. It also feels very West African, the beer finally doesn’t cost a fortune, there is Guinness but not yet the West African style but the foreign stout style with yellow labels that you can buy at home. It’s […]

La pirogue, c’est plein

I left Dakar at 6:30am on a sept-place to Mbour (1500cfa + 1000cfa for baggage), a dusty town on the coast. The gare routière in Dakar is away from the city and one has to take a taxi. Of course, at 6am when the centre is still sleeping (sun rises here around 7am) there was […]

The powdered milk of Monkey Island

First things first: disclaimer! Island of Gorée is NOT the Monkey Island but it features strongly in one of the most epic computer games of all times: Monkey Island series. I managed to drag myself out of bed for the ferry at 11am, with a coffee on my way. The ferry costs 5200cfa return, goes […]

Friday in Dakar: four embassies & a scam

Today was a visa run day. Spoiler: I failed at all 4 embassies.It’s Friday so any visa processing time longer than “pick up the next day” (Monday) is too long. I don’t wanna sit in Dakar for so long.Bissau visa I hope to get in Bissau consulate in Ziguinchor in Casamance in South Senegal. Guinean […]

Seven places from Saint Louis to Dakar

It’s been a long day in cars. Car no. 1: taxi to gare routière in Saint Louis, 1000cfa. Car no. 2: sept-place to Dakar, 5000cfa+1000cfa for baggage. Sept-place are old Peugeot combi cars that have seven places for passengers. One in front, 3 in the back and 3 more in the further back. The further […]

Humans of Saint Louis

It’s been a chilly windy morning. My landlady offered me coffee on the rooftop. Of course I agreed! What I got was a small sachet of instant coffee but at least it wasn’t Nescafé. The auberge I stay in has quite a nice view on the canal and the neighbouring island. I went out in […]

From Nouakchott via Otherworld to Senegal

Many years ago I read a book called “Otherworld” by Tad Williams. I picked it up at an airport and I got hooked. It is a four-volume long novel that takes place mainly online in a system that’s used to take over the world. Towards the end of the novel action takes place in the […]